So by the intro you may deduce that I'm not much of a gear head. I am however very familiar with a forum and I have not been able to identify the part I have damaged through a search of the photo's on here. I understand engineering and mechanics but do not have the technical vocabulary.

Anyway, I was taking off the valve covers to investigate a separate issue when I felt a hose get caught and before I knew it I heard a snap and the release of some air/pressure. I'll have pics up shortly so I'll try and descibe it. The hose is very small, and not very pliable. I traced it's path and it runs from the top of the engine block, around the right side of the block and down it paralell with the valves, then turning down at front of the compartment toward the left front tire to these blue plastic containers of some sort. I think that last sentence there probably describes exactly what type of hose this is and I realize it makes me sound like an idiot, but I'm accepting that.

I had already been planning on taking the old girl to the shop to fix a bad rear wheel bearing (shocker!), so I was wondering if I might just be able to patch up this hose and take it the 15 miles to the shop. I'm hesitant that this would work because this hose in maintaining some air pressure related to the engine and I'm not confident any patch I might have would maintain this pressure.

Anyway if someone could help me at least name the hose that I broke I think I should be able to learn enough on here to understand the best course of action.

I am uploading pics from my cell phone shortly
Thanks.

 

Trying to get these pictures imbeded. Sorry for the attach.

 

First picture above is the "top" of the engine I referred to. This hose stems from the y-coupling you can see in the pic. Third pic shows the blue reservoir I mentioned that the hose runs to.
Sorry if this isn't helpful, trying to offer as much as I can.

 

I know that hose exactly. It's a vacuum line going to the evap canister. Every valve cover gasket job that I've been part of (several now) has resulted in that line breaking - it's not a matter of "if" it breaks, but "where" it breaks. It's scripture - pull the driver's side valve cover and you will break that line.

My solution when I broke my own was to use some silicone vacuum line I had left over from a prior turbo-conversion project car. As it turned out, the inside diameter of the silicone line I have is very close to the outside diameter of that little line. I shoved the broken ends of the vac line into a piece of my silicone line, and created a splice that way. Zero problems since, and we've used that method every time to fix that line. No failures at all since.

It's simply a vacuum line, nothing special about it. My suggestion would be to break off a piece of it completely and take it to an auto parts store. Have them bring some sample pieces of different sizes of vacuum line that they have, find one that it fits inside of, and buy a few feet of it. Go back to your car, break that line completely off the car as close as you can to the evap canister (as close as you can and can still reach it anyhow - I broke it off a few inches above the bend where it comes off the canister and turns vertical to run up the side of the engine toward the intake manifold), and at the other end, break it off as close as possible (maybe 3-4" away) to the solenoid it connects to at the top rear of the engine. Replace that entire run with your new vacuum line and forget you ever had the brittle, crappy plastic line that Audi put there. It works great - half a dozen cars that have come through my garage can attest to that fact.

 

Thanks buddy I really appreciate the response. Simple enough just didn't know where to begin.

 

no problem bro just do the line replacement like that and the problem is solved.