Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Ok, we have a 95' suzuki sierra, shes a beaut! But somehow this hose (the big white long hose on top of the engine) has been split, by what looks like the radiator bracket.

Here's a pic of the hose in the engine


So we were looking around for a replacement (the hose was pretty much spilt the whole way through) and ended up at the All-Jap at Virginia. They basically said that this part wasn't needed, well not in qld anyway, its mainly for cold weather and directs hot air from one part to another (dodgy memory, i've forgotten 1/2 the details already!).

Is this true? I'm just a bit skeptical as this hose is pretty big and just seems like it should be needed (female logic for ya :/). We're off to Fraser next week, so hopefully it's all good

Only needed for cold weather.
Stops carby freezing up at higher speeds in icy weather.
Engine gets the air that is heated by the exhaust manifold.
I don't think you need it in Qld, but you will need it if you come south in Winter.

They wear out fairly quick. I got mine from an auto shop, they have different sizes and lengths, so I took mine in as a comparison. Was about $15 or so.

christover

Yea i took mine with me as well, but the only ones they had were too short.. but its all good if i dont need it I doubt we'd be going south.. not in the forseeable future anyway, only north.

thanks!!

Svendenhowser, I second what Christover said.

I removed the heat feed hose from my '85 Sierra when I finally fitted extractors five years ago, and instead have a direct feed of cold air from a hose and inlet behind the grille. Admittedly I am on the MidWest coast of WA now but it ran perfectly for 12 months south of Perth, where it's considerably cooler.

I might be wrong, but I think the heat feed can safely be dispensed with in all but the coldest parts of Australia.

Cheers - Longbaser.

I always thought it was purely for pollution control on startup?

That hose is ONLY for cold weather operation. There should be a lever where the hose connects to the air-filter intake, marked hot/cold or summer/winter which closes off that hose when set on "hot".
In hot climates it might even be used to up performance slightly by disconnecting it from the exhaust and fixing it to an intake by the grille, (shorter hose needed), because the cooler the air you get into the engine, the more power you get.

There was no lever on mine, the flap was moved with a vaccuum cylinder that came from the airbox i think, and from there to the carby/manifold

A vacuum cylinder! Gee, I never saw anything so advanced!
Seriously though, thats just an autamatic control over hot/cold air into the air-filter. No doubt to save fuel and if that control unit is left intact, my tip about feeding cold air into the HOT air hose would be counterproductive.
Come to think of it, what with all the emission controlling, fuel saving whatsamacallits that clutter up the engines of modern cars, they are probably best left alone and as near to stock as possible unless you know exactly what you´re doing.