What is the steering gearbox airtube for?

[muhhan]

I found a tube on my civic that was detached. I've figured out it is the air tube that goes into the steering gearbox boot but other than that I can't seem to figure out what it does and more importantly if it's still all right to drive the car around. Does any one know what this tube does and how it can be replaced/repaired? Cheers!

[bennjamin]

does it go into the rubber boot of the steering rack ? (or check on both the rubber boots for a small nipple that requires this) - i think its a breather pipe for the rack. Anyway, maybe some pictures might help

[tofu R]

maybe its the aircon breather pipe =)

[muhhan]

OK here are some pics. They were taken with my camera phone so they might not be very clear. Thanks for all your help guys. I really appreciate it.
http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=500/6270Side_view.jpg
This is a view from the side. BTW, its on the drivers side of the car.

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=500/6270Top_view2.jpg
This is a top view.

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=500/6270Lside_intact.jpg
And this is a view of the passengers side steering gearbox boot. So you can make some comparison and perhaps give you a better idea of what i'm talking about. Here you can clearly see that the air tube is attached.

[ECU-MAN]

this should be connected

you do not want foren objects to get in there
the idea of this tube is to balance the air in the air tight boots ( left and right ) so the boots dont expand and contract.

with the tube disconnected it will suck air in from the hole along as dust and crap thats around. if this stuff gets into the sealing area of the racks seals it could score the shaft causing leaks. the shaft in the rack is the most expensive bit, getting it recromed is expensive.

fix it

[Domokun SPL]

Ditto to the above, CV's are annoying to replace :(

Hose can be bought from repco/supercheap/autobarn for only a few dollars a meter

Cheers

[SKREMN]

as mentions its to balance air flow from one boot to another when expanding and contracting
you can get replacemnt boots that dont have this pipe option so i would say its not totally necesary to fix it just block up the hole save the trubble of removing and replacing the boot

[muhhan]

Thanks for the 411. But exactly how do you repair/replace this air tube as it looks to be severed. I can't seem to find anything about it in the service manual.

[Domokun SPL]

It seems to just be clamped on...from the photos

See where it connects the to boot, in the third photo, use some pliers and undo the clamp, pull the hose off/out. Take the hose to repco/supercheap/autobarn and find the right size and length, reverse to install...

Good luck, let me know.