Charles made some very good points!

The only thing he said I don't like the idea of is on how to deal with the vent on the bottom of the manifold. My issue is that it see's boost. When you return to the crankcase; yes you are pushing any oil back, but you are also putting pressure(boost) into the motor which is not good. That is all Ford is doing by having it hooked up to the valve cover; moving it to the other valve cover won't get us anywhere IMO.

We need to figure out a way to keep the boost from that hole out of the valve cover/crankcase all togeather. IMO the pressure(boost) from that drain hole is what causes most of the oil in our intake.

My current PCV/dime mod has been keeping things nice and clean(I just had my blower off and got to look at things)

 

Have you considered that Ford chose to delete the Oil Separator indicated on the radiator plate due to they saw it would be a tremdious maintenance problem/issue with folks complaining about having to empty the collector or bringing trucks in every 600-1000/mi or so with the separator full of oil??!!??

 

If you read what Sal posted earlier, you would see that Ford did NOT delete the separator - it is right where Sal said it is...

 

Race engines with crankcase vacuum pumps are race only vehicles and the engines are built for crankcase vacuum, i.e., the rings, valve guides and pistons are designed to deal with it. Our truck's crankcase are at atmospheric pressure even though the PVC valve sees manifold vacuum this is because the driver’s side valve cover is vented to atmospheric pressure being the hose connects to the intake path between the throttle body and air filter. Fresh air is drawn into the crankcase through the driver’s side valve cover vent as the intake plenum draws crankcase gasses out of the crankcase through the PVC valve. When under boost and if there is a lot of blow-by the crankcase vents to the intake via both hoses, i.e., the PVC hose and the driver’s side hose. That is why some people see oil in the throttle body.

Charles

 

never knew that

 

But Casey the amount of air that would return to the crankcase throught the tiny vent hole is not very much at all compared to the amount of air moving through the crankcase. However you make a very good point, all this would not be an issue at all if oil did not get into the intake in the first place.

Charles

 

I remember looking at the drain hole/fitting on mine, but don't remember it having a reduced hole. I thought it was just a normal size about 3/8ths or so.

Yeah; a pin hole won't make the much difference, but open it would. Still 20psi threw a small hole will add up quick on a full 1/4 mile run.

 

I agree, plus if it were a 3/8 hole we would be loosing boost and power.

The thing is unless there is some solution that eliminates completely oil entering the intake the vent at the bottom of the plenum will be required or the manifold will become flooded at some point. Therefore if the manifold vent returns to the intake the engine will get a gulp of oil when you go WOT. That's a bad thing.

Charles

 

Ever since I vented the block to atmosphere and blocked off all the PCV return inlets as per my guide, my persistant, WOT pinging issues are gone, my air charge temp's are lower from cleaning the I/C and no further oil contamination, and my oil consumption issues are gone.

 

Master, do you have pictures, list of parts or a "how to" description? Are there any negitive side effects like nasty smelling fumes entering the Cab or oil leaks? One PCV valve system advantage is the crankcase is kept cleaner because fresh air is drawn into the crankcase before blow-by fumes can deposit themselves in the block.

Charles

 

I've posted before the setup...

Basically, block off the upper intake location, lower intake galley location, and the hole in the rubber intake boot (that directs to the driver's side crankcase). Then plumb both sides of the crankcase to one breather, using heater hose, etc.

This setup works, but need to find a breather that does a better job of not allowing oil vapor to exit, as it will eventually start to mist the area where you put the breather (currently mine is 5" above the driver's side PCV location).

I'm going to try to move that breather to a spot close to the firewall to see if a longer length of tubing will reduce/eliminate the extra mist/blow-by.

 

I, as several others have done, eliminated the PCV system by running breathers on both valve covers and blocking off all other PCV entry lines. I don't notice any particular oil "misting" from the breathers (I use a Ford Racing on one side, full size K & N on the other) or oil fumes in the cab either. And I have no oil whatsover in my intake system.

However, as Charles noted; generally speaking, the best opportunity to keep your engine free of combustion by-products and the sludge that can accumulate from them over time - is an "active PCV system" that draws fresh air through one valve cover, through the crankcase purging combustion by-products, and returning this into the intake system to be burned along with normal intake system air. And generally speaking on most engine PCV applications, oil does not accumuate in this air stream in the form of oil droplets, etc. is not excessive - and the amount of "diluted air" added to the intake system is minimal. Unfortunately in Ford's design, their PCV system on supercharged applications which allows for air flow through the PCV system in "both directions" to allow for crankcase purging under vacuum and pressurized conditions which isn't such a bad thing, also seems to allow oil to accumulate in larger droplet forms in the PCV air stream system - which for most of us seems to end up in the intake system on the throttle blades, etc. Perhaps a better "baffling" system inside the valve covers might minimize this. I suppose it's possible that Ford may have intended to "lubricate" the blower lobes in this manner for longevity's purposes - but I really think it's doubtful - and it just doesn't seem likely that they would build in a condition that would intentionally allow oil to "puddle" at the end of the lower intake. Generally speaking, as Charles and others have noted; unless you have a need to "lubricate" through the air system (such as in 2 cycle engines or air tools) there is no real value in adding oil in any form to the intake mixture - and as pointed out, can be detrimental. I would never want oil "mixing" with any bearing grease either - theres just no value to it and it could "wash" the grease out. I don't recall "lubricating" being intentionally done on Roots type superchargers in the past, although for the most part we knew there was a certain "loss" of air exchange between rotor lobe tips and we tended to accept this "loss."

I bought my 01L new in JUne of 01 - and after about a month I noticed that about every 2-3 times on startup, I had this puff of blue smoke out the exhaust. When I first took my throttle off at about 2k - I was amazed at the crudding on the blades and the oil in the intake elbow! I could see where as oil vapor accumulated here - it would build to the point where I would obseve it coming out the exhaust on startup. I doubt that Ford intentionally "designed" it to do this. And oddly enough, form what I have seen on here - not everyone has this happen to them. I have no explanation for this.

The "vacuum pump" systems try to do the same thing - but are specifically designed to be used "only" by engines setup for it.

PS: I also worked for Ford in manufacturing for 32 years - and I can tell you that sometime things as "designed" don't work out as well as intended. Is Ford aware of this condition? Absolutely!Ford engineers drive Lightnings too - as well as all over vehicles. I can assure that as soon as we could get our hands on one, we had every competitors vehicle - tore down. Also - for Ford and any other manufacturer - warranty costs and reliability over time are the primary reasons why many control systems are designed the way they are. They are not designed to specifically "enhance" performance - but to keep the engine together for 150k +.

It may be as Sal has noted - Ford was concerned about ensuring proper crankcase purging under vacuum and pressurized conditions - and were aware that in their 2-way PCV system that there would be more oil vapor in their PCV system than normal - but felt over the long run, it could prove advantageous warranty wise and not prove detrimental to performance. And that the "performance" addicts, if bothered by it, would find ways to overcome the problem anyway.

 

Here's an oil separator that a bunch of the Contour guys have been doing: right click, save as.


In the Contours the oil gets sucked into the intake manifolds, causes restricted airflow, gunks up the secondaries and gets to the point where it's difficult to open them. I cleaned my secondaries after only 45k miles and it made a difference in how the engine runs.

I don't like the intercooler getting gunked up nor oil getting in the combustion chamber.

 

what about moving the oil seperator?

Here's what I'm thinking and why.

Cut the plastic tube that runs from the passenger side of the s/c to the bottom of the rubber intake boot. Install the seperator there.

That way the system can work as designed and oil will be collected just BEFORE it goes into the intake. That way if oil coming from the valve cover needs to go to or from the bottom of the Lower manifold, it can without disruption. We simply pull the oil from the the intake boot leaving the rest of the system to work as designed.

THoughts?

 

The majority of the oil is coming from the pass side valve cover and into the upper plenum just behind the IAV.
Rich