Breathe Suzy BREATH...part II

[Ldub]

Here is the latest installment in the saga that I like to call...
"Ldub's fun with crankcase vapors"...

The original position of the breathers might be a little too close to the hood scoop.

TLMP & I both noticed an unpleasant in cabin smell at trail speeds...
It seems that the vented crankcase fumes were exiting the hood scoop & being sucked into the hvac system through the cowling vents...not good.
We both had headaches, & felt generally like crap by midday, & retired to our motel for the duration of the day/evening.
(WAG here, but the "all dub could eat" shrimp & fish noon meal, may be a contributing factor...)

I also noticed the crankcase fumes in my cabin, since i mod the PC valve with the air breather,but not to the point of having headaches.

All righty then...I decided to take a "do-over" on this whole crankcase ventilation dealio...

I had been having a problem with oil being pumped out of the breathers & collecting on top of the valve cover, I'm assuming that being under boost may be a contributing factor...at least from some of the articles I've read on the subject, it seems plausible.
The oil fume smell in cabin was reduced but not gone, and I always liked the idea of an oil catch tank, to seperate the moisture (oil) out of the vapor.
So I put on my tiny little thinking cap & started looking around ebay for a suitable catch tank.

I found this generic unit, which is identical to another I found, with a "mishimoto" brand name...about half the price without the ricer brand name...
I'm guessing that the "Mishimoto" sticker adds 15-20 HP...

see here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Mishimoto-Carbon...item45f12e8d89



I then gathered a few other supplies...fittings, hose, clamps etc.
I drilled & tapped two more holes in the top of the tank, then added fittings with a three inch pipe that'll bring the vapors into the tank much lower than the outlets. I had to mod these fittings by using stainless barrels from papermate "G-force" pens, epoxied into the bottom of the fitting, to extend them down into the baffle media.
For the baffle media, I used stainless steel "wool" (kitchen choreboy pot scrubber) to take as much oil as possible out of the vapor before it exits the tank.
I then removed the vents from their perch on the side of the supercharger & plumbed them into the inside of the air filter box cover.




Cut the various hoses to length, routed them all purdy & zip tied them out of harms way....BAM, hopefully no more fumes in the cabin...





And Tom, never mind that one of the hoses doesn't match...
I done run outta the "kitchen hose", & hadda fall back five yards & punt....

Other stuff I found out...
That nylon reinforced tubing can be really stiff to get over fittings, but a minute in a cup of boiling water changes it's attitude to "dramatically more compliant"...

If that doesn't work, reaming it out a bit with a tapered step drill, with the drill motor in reverse, works wonders...

I'll keep Y'all posted iffin this doesn't work as well as I think it's gonna.

[tom4bren]

Nice - impressive - clean install - well engineered - innovative

Sorry, I runned outta compliments 'bout as quick as you runned outta hoses.

It really is a nice job.

[WormGod]

Dubs, I would imagine that diamond plating would retain a LOT of heat from the engine bay and work against you with bringing in fresh, cool air. Am I mistaken? Maybe a carbon fiber lid would benefit you better? I just use the stock airbox for now as I have yet to find a decent cold air intake to mod that works well into the wheel well.

[crotchrocket]

Nice - impressive - clean install - well engineered - innovative

Sorry, I runned outta compliments 'bout as quick as you runned outta hoses.

It really is a nice job.

hahahahah fpmsl



Hey Dub, Would it be better to mount it below the air intake filter so that you could ditch the two small filters and any potential oil outbursts don't saturate the air intake filter and make it harder for the engine to breath??

[Ldub]

Dubs, I would imagine that diamond plating would retain a LOT of heat from the engine bay and work against you with bringing in fresh, cool air. Am I mistaken? Maybe a carbon fiber lid would benefit you better? I just use the stock airbox for now as I have yet to find a decent cold air intake to mod that works well into the wheel well.

It's OK, the diamondplate is just a skin on top of the stock airbox. I keep my intake air cool through the use if two layers of 1/4" foil faced foam insulation on all heat exposed sides of the box.
If you look at this pic, you will see the green color, that's a combined thickness of 1/2"...



I know this works, because in same "day/road/time" testing against Kenny's stock configuration, my IAT was 6-8 deg cooler.
I've also "sleeved" the intake tube, & the space between the outer (c/f) wall & the straight through sleeve is filled with fiberglass batting.

So you are going Valvecover => Oil Catch => Breather? or back to your air intake?

Have you considered a sensor that tells you when the catch-can is full, so that an alarm can be triggered within the cabin? It would seem that when the catch-can is full of oil, the engine isn't.

Valve cover(s)->Oil Catch->vented through breathers in the airbox.
So yeah, what little oil fumes may be left, go to the intake charge.
If you look at the first pic, you'll se a small plastic tube on the outside of the catch tank, that will indicate the level of what's inside.
Every time I check the dipstick, (at EVERY fuel refill) I also check the level of the catch tank.
There is no more oil leaving the crank case than with the stock PCV configuration, just a lot less of it is going into the intake charge.

Hey Dub, Would it be better to mount it below the air intake filter so that you could ditch the two small filters and any potential oil outbursts don't saturate the air intake filter and make it harder for the engine to breath??

I'll have to keep an eye on that, initial testing shows no actual liquid making it to the air box. Since I run a K&N cone filter with a K&N foam pre filter, & the loca of the breathers is well behind the filtration surface, I am at the present time not too worried.

[Ldub]

I made this today, to replace the plastic PCV valve that I gutted & epoxied back together...



It's a combination of light fixture parts, & a couple of other fittings I found at the local smokers emporium......

Oh yeah, & PC-7 epoxy...

Can't have none of that metal stuph dropping down into the valve train...

[crotchrocket]

I made this today, to replace the plastic PCV valve that I gutted & epoxied back together...



It's a combination of light fixture parts, & a couple of other fittings I found at the local smokers emporium......

Oh yeah, & PC-7 epoxy...

Can't have none of that metal stuph dropping down into the valve train...

Good use of materials there!!!

Meet Ldub, now refered too as the 'Jolly Bodger'

[atilla_the_fun]

So you are going Valvecover => Oil Catch => Breather? or back to your air intake?

Have you considered a sensor that tells you when the catch-can is full, so that an alarm can be triggered within the cabin? It would seem that when the catch-can is full of oil, the engine isn't.