Found broken oil filler tube

I've been getting a few 1124 and 1126 codes and just pulled a 1030 today as well ever since changing the oil and air filter. Today looked closer and found the oil filler tube was split pretty bad and it broke in two when I moved it. So likely that is the culprit. Need to get that on order. And then while trying to tape it shut with some racers tape so I could keep driving the car for now, somehow my hand slipped and I broke this plastic fitting connecting two small water hoses. Looks like part of the AOS plumbing. Annoying. Water everywhere. Hoses look ok but the top barb snapped right off. Seems like a pretty fragile piece in a bad location. Not sure who thought of that routing. But oh well. $7 part. Just annoying now the car is out of commission until I get a replacement in. But I guess probably better not to drive it with the jury rigged oil filler tube anyway. That looks fun to get to btw...

Go to Home Deppt amd buy a brass bard fitting with two emd and replace the broken part. the one you bought will faill at some point too but the brass one will last forever.

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Ya I figured I would do that. Just ordered the factory part in case I needed it down the road. $7 part.

IIRC, best to have alternator out for easier access to the base of the tube. Good time to check your alternator/voltage regulator/cables.

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yup - and I figured as long as that was going to be apart and I was placing an order for parts that I may as well do the belt while I've got it apart. Even though the belt looks fine. I think it has 30K miles or so on it.

Don't do the belt if it looks good and has low mileage. It can be easily changed later when it really needs to be. You are just trowing money away.

fixed the broken water line coupler today. Boy is the factory plastic part a joke. It had pretty much disintegrated on both ends. The brass barb replacement with new hose clamps is a much better set up! I also re-installed the bolt from the factory junction part way in and then zip tied the water line to that to make sure it stays clear of the accessory drive since it's awfully close quarters in there. All seems good on that front. I still need to replace the oil filler pipe, but I sealed it up for now with a Mobil1 5 quart oil jug cap and some gorilla tape. Good enough to keep the car on the road until I get time to swap that part out, and reduces the urgency to get it done slightly.

So funny story - I had installed the barb and refilled the coolant and ended up driving the car to work yesterday. I was meeting a buddy who is a fellow Rennlister who bought into this 911 craziness last year like me. In many ways his purchase was the impetus for mine, although his is much nicer and newer - a 997.2 C2S. But anyway - we pull up to a local watering hole at the same time. And I look in the rearview and there is this huge cloud of white smoke / steam pouring out of the engine area. Oh great - perfect timing too, I had been driving the car all afternoon and all had been going well. I braced for the worst and expected to see the junction I just installed leaking or the hose had broken or something. Luckily all that was intact and the coolant was just leaking out of the expansion tank, so looks like I overfilled the coolant. I wasn't watching closely enough and got it to the max line when fully cold, I didn't read the service manual but I assume that line is for hot levels, and surely the levels expand some. Anyway - seems to have purged enough coolant all over the exhaust to resolve the issue - sort of self correcting, just a bit on the messy and dramatic side of things.. Ha!

As long as you are there, check all the vacuum lines and AOS bellows. The car is old enough for the rubber parts to start cracking.

will do - good point

What people don't realize is this tube can lead to cylinder issues. When the filler tube cracks, and the crankcase leakage occurs, the ECU will add fuel trim to compensate for a "safe" condition". This leads to added enrichment. Fuel is a solvent, not a lubricant. Running "rich" creates cylinder wear more than anything else. Patching these tubes up just doesn't work. Once one has become brittle enough to fail, it will fail again in the short term, after being patched up. The "patch up" work can sometimes crack the tube somewhere else. I replace almost every one of these that we see during preventatives, and always during a reconstruction. That piece of plastic can wipe out a 20K$ engine. BTW_ After swapping the tube you must perform a system reset to remove the adaptive fuel trim values. The ECU doesn't know the part has changed and it can take several hundred miles for adaptation to drop the fuel trim values.

When you replace the oil filler tube you have to pull the alternator. Disconnect the battery first or you will have a bunch of "hot" wires floating around in the engine bay. Makes sense also because that will reset the ECU. After you reconnect the battery, the ECU fuel trim values will be reset as well, then drive for a few miles for the adaptation to adjust.

Thanks for the additional info. I haven't been driving the car btw. I have been stuck driving my M5 instead. Oh darn :-) I may have time to tackle the job tomorrow. Seems there is always a car project on one of the half dozen cars just about every weekend lately!

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More sage advice /"Truth" (yes we can HANDLE THE TRUTH!) from JR I especially appreciate this part "BTW_ After swapping the tube you must perform a system reset to remove the adaptive fuel trim values. The ECU doesn't know the part has changed and it can take several hundred miles for adaptation to drop the fuel trim values" This is the kind of simple (but hard earned) knowledge that can save a lot of headaches and money down the line. My question would be : ECU reset? Disconnect Battery? Something more?

If you disconnect the battery for 5 minutes or more the ECU returns to basic base values. This job will take more time than that so all will be well if you disconnect the battery first. Don't use a trickle charger to keep it alive. The ECU will "adapt" after that to the new conditions. Thus my comment to put on some miles after the repair job is done.

"If you disconnect the battery for 5 minutes or more the ECU returns to basic base values." That's what I was looking for! Thanks, Joe

Just buy an OBDII code reader (even if it's a cheap one) and clear the codes (resent the ECU). In this day and age, everyone with any DIY capability should have at least a basic OBDII code reader.

I've got a OBDII, but clearing codes and resetting the ECU are different no? Hence my original question... Thx in advance

Disconnecting the battery alone won't clear the adaptive in my experience. I've left them disconnected overnight and still found adapted values. A hard reset or handover is required based on what I see near daily.

"Disconnecting the battery alone won't clear the adaptive in my experience. I've left them disconnected overnight and still found adapted values. A hard reset or handover is required based on what I see near daily." Ok, a hard reset or handover entails what? Can it be done with a basic OBDII ? Duratmetric? or is this something a Dealer or Indy or with PWIS or Durametric Pro version have to handle? Once again, THX in advance

In an attempt to help the OP, I read the instructions for the Porsche System Tester 2 and Durametric. Both will read an extensive list of fault codes, reset (clear) those and provide real time values for the ECU/DME. No where in those instructions or abilities is a clear of adaptive values learned by the ECU/DME. The Porsche System Tester 2 does have the capability of reprogramming the ECU/DME completely. I also reviewed comments from Loren on RennTech on resetting the ECU and based my opinion on those comments, i.e., removing power from the ECU/DME for more than 5 minutes will result in it returning to base values, and, upon restoring power and restarting the engine, the DME/ECU begins a "learning curve" (or adaptation) once again. So the question becomes - even with the capability of having a Porsche System Tester 2 and/or Durametric at hand, both of which say nothing about clearing adaptive values, how does one do a hard reset or handover of the ECU/DME, short of completely reprogramming?

The PIWIS uses the term "system reset" for a handover. Clearing codes is not the same thing.

Not owning or having access to a $18,000 PIWIS II, or not wanting to drive to a Porsche dealer to have the ECU system reset for $$$, my suggestion is for a DIY like me: clear the codes with an OBDII reader or Durametric (I have both), disconnect the battery, replace the oil filler tube, reconnect the battery and do two drives for a minimum of 1150 seconds, or 19.1 minutes each. That is what I did and everything is fine. I think even a Porsche dealership would do the same thing and just tell you to go for a nice drive afterwards. I'm not arguing that Jake is incorrect and I do believe what he is saying...it just depends on the level you want to go to and how much $$/time you have to throw at it for what is mostly a simple DIY job. The 996 OBD II manual states that, when faults have been erased, two "trips" are required to "initiate" the "readiness code". A trip is defined as a period of time, not miles, specifically 1150 seconds. I've inserted the two definitions for Readiness Code and Trip (note the clause regarding power disconnection): Readiness code The readiness code indicates that the required fault checks were performed by the OBD system. It is not important whether or not a fault was found. The readiness code is reset if the fault memory is erased or the power supply (terminal 30) is cut off when a code is stored. The readiness code is not reset when the battery is disconnected if no fault is stored. To initiate the readiness code, at least two trips have to be completed. Trip A trip is a driving cycle after a rest period that enabled the diagnostic system to monitor all components and systems at least once. In the event of a fault, it may not be possible to perform all diagnostic routines under certain circumstances. For this reason, a replacement trip is recognized after an operating period of 1150 seconds. In other words, a driving cycle is recognized as a trip after this time, even if not all diagnostic routines were performed.

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If the engine does not experience another fault due to the adaptive not being reset, given enough time it will "learn" and fuel trim will be corrected. There are times when the prior compensation will lead to another fault after corrective action was taken. This is common with both vacuum leaks and MAF sensor replacement. If you cannot perform a system reset/ handover, then remove both battery cables from their terminals and tie them together over night. It's always best to use a "consumer" to discharge the system rather than tying these together. An inline bible holder works great for this as it slowly discharges the system without shocking it. We fix cars routinely by only doing a handover. ECUs and the adaptive can get skuzzy over time and create phantom issues. This is a feature that durametric should incorporate. Moving forward into the DFI cars you must do many procedures based upon system resets, even changing a battery.

UPDATE: Found some time over the weekend to complete this job. It was fairly straightforward, the hardest part was messing with the alternator - the bushing in the rear was just too tight and wouldn't budge back at all, so I ended up shaving a small amount of material off of it instead. Installed like a breeze then. One minor mishap while wrestling with the alternator, I ended up breaking a tiny plastic vacuum line - or maybe it was already broken - who knows. Either way, routing something like that right above the alternator is probably not the best choice. I found some vacuum tubing laying around my shop that fit perfectly to re-connect and seal the line. Sometimes being a total pack-rat pays off. OK, it's a small percentage of the time to be honest but I will take my small victories. Other than the fun alternator, the rest of the job is very straightforward and easy enough. I did find one additional hole in the vacuum line that routes behind the air cleaner neck up to the body panel. Again, not the best place to route a vacuum line without adding some protection. I just RTV'ed the hole to seal it and added some gorilla tape to protect it from rubbing against the air cleaner assembly. Good chance that was causing the CEL as much as the broken oil filler tube. Good to have the car back in action!

Awesome! Good job. Glad to see you are back in action. I have broken many of the plastic vacuum lines over time and done the same thing. One of these days I'll get in there and replace those plastic vacuum lines with some silicone vacuum hoses.