Oil Separator installation & R&R

[Tex Arcana]

Theres ALWAYS alot of discussion when it comes to oil separators; from deleting the PCV altogether, to breathers and catch cans, to rerouted PCV systems and an actual oil separator.

This discussion is about rerouting the PCV and installing a separator. It's what I did with my truck, and it's worked pretty well--I honestly think its been far Better than anything else so far, except the L&S unit, and I'd STILL install that on my rerouting scheme.


So, without further ado, the reasoning behind rerouting and diagrams:

Go with the L&S separator kit, it's the best one out there and the only one that truly returns the oil to the crankcase. *Also, it's probably a good idea to reroute the PCV system to something like this:

This is my setup as it stands, the separator isn't all that great, but it's better than the stock setup:

The L&S will be even better because it'll pull all the oil from the airstream and dump it back into the valve cover thru the oil cap. You don't have to have the check valve, but it does stop any flow reversal under boost, which is why you see oil in the intake boot.




Nice article on the L&S: L&S Automotive Performance - Oil Separator Article


Better writeup by me at NLOC (What PCV do you use-Dime Mod-intake oiling - The National Lightning Owners Club Inc)

Dangit, Jason, why didn't you mention our little rerouting scheme?? *Can't believe I came in THIS late on the discussion!

First off, we all need to remember the reasons for a positive crankcase ventilation system: *1) *to evacuate unburnt hydrocarbons, exhaust blowby gases (both of which contaminate oil and damage it), and to place the crankcase under slight vacuum to help the rings seal better. *Yes, the EPA requires PCV; *but the benefits truly do outweigh the negatives. *

The stock system works like this: *the intake snorkel is the fresh air intake for the system, which goes into the driver's side valvecover; *air goes thru the crankcase and picks up the oil/fuel/combustion vapors, and they get sucked up into the passenger side PCV vent, thru that fake valve, thru the tee, and up into the vacuum port in the upper intake. *At the tee, that's where the slug of oil (as Jason puts it) comes from the lower intake; *once that oil is gone, you get a little air, but it ends up in the upper intake.

Jason's right: *the orifice in the lower intake is meant to evacuate the oil that pools in the lower intake; *if you plug it, you will get a buildup of oil down there that will eventually end up being sucked into the combustion chambers and burnt; *and we all know that having a nice oil coating on the intake side isn't good, and a burnt oil coating on the valves, pistons, plugs, and exhaust tracts aren't good either. * And that's the problem: *by running the outlet for the lower intake orifice into the tee on the driver's side, you're still cycling oil into the blower/IC/lower intake.

So we need to control the oil, and keep it out of the intake, right?

There's been alot of argument here about how it should be done. *Separators help, but aren't 100%, and that line from the lower intake to the tee in the vacuum side of the system is the weak link in our applications.

Jason and I discussed it, and we came up with a couple of ideas; *my first idea involved a pair of separators on both sides, but only the passenger side one ever got any oil, and I still got some oil in the boot; *so one day, the lightbulb went off in my head, and I did what is detailed in this thread, which is this:

By moving the tube from the lower intake to the driver's side, you force it to dump the oil into the air stream that's already there from the boot. *To be safe, in case the crankcase pressurizes, a check valve is put between the tee at the PCV vent and the boot, to keep air from going back into the boot. *By doing it this way, you eliminate that "looping slug of oil" you get with the stock system; *and your separator doesn't have to filter as much.

The weak link, tho, is the separator: *that C-H unit I use isn't really meant for oil, it's meant for water, and some oil still gets past the "filter" in the middle, and into the intake tract. *So we either need a separator that's more efficient at filtering oil, or something like the L&S unit, or the MotoBlue Oil Separator kit, both of which return the separated oil back to the engine, which to me is the better way to do things. *

The only drawback to Jason's/my system is it seems to pull alot of vacuum, and on older engines you might get a howling noise from low on the engine, I'd guess the front main seal--tho I'm not *100% on that, that's what I heard when I put it on rickgig's truck (with 120k miles, btw), so I could be wrong, we never left it implemented.

It's good to keep discussing this. *I plan on testing a larger "industrial" unit I got cheap, and test a couple ideas to see how much oil I can trap; *or, I can get the L&S and be done with it.

L&S has the best setup so far, and the cost isn't near what it costs us in time and materials pulling the blowers to clean out the intercooler and other bits. And I wouldn't think twice about running the L&S with my routing scheme (which has been working on my rig since early 2007, nonstop).*

And what's y'alls time worth?? hell, what's a blown motor worth?

 

[Tex Arcana]

Now the R&R itself, including the rerouted system, which can be followed for a new setup:



So I was cleaning up the garage, getting my crap out of the way so wifey can get her car back int the garage :wtf:, when I found this little beauty:

Which, of course, got me thinking about that oil separator thang again!! Of course, when you see my present setup, you know why:

I didn't get a pic of it with oil, but it had about 3/4" in it. It's not a great solution, as evidenced by the oil on the filter (just a sintered-plastic thing), but when it runs you can see the oil and air swirling thru it.

So, a "test fit":

Hm, looks alright...

How the old one is plumbed:

Comparo between the two, the new one is HUGE in comparison!!

Exploded view, it doesn't look bad for a no-name flea-market $10 acquisition!

The sintered-brass filter inside the swirl insert:

Filter/swirlee assembled:

Cup drain, this is designed as a 150-psi compressor water separator/filter, so this bit is meant to seal under pressure; I have a feeling that it won't quite work as designed under vacuum:

 

[Tex Arcana]

Bench comparison:

After a run to my local (b)Lowe's--I just LOVE giving my paycheck BACK to them!!

The 3/8" nipple inserted in the bottom of the cup, it *almost* threads in, but as you can see, there's a couple of notches that don't seal up:

So, a bit of black RTV silicone on the threads:

...and that's about as far as THAT went! Instead, I went with some marine epoxy:

Yep, that'll do it.

:wtf: steel wool?? Why?? Allnighte

Uh, oh... What's ol' Tex thinkin' this time??

Ahhhh... Additional filter media!

Yes, because I think it will filter oil vapor better, and give it a path for it to drain back down into the bowl. Either way, I think it'll help. I twisted the wool as I pressed it into the gap, until it filled it up, with the last layer being the tightest and thickest, to keep the rest in place:

 

[Tex Arcana]

Assembled:

Assembling the fittings, I had to buy seventy-bazillion of them to neck it up from 3/8" to the 5/8" barb fitting for the upper plenum port:

Completed fittings, I'm not to sure about this:

The original 1/4" NPT fitting on the inlet side, with some steel wool stuffed in there to try to give some condensation surfaces for the oil vapor to drop out and flow back to the valve cover :-/ meh:

This is the so-called PCV "valve", I think it's a waste of time and effort, you can see daylight thru it!

Yes, I'm using red hose, it's all da (b)Lowe's had, so bite me! Either way, PVC pipe cutter makes a great hose cutter, nice square cuts:

5/8" ID heater hose is just the right size for the upper plenum port:

Separator assembled and installed:

 

[Tex Arcana]

Something's not quite right... nice kink in the tubing:

Eh, I'm not liking this at all, the thing at the bottom is a ball valve, I'm thinking it'd be good for draining the thing--problem is, too tight quarters, that lever won't turn for sh1t. Hmmm... gotta cogitate on this one a bit...

So...on to the boot, decided to pull it and check for oil:

Clean as a whistle!! Well, mostly... the grime is from the last time I had oil intrusion, when the edge got folded under the lip of the throttlebody.


Damn good thing I decided to pull the elbow, I think I've got some more replacements to do:

Fokkin'-a, that's not good! Time for an R&R!

 

[Tex Arcana]

Something's not quite right... nice kink in the tubing:

Eh, I'm not liking this at all, the thing at the bottom is a ball valve, I'm thinking it'd be good for draining the thing--problem is, too tight quarters, that lever won't turn for sh1t. Hmmm... gotta cogitate on this one a bit...

So...on to the boot, decided to pull it and check for oil:

Clean as a whistle!! Well, mostly... the grime is from the last time I had oil intrusion, when the edge got folded under the lip of the throttlebody.


Damn good thing I decided to pull the elbow, I think I've got some more replacements to do:

Fokkin'-a, that's not good! Time for an R&R!

 

[Tex Arcana]

The check valve, that I taped to make sure it stayed together:

Unwrapped, looking decent:

But, doing a flow test, it doesn't check properly, gotta open it up.

The inside, looking a bit grimy... oil residue?? Seems kinda dry:

"Houston, we have a problem":

Picked a new one out of storage:

Underside of the elbow, showing my nice ghetto clamp on the PCV fresh air inlet and the other inlet hose (no idea where it goes), and the IAC (idle air control) valve inlet:

The barb fitting, came out a little too easily:

Done, after cleaning the elbow, with proper clamps to boot(!):

Throttle body, clean as a whistle!!

Tubing from the lower intake fitting, maybe the glistening is wet oil?? I can't tell, the finger test was inconclusive:

New lines in place:

Nice, shorts straight shot into the valve cover. Originally, there's a 90° that led straight to the fresh air inlet on the elbow, I eliminated it for a cleaner install:

Check valve in place, clamped properly:

Inlet lines, ditto:

In case anyone's wondering: the check valve concept WORKS!! The intake elbow being dry and having NO OIL in it, shows it's doing its job in stopping the reverse flow.

 

[Tex Arcana]

Now to deal with the screwy separator installation.*

First, check the PCV vacuum inlet for oil, a little bit that I'd guess got by the old separator, far less than without:

Played around with it, came up with a not-too-ideal solution:

You can just barely see it, but I cut down the ball valve lever so it'll fit better:

I used a rubber elbow on the PCV valve to make the turn for the tubing. The bit zip-tied up top is over a couple binding posts that, as it turns out, are connected to the stinkin' starter solenoid!! It's fun to hear the motor try to turn over when you're trying to clock the connector a little to make everything fit. :wtf: This, I don't like either, but I'll fix it later, there was a reason for that cover. I also need to redo the adapters from the 3/8" NPT outlet on the separator to the 5/8" barb fitting, that's WAAAYYY too long to work properly.



So it's connected and working, at least I think so. I'm not seeing any oil swirling in the bowl, what I can see; and, after resetting the SES light (P0171 and P0174, lean banks), it came back fairly quickly. I can't get to the back of the lower intake to check that elbow, so I guess that's the next project, to pull the blower and get to it, and while I'm at it check and clean the intercooler and check the plugs.

I'm pretty certain the mod is working overall, no need for open filters, dimes, or catch cans. Even a simple separator works decently, as long as its emptied regularly. The L&S unit would still be the best, however; and the rerouting of the lower intake drain, in conjunction with a check valve, works wonders.

Edit: I've been using this for nearly five years now...

 

[Tex Arcana]

Update: I checked the bowl a couple weeks ago, and it's collecting oil, but it's not a whole lot, and it's still not "swirling" in the bowl like I think it should. :shrug:

I still need to reduce that monstrosity batch of fittings, and shorten that all up, and get my relay cover back on, as well as mount the sep on the firewall. Of course, if I still don't like the way this one works (it could be leaking air), I'll look at some better ones elsewhere, and see what I can do. I did a bunch of looking, after the posting on General[M]ayhem's Automotive[M]ayhem forum, there were a bunch of ideas posted that essentially boiled down to the BMW cyclone separator setup, which might be workable.

Either way, I'll be moving shortly, and won't be able to work on it past that point for awhile, so right now I'm stalled.

Any questions? Let fly, I'm here to help!