Breather Tower, seal/diaphragm inside ? piccies

[dansimpson]

Hi all, just curious on this one.
My breather tower started leaking at the top, so I've ordered a replacement.
After I took the old one off today I decided to see if it could be repaired. It was leaking from the rim, so i prised it off, and theres a spring and rubber diaphragm assembly inside. The rubber was very perished, and I wondered if this was a serviceable part. Anyone opened one up? Anyone know what the diaphragm's for?

Cheers
Dan

[Cruz]

The oil breather tower is a single part. There is an o ring on the base which can be bought from ebay

[ghost123uk]

It was leaking from the rim, so i prised it off, and theres a spring and rubber diaphragm assembly inside. The rubber was very perished, and I wondered if this was a serviceable part. Anyone opened one up? Anyone know what the diaphragm's for?

I have to admit I did not know there was a diaphragm inside it

I suppose it must be a one way valve to only allow fumes out of the crank case into the air inlet.

Umm, I wonder how often that diaphragm might not be working correctly on some vans, causing breathing / crank case pressure issues, perhaps resulting in a greater likelihood of oil leaks ?

[Ian Hulley]

The 2.1 breather tower comes apart, there is the outer casing, a fine mesh and what I assume to be a condensor plate (oil vapour hits it, condenses and drips back into the crankcase ?) the number 120 is on the top.

Ian

[dansimpson]

Took a couple of piccies

This one is as it looked before I prised the top off, you can just see the gap where oil was leaking from.
Some of the damage to the side was already there, so maybe someone in the past has tried to open it for some reason



This shows the diaphragm, clearly not in good condition



And then the spring inside



There was no blockages to account for the top splitting, so I'm assuming that it failed largely due to a previous attempt to open it?? Maybe?? Hopefully

[Cruz]

i'm sure VW still sell them 025-115-451

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-T25-sump-vent- ... 1e63019d25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dansimpson]

Yep, spotted the ebay one, but the same guy has it listed twice at different prices, and his feedback is a little hazed (??) Anyway, I've ordered one from letshaveabus Kev from on here
The only thing I can think of is that VW used the gasket/diaphragm to help seal the end?? It doesnt seem to block anything off, unless its sucked onto the outlet pipe if theres excessive vacuum from the air box??
Only guessing, and its just curiosity.
Ayone got any other ideas why its there?

[Ian Hulley]

A word of caution there seems to be a fair few different ones .... 3 now to my certain knowledge. Best get it right methinks, as I said before there's a white painted number on the top of the 3 I have.

Ian.

[dansimpson]

Cheers Ian, I'll check the numbers match when it arrives.

Dan