WHAT IS A Diesel Engine BREATHER PIPE?
A breather pipe allows an internal combustion engine to vent crankcase pressure out of the engine.
When an engine suffers from a clogged breather pipe, the engine overheats and often begins to misfire. Oil consumption increases and the engine seems to have less power. Failure to repair the clogged breather can cause spark plug fouling and possibly bursting the head gasket or intake gasket, as accumulated air will attempt to escape from the engine.
As you can see (pictured below) these breathers do not lead a very clean life and require replacement periodically. Also, these breathers are often modified and improved versions of the original factory fitted design.

WHEN DOES MY BLOCK BREATHER REQUIRE CHANGING?
The engine block breathers pipes need replacement:
- as a service measure (we would advise replacement at 40,000 miles);
- change with swirl flap modification;
- or change with replacement of turbo charger.

You can see just how much the breather filter expands over time with oil saturation and is beyond it’s functioning life.
This is a relatively inexpensive service measure, when was your last changed?