Dumb Question,Slobber Tube

Beabop · 09-03-2008, 05:24 PM

DH wants to extend slobber tube. Do you extend it straight down as it is? Or do you route it somehow? Thx

Beabop · 09-03-2008, 05:24 PM

DH wants to extend slobber tube. Do you extend it straight down as it is? Or do you route it somehow? Thx

skigramp · 09-03-2008, 06:24 PM

The purpose of extending the slobber tube is to prevent the "discharge" from fouling the radiator and the transmission cooler ...

The slobber tube on my 2004 Journey goes mainly "downward and slighlty to the rear" until it is about 3" below the bottom the radiator frame ...

I think you can extend the slobber tube in any direction you chose to prevent the fouling of the radiator

As a relevant note: I think that I have one of the mis-calibrated dipsticks in my Journey. Since I have been having the folks who change my oil monitor the amount of oil they add when having oil changes ... I have not had nearly the discharge from my slobber tube (no oil spots on my toad) and I have not "burned" any oil between changes ...

The point being ... having the appropriate amount of oil in the crankcase is important in controlling the discharge

SCVJeff · 09-03-2008, 11:24 PM

Ditto to everything Skigramp said. I extended mine 6-8" toward the rear and slightly down. Just make sure that the extension can drain, otherwise it could clog up and cause other problems. Remember that it's a breather tube.

Randy Chesnutt · 09-04-2008, 03:59 AM

I extended mine to the rear of the coach. I added a peace of 3/4" conduit to get it to the rear and turned it down . After cat said that they recommend 19 quarts, mine does not drip like it use to. You need it to be passed the bottom of the radiator.

Gary CA · 09-04-2008, 01:45 PM

My solution to the slobber tube was to use a bicycle water bottle an capture the bottom of the tube; still giving the end of the tube about 3 inches of room to breath. This collects a small amount of oily mist, but mostly water from the road or my washing the coach. In the picture you can see the darker oily area above the water that was in the bottle.

Prior to the collection bottle I used to get a slight film on the hood of my toad, but not anymore.

Easy to empty the bottle of the residue, just cut and replace the zip ties. I looked at the more expensive JEGS products but this one was $5. You can't really see it unless you're on all fours looking.

SteveG · 09-06-2008, 10:06 AM

I also considered capturing the oil but became concerned about the possiblity of the retainer getting lose and becoming a small missle. So decided against it.

skigramp · 10-29-2008, 04:14 PM

Gary gave me inspiration to catch the few drops of oil that come from my slobber tube ... especially when I am parked in my driveway ...

So I used the bottom part of a sport drink bottle, a worn our tennis wrist band, and two zip ties to make a drip catcher ...

The hardest part of the job was cleaning up the area ... but simple green and paper towels did the trick ...

I cut the top off the Sports drink bottle ... drilled two holes in the bottle ... stuffed half of the wrist band in the bottle ... and used the zip ties to fasten it around a brace above ...

PS. At a GNR the CAT representative suggested using a quart oil plastic container and part of a disposable baby diaper to do the same thing.

wagonmaster2 · 10-29-2008, 06:41 PM

I did the same thing as SkiGramp, but with an empty peanut butter plastic jar. I cut a hole in the lid just so it would slide up on the slobber tube and put an adjustable heater hose clamp on the tube to keep the lid from sliding off. Then drilled about four 1/4" holes around the top edge of the jar so the slobber tube won't create a vacuum, put some steel wool in the bottom of the jar to absorb the oil (it has been suggested to use copper wool but could never find any) and keep it from blowing out then screwed the jar on the lid up over the tube leaving about 1/2 the jar down below the end of the tube. I empty the jar about every 3-5 months and have no oily mist anywhere on the back of the coach. Generally never have more than a spoon full of oil to empty.
Wagonmaster2
2004 Meridian 36G Cat C-7 330 HP

SCVJeff · 10-29-2008, 11:18 PM

THIS picture looking up the slobber tube extension was taken a few weeks ago. The tube is over a year old now with only a few thousand miles on it, but it's basically dry. I have had no drips at all, and very very little vapor since I changed the oil and re-scored the dip stick @ 19Q.