In a recent Machine Design (I think) magazine, there was an ad for Dana (I think---CRS!).....and it mentioned baffled valve covers....I searched their website that night but couldn't find anything about it...????

PS: My wife's (turbo) car has the PCV line going into the lower side of the airbox---fed into and through a piece of easily replaceable filter material (which allows the oil mist to coalesce and puddle in the bottom of the airbox, which it does quite well)---This plumbing is kinda like I remember from older cars---where it just gets fed into the air cleaner above the carb.---but again, the little piece of replaceable filter material was there.

 

if i remember right from last time i had the heads off, there is a small plastic half assed baffle there under the valve cover.

 

FRPP sells baffled valve covers....but they seem to be for 302-351- up through big block (older) stuff.

 

What should a person do when they find oil like this in their intake?

 

Funny thing is I just cleaned it less than 500 miles ago!

 

What were you using for a separator?

 

Man,

Get a bucket and start bailing - that ship is going down!!

Did you hole a piston or just wipe out the rings? That, my friend, is SERIOUS blowby!

Herb

 

Has anyone asked SVT about this?

 

O yeah; forgot about the missing piston



I just thought it was kindof funny when I pulled the blower last night to find all that oil in there, and we had just been talking about the oil in the intake mods

 

No need....they know, There is no reason that engineers would want oil splashed into the air intake.

All cars pull oil up into the intake through the PCV. Its the negative side affect to madatory reduction of hydrocarbons.
Pull the PCV line to the other cars in your driveway and oil is probably present.

Go to any message board on the net and theres a thread trying to slow the flow of oil or catch it before it gets into the intake.

C5's have as many threads as we do on this subject
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ight=%2APCV%2A

http://cjsupra.kendra.com/PCV-Can.html
this one for the supra is nice.


oil reduces fuels effective octane and our engines are sensitive to "detonation, rod failure" so I would do what it takes to eliminate the source of oil ingestion. Hopefully your blower rotors can stand up to removing the ingenious exterior used oiling system.

 

wow that piston is in good shape compared to mine, all i have is pieces not even close to a whold slug

 

I know this topic has been beaten to death, but there are still some points that have not been covered.
I do believe that the lower hose is a bypass hose to “first” remove collected oil (during boost) that is known to accumulate in the lower intake. Second, I believe that knowing oil will be pulled through the pcv, and even “more” under boost, the bypass relieves the accelerated suction through the pcv and allows venting through the driver’s cover via the intake boot which is also a vacuum source under WOT. This would explain oil in the intake boot. If you had to choose the lesser evil, then this is the way to do it considering a pcv system is required and I understand why Ford did it this way.
I say this because of the testing I have done.
First, with the stock pcv setup, I measured the oil collected at the upper plenum during a specific drive cycle. Second, performing the same drive cycle, I capped off the bypass hose and found that the oil collected this time more than doubled. To confirm more suspicions, I tested the direction of airflow entering/exiting the driver’s valve cover for both tests. Airflow through the tube on the driver’s cover (with the stock routing) under boost was exiting the valve cover and entering the intake boot as suspected. When I disconnected the bypass, (thereby allowing more air to be pulled through the pcv lines under boost), airflow in the tube reversed and was drawn back into the engine as it should.
Crankcase evacuation is a good thing. From the simple old school exhaust evac systems to the advanced vacuum pump setups on race engines, people are doing this for specific reasons (and have been for a very long time), and these reasons can be discussed on another thread.
To stay on the topic, I believe that this crankcase evacuation under WOT is beneficial and I wanted to get it working properly.
Most know I have an oil separator kit (L&S) that allows this to happen and at the same time the oil that is trapped is returned to the engine where it belongs. I take advantage of the simple fact that we CAN have crankcase evacuation at ALL times provided that we have a solution for trapping the additional oil that will be pulled through the system because of the bypass elimination. I found that the popular hardware store separator kit does in fact work to a point. However, the first negative thing is the fact that the bottle filled up to the ½ mark every 2 days and needed to be emptied on a regular basis. Once the level gets to the ½ mark, the separator becomes ineffective and does not trap any more oil. Oil just passes through as normal. When I disconnected the lower bypass hose to allow the additional airflow and crankcase evacuation, the canister filled up every day!
This is where my filter comes into play. No maintenance. It drains itself and is specifically designed for oil.
Now, my kit does allow very small amounts of oil to pass through. It’s impossible to totally purify the air, but my filter does an excellent job of trapping the mass amounts of oil being drawn up. Yes, I have collected this oil during numerous planned drive cycles, and the amount allowed through is excitingly minimal. I have also checked the direction of airflow on the driver’s valve cover, and confirmed that at “ALL” times there is in fact crankcase evacuation with my kit.
Mission accomplished!
I have in fact tried the double breather setup that RED92 endorses. Yes, he is correct that this is the only way to totally eliminate oil in the intake track. Well obviously, if you disconnect the source, problem solved. It just goes back to the fact that racers have incorporated crankcase evac systems for years. Why would you want to do away with this?
Doing the breather setup, the first thing I noticed is that after a fresh oil change, the oil discolors at a faster rate. I realize we all change our oil religiously, but personally I did not want this additional contamination knowing that I could do something about it. Venting and evacuating are 2 different things. On my truck, the filters did in fact accumulate oil and started to leak oil out. Although it was minimal, it was expected, and it goes back to what is acceptable to you.
We all agree that the use of a breather by itself for the oil cap, with no modification to the driver’s side cover, creates an unmetered air situation. You can tune around it, but again, with the accumulation of oil in the filter, this was not satisfactory to me.
Somewhere throughout this whole process, I removed the valve covers, inspected and MODIFIED the baffles, and in addition built external baffles. This was not effective either.

 

For fun, remove the pcv from the passenger valve cover, then remove the oil cap, and look down into the engine. You will be amazed by the amount of oil vapors that start to form in just a few minutes and you will have a better understanding of what we are trying to control. The camshaft/valvetrain are also doing a great job of splashing things around.
I did not try the dime mod or other kits that block off the upper plenum, mainly because of what I wanted to accomplish. Remember I “WANT” crankcase evacuation, especially under boost when blowby is at its highest levels. Engine builders will agree that this is needed and does help ring seal.
For the supercharger, oil is not needed to lube the rotors. These types of pumps are commonly used for many different applications, including your everyday carpet cleaning vans. The idea of pcv oil actually entering and lubing the rear bearings is just not true. Most rotor contamination occurs when servicing your air filter. Notice the larger deposits around the edge of the filter. When you remove and install the filter make sure you clean the outer edges real well. If not, you’ll disturb the particles and allow them to be pulled right in around the sides of the filter unknowingly.
Sorry for the long post. If you stuck with me, I hope I have clarified a few things.
Vince

 

Tons of great info on this post - thanks averybody.

One question though - does the double-breather PCV elimination mod cause any ill effects at all? No extra wear on the rings or anything else due to a lack of positive crankcase ventilation?

 

good post Vince,

your right, its important to stay on top of your oil changes with the breather mod. I want the same thing you do which is a clean air burn. I'm a firm believer that the Breather mod helps keep the rods in the block (oil in the fuel /air charge =detonation). It also gets rid of that white puff of smoke

I accept the possible side affects of the breather mod over the PCV contaminated air charge and oil coated intercooler.



2 issues with the breather mod if you dont add a vacuum pump.

1. vacuum aids in upper ring seal, will the lack of vacuum cause an issue on the 5.4 ???? in a 100,000 miles ? more/less, will it not cause any problems ? I dont think so....but I'm not a 5.4 engineer.

2. incomplete crankcase ventilation causing the oil to break down sooner. I guess I'll find out in time if this causes premature engine wear.....maybe, maybe not at all, I do change the oil around 2500-3000.

3rd issue is oil smell, I dont have that issue, some do I would live with it or set up my breather in a way to eliminate or reduce it.



You have put a ton of reseach into this issue.....thanks.