Hello Mondo,
I was told that if your hose is collapsing, it will collapse, result in loss of power with the need to stop completely where the hose will reform. I guess if you are getting mess on the outside you must have a hole/split. However another thought is how smoky is your engine and have you ever lost power at say 70mph and found no matter how much you push the pedal, there is no power and speed drops off? If so look at "Freelander Loss of Power at 70mph" or similar threads which I started. Basically there is a cam shaft breather filter inside the engine which clogs up, making the engine "breathe" and pushes oil from the sump through the pistons, through the intercooler/turbo/exhaust and makes a smoky and smelly exhaust.Another indicator is if you check the oil level after the engine has warmed up, pull the dipstick out and see if the oil is unusually high up the dipstick BEFORE you wipe it to take a proper reading. Imagine the engine under abnormal pressure trying to push oil out any where it can.
I am no expert, just a person who has gone through these problems and would not want anyone to have the same problem as me!
Hope this helps