The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop tips on removing crankcase ventilation tube

Newbie here. Tearing down my '57 235 for rebuild. Any tips on removing the crankcase ventilation tube? If I understand it correctly its held in by friction but I can't get the thing to budge at all. Other than this everything else has come off the engine with ease. Any tips/advice are appreciated. Thanks.

My experience was with a 56 GMC with pontiac v/8 316 ci. Early on like 56-57 we found the draft tube was pulling out oil. Like 3 qts in 180 miles. At least that is what we were told by mechanic in GMC dealership. So he pulled the draft tube up a bit and seemed to solve the problem. He also placed a bracket on the tube to prevent it from going down in to valley cover. It does fit snugly into valley cover. good luck!

Use a rubber hammer and tap it from side to side. Mine took some work but when it went back in, it wouldn't stay tight.

when i was converting the draft tube to the breather/oil fill pipe on my 40-228 i was able to get the pipe to move left to right with the mallet but it wouldnt come out. i then took my porta power from the floor to where the two pipes are welded together on the draft tube and pushed it up until i heard the springs relaxing and tapped it back and forth some more then it finally came out. sometimes gravity is a wonderful thing.

Currently trying to remove mine as well. Same issue. Stuck. Tapped with a mallet, no luck. Have been resisting the urge to pull out the channel locks and try to get some twist on it. Or perhaps a combination of a strap wrench and a little mallet tapping will get it loose. My intention is to go ahead and install a PCV as mentioned on the forum. Just easier to change and will help with the oily film/stink that can come from the road draft tube.

Hey guys, I've never seen one that wouldn't come out by tapping back and foth with a rubber hammer on the center while keeping up pressure on the down tube. It's in fairly deep (bout a 1/2") so you might have to repeat this a hundred times or what ever it takes. You only move it a few thousands with each tap when you first start but eventually it will reach the top and pop out. Patiences is the key.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I think tapping and wiggling is the only way. Any thing like a pipe wrench or water pump pliers will only crush it.

Did you all remove the bolt holding the bottom of the tube to the block ?

I wonder if you can rig up some kind of expansion plug into the tube and then use a slide hammer.....just an idea.

I banged mine back and forth with a short piece of 2x4 and it wiggled back and forth. The 2x4 would be softer than a hammer but harder than a rubber mallet if that didn't work. I don't think a 2x4 can hurt it no matter how hard you hit it.

So I managed to remove my tube this evening. Tapped lightly with a dead blow hammer from all directions. Then after no real movement I pulled out the large channel lock pliers. Mind you, these are big and have a max opening of around 4" I found a slipjoint that was just smaller than the tube, and with a light touch was able to twist back and forth until I got a little wiggle. Wiggled and wiggled and wiggled until it was moving freely. They i held the handle of the pliers with one hand, and twisted the tube left and right. I then pulled up with the other hand, and it came right out.

And you should have seen the sludge, er, gunk, um, nasty stuff that came from that part! I took pictures. It was completely closed up. So needless to say there was no ventilation taking place from the crankcase.

UPDATE: slow and steady with a rubber mallet (and what felt like a hundred strikes) and it finally loosened up and came out. Thanks for all the advice, this site is great for a newbie!