valve cover breather
 

i have a 96 4.9 liter inline 6
on top of the valve cover there is either a valve or some type of breather that has a hose on it that runs to the induction house between the throttle body and air cleaner, is this the pvc valve or somthing else. i have brought it to for and parts stores and they tell me that its a breather but is discontinued and nobody has it. should i put it back on or stick a pcv valve there. also were is the pcv valve on this engine, in the haynes book it says that that is the pcv valve not a breather.

That's the INtake for the PCV system; the PCV valve is at the BACK of the valve cover, under/behind the intake plenum.

https://www.supermotors.net/getfile/...epointsgas.jpg

You should be able to get a cheap 90° plastic elbow from a hardware store that will fit snug in the valve cover grommet & that the breather hose will fit over. It doesn't have to hold any pressure - it just has to keep rain & dirt out.