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Tue May 12, 2015 2:19 pm

Background: '69 Beetle, stock, has been sitting in my drive about two years but would run it 20 minutes a month to keep the battery charged and move the oil around.

I did the search on why this breather tube is wet, the reasons make me sad and scared for bad rings.
The car runs good, has good power still. That tube is wet enuff it's whole length that paper towels gently squeezed around it will wick oil from the weave.
I've just started to drive the car as my daily ride and am wondering if other things could be going on from sitting (it seemed fine when I parked it). Or maybe the tube is too dry and has a bit of a kink in the bend. Any thoughts?

Tue May 12, 2015 2:28 pm

I would replace it! Your oil bath air cleaner probably has water in it and is overflowing the oil! Breather Hose from AirCooled.Net!

Tue May 12, 2015 2:37 pm

Danwvw wrote: I would replace it! Your oil bath air cleaner probably has water in it and is overflowing the oil! Breather Hose from AirCooled.Net!

The one on my '71 looks the same as his.

How would water get in? The lid is fastened shut with clips.

Tue May 12, 2015 3:20 pm

This is not caused by any water. The oil vapor from the engine accumulates in the flap. Then it drains down on the outside of the tube. I have tried many different solutions to this problem. Including putting a bit of steel wool inside the tube. Which did help capture the vapor and send it back down.
I am yet to find a permanent solution. As the engine ages there is more pressure in the crank from blowby.
Check to make sure however you have the generator splash guard in the correct way. Sometime if its not in the right way, it will kick oil vapors.

Tue May 12, 2015 3:22 pm

The air cleaner has to be overfilled (with oil or water) and the hose itself is cracked. Check that your oil level in the cleaner is not too high. I think it only needs about a half inch?
I can't imagine crankcase fumes saturating that breather hose to that extent. My vote is from the air cleaner.

Tue May 12, 2015 3:23 pm

I would check for water or even it being overfilled with oil. I have often found water in them. I think it's condensation or something from not being driven.

Tue May 12, 2015 3:59 pm

I immediately thought air cleaner oil overfill too as it was just refilled by an a/c mechanic before I parked it---will check this for sure now as well as look for another hose anyway. I am not a mechanic so what do I know lol.
I wondered if driving it around was sloshing even the little bit of the overfill down the spout and into the tube, it seems to be wet that way. Am I reading it right then that the engine venting throught the tube is going north? Then were would the oil be running to if draining from the air filter? Theoredically because the inside of the tube is not really yucky with oil.

Thanks for everyones' replies--this is great!

Tue May 12, 2015 6:22 pm

I have a metal braided hose on my breather, and it too is also constantly soaked with oil.

I have zero idea where it's coming from. Drives me bonkers.

Tue May 12, 2015 6:59 pm

Crankcase pressure exists and it has to be dealt with.. that's why you have the hose. the wetness?

1.the steel wool media inside that black box the oil fill cap screws on to is gone...or plugged

2.the road draft tube (the one that comes out of the black box and goes down. vents to atmosphere below the case) is plugged

3.the crankcase vapor hose (the one that weeps oil)is there to convey vapor into the air cleaner to be drawn into the engine and burned. .they do get porous after forty years..

Tue May 12, 2015 8:05 pm

Johnnypan--so how would I diagnose and try to unclog the down pipe if I need to?

The little box that tube plugs into, where the oil filler cap is--I ran my finger in the oil filler hole and it was pretty dirty with fine dry particle oily mud, not oily sluge--I cleaned it out as best I could with my fingers careful not to knock any deeper in to the crankcase. How could I clean that out if it is plugged or is that a replace the who thing deal?

Tue May 12, 2015 8:24 pm

You need one of these to remove the breather from the alternator/generator stand..

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC-C10-7110

..it has a special slotted nut.once you take that nut off the breather box box and lower tube come off as an assembly,then off it goes in the solvent tank...or whatever you use to clean greasy parts..

Tue May 12, 2015 8:32 pm

Patty, due to many short runnings of engine while car sat...check the oil and see if it smells of gasoline...if so change it right away. Oil thinned by gasoline can and will blow a lot of oil up that breather hose...contaminated oil may be the cause

Tue May 12, 2015 10:10 pm

I need to change the oil for sure and will keep that in mind as I watch this.

Tue May 12, 2015 10:12 pm

And thanks everyone for not making it all about this! :wink:

Wed May 13, 2015 10:34 am

-It's not condensation, he clearly stated it's OILY residue that wicks off the hose.
-I doubt it's from the air cleaner being overfilled, that'd suck liquid into the engine and isn't the lower lip of that is much lower than the inlet tube?
-Being a cloth-covered hose, it's probably near original age, the rubber that's the actual hose is probably dry rotted and cracked to heck and back again. (might be true for the guy with the metal braided hose too. metal braid covered hose is for mechanical damage, not age or internal damage)
might be as simple as the top where it connects to the nipple is stretched out and leaking. little oil gets out up there and travels the length of the hose between gravity and capillary action.

As for the fuel filter, yes fix it :evil: