Can anyone identify this rusty pipe?

[perksy]

Hi everyone.

I was changing my gearbox oil at the weekend and I took off the small undertray that cover the underside of the airbox.

It uncovered a fair few rusty bits including a worryingly corroded pipe. I don't think its the oil cooler pipes - they look A1 - but I'm not quite sure what it can be.

I took a pic - here

There are two pipes in the pic. A thick stainless one (air con I think) and the thinner more corroded one thats more visible in the pic. The only thing I can possibly think of is power steering. It comes from a belt-driven pump off the front of the engine, then goes along the bottom of the radiator to the passenger side of the car by the airbox (as the pic) and then down the passenger side chassis leg but after that I lose track.

Any ideas?

[EauRouge]

Its the the air con.

I think?

[.:ian:.]

Originally Posted by EauRouge

Its the the air con.

I think?

I`d say so too..

[symon]

I would say it is aircon too.

You have a nice photo of the Airbox support bracket which seems to be missing on my car.

[GTV-TB]

Do the pipe have the same look like item nr. 19 on the picture ? then it is the cooling pipe for
the power-assisted steering.

[zulu ferret]

Steel, corroded, rusty? Powr' St. ???

[perksy]

Cheers for all the input gents.

I've had a look again today and I'm really not sure. I think all the aircon pipes are stainless (at least all the ones I can see definitely are) so power steering would make sense although I doesn't seem to look like part 19 in the attached thumbnail above (thanks gtv-tb).

Hmmm confused.
James

[FoxtrotOscar]

The rusty steel pipe is for the power steering. The other pipes, which are aluminium, not stainless steel, are for the A/C.
A point of interest here for V6 owners: a little further towards the n/s than your photo shows (i.e. to the right in the picture) these pipes pass very close to one another, and quite often they are touching. This is not good as after a while the steel PAS pipe will actually rub through the soft aluminium A/C pipe, causing you to lose your A/C gas. It's advisable to wrap something round the A/C pipe in order to protect it, such as a short length of rubber hose, slit along its' length in order to fit over the pipe, and secured in place with a couple of cable ties.
Whilst under the car, check the condition of the engine oil cooler pipes; these are a common failure due to corrosion, and the consequences can be disastrous.

[perksy]

Good tip and advice - thanks.

Out of interest, whats the best way to treat/protect these corroding pipes? Rubbing in grease or something?

If its "only" a power steering pipe I'm not going to make replacing it a priority. If it does pop then the worst that can happen is VERY heavy steering for a while. It can wait a few months for sure.

I think the oil cooler pipes on my car are fine. They look almost brand new although the little plastic tag/label on the pipes says 1998 so I suppose they might be original (or an old stock part). I think I'll still give them a good greasing though, just to look after them...

James

[FoxtrotOscar]

To be honest, that PAS pipe looks pretty typical for the age of the car; it looks worse than it probably is.
Waxoyl is your friend; looks like your airbox support and radiator support could do with some too...

[perksy]

Good idea - I've got an enormous tin of waxoyl in the garage. I think the car is going to get a damn good dosing this weekend.

In fact, while I'm thinking about it I'll fetch the tin into the house now so its nice and warm and ready...

James

[alfaholic1001]

ignore me

[symon]

Clean the rust off, coat it with cold galvanising paint then cover it in waxoyl.