I accidentally cracked one of the small plastic tubes, there are four very skinny tubes that are less than 1/8 inch in diameter that are near the thermostat housing, I think there are 2 on each side they sort of extend around the engine.

[This message has been edited by fierogtowner (edited 04-19-2007).]

A friend says it's the vacuum tubes? What do these do? because my car felt like it wanted to die.

you're definitely going to want to replace that. yeah it's a vacuum tube and it'll screw around with your idle

If you can just take a piece of the vacuum line with you, the plastic tends to get brittle over time. Just take it with you to an auto store and buy some rubber vacuum hose that fits tight over the other piece and use it to span the gap.

If you are willing to spend some money on them, Rodney Dickman sells stainless steel vaccume line sets. You will never have this problem again.
http://www.rodneydickman.com/retail_new.html

If you don't want to spend anything you can cut (gently) on either side of the crack and replace it with a piece of rubber hose that the plastic will fit in. This will seal up the line and fix you ideling problems. Should cost about 25 cents for the rubber hose. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Fieroseverywhere (edited 04-19-2007).]

What specific rubber hose do I ask for to bridge the gap? thank you.

Just ask for vacuum hose at the parts store they carry several different sizes in bulk (usually) and can cut you a piece any lenght you want. You can either replace the whole line or just splice it.