Merc Vito vacuum (perhaps!) pipe fell off (probs!) !!!

Merc Vito vacuum (perhaps!) pipe fell off (probs!) !!!

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devout gooner

Original Poster:

206 posts

211 months

Friday 13th July 2012
quotequote all
I don't expect many takers on this one ! .....
On my way home in my Merc Vito 108cdi van, I stopped at a shop. When I came out I noticed a bit of rubber tubing hanging down from underneath the engine bay onto the road . I thought this was going to be the pressure relief tube from the expansion tank, but it wasn't . As soon as I touched it it fell off onto the road - it wasn't attached to anything . It is about 10mm diameter, with a 3mm wall and about 4mm bore. It is now about 600mm in length, however it has clearly broken off at one end, so it could have been 601mm or 3000mm originally!!! I have looked and can't see where it has come from .Has anyone any idea ? Please !!! The van seems to be running fine, by the way !!

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

244 months

Friday 13th July 2012
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What colour?

The pipe, not your van.......

devout gooner

Original Poster:

206 posts

211 months

Saturday 14th July 2012
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black(not reinforced) rubber.

TheEnd

15,370 posts

189 months

Saturday 14th July 2012
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Radiator overspill?

devout gooner

Original Poster:

206 posts

211 months

Saturday 14th July 2012
quotequote all
Nope, like I said in my post, that's what I thought it would be too. I'm fairly sure it's a vacuum hose of some sort beacause the walls are so thick. Thanks for trying though.

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

244 months

Saturday 14th July 2012
quotequote all
There are two pipes like this which are easily seen when opening the bonnet, one has been mentioned and goes from the expansion tank down to the lower tubular cross member, is yours this long? Maybe part of it had been caught by the rarely active fan and cut off...

The other one is very strange and comes through a gap in between the oil filter housing and the heat exchanger bolted to the right of it* and then goes up to the upper crossmember.
  • You might see a clip for it here.
Why is this strange?

Well it's not fixed to anything at either end.....

This engine was used in the cars aswell so there are some parts on there which have no use in a van, I seem to remember it has two engine oil filler caps and some strange metal weight on the gear change which can be thrown away to no detriment.

Steve_D

13,749 posts

259 months

Sunday 15th July 2012
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It may not actually belong to your van.
The automotive equivalent of road kill.

Steve

devout gooner

Original Poster:

206 posts

211 months

Monday 16th July 2012
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Well it's not fixed to anything at either end.....

This engine was used in the cars aswell so there are some parts on there which have no use in a van, I seem to remember it has two engine oil filler caps and some strange metal weight on the gear change which can be thrown away to no detriment.



Ahhhh ! I bet you are right ! The one end that is complete, is grimy on the inside and not stretched at all - consistent with not ever having been fitted to anything . Brilliant ! Award yourself a cup of tea, 5 mins feet up and a brief spell of smugness bowtie.



Automotive roadkill ! I had considered that too, that's why I put "pipe fell off (probs!)" in the title. Because it was vertical, seemingly hanging there when I saw it, I thought it unlikely that it was from some other vehicle.