I posted this on the GTA Source Page and thought I would post it here too.
The PCV Mod as known by many is not some I hear around thirdgen F-body groups. I have done some research on this for a while and found that it is used quite frequently on turbo cars to keep the oil from getting to the aftercooler. I also found that many 4th gen f-body owners as well as some truck owners were installing them to control detonation. This all does make sense, the oil will reduce the total octane in the fuel going to the cylinders. It also increases emissions as well as fouling the catalytic converter, valves and intake.
So with that said I decided to do my own. Some use aftermarket catch cans or even homemade ones. The image below shows how I connected mine. The cooler is a copper tubing running in front of the radiator which I plan on replacing with a tranny cooler later on. The separator is a Campbell Housfeld which I got from Home Depot for about $20. The hoses are 3/8" compressed air hose from Ace Hardware, about $.79/ft.
<img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~ozvresto/GTA/images/PCV_Mod.jpg">
The results are not very noticeable as many mods but there is some difference in idle quality as well as some acceleration improvement. After a few days of running with it there is oil and some small particles of something in the separator bowl that otherwise might have ended up in the intake.

-Ozzy

 

PCV BREATHERS

 

What's a PCV?

 

Not sure

 

You know, I could understand the separator but a COOLER?!

Whatever trips yer trigger I guess. :shrug:

 

I was scratching my head about the same thing.... what in hell do you need to cool that oil for ?!? LOL It really doesn't make any sense to me....

 

On another note, a MUCH cheaper and probably more effective way is to just put a breather in the PCV valve hole and plus the hole in the intake.

 

You guys are missing the point of the whole thing. First the cooler is not to cool the oil. It is to cool the vapors enough to condense them and remove the condensation in the separator. It also helps cool the gases before they go into the intake thus cooling the fuel/air mixture. There are other devices available for carburated engines such as the Condensator.
Here are other examples:
http://users.erols.com/makowsky/breather.html
http://www.autospeed.com/A_0338/P_1/article.html
and the best example:
http://www.timskelton.com/lightning/...eliability.htm


Doing this will surely increase crankcase pressure and the vapors will make a mess in the engine compartment. It is also illegal.

If you don't know what a PCV is by now you should just sell the car and ride a bike. Just kidding.

I guess this was intended for a different group of car owners.
Later,
-Ozzy

 

I dont think the crank case pressure with a reasonable breather is any concern.

And certainly doesn't make a mess of any engine compartment i've ever seen with one, including mine.

 

I knew I stopped visiting this board for a reason. Let's just leave it as it is, if you like it and understand how it can benefit you then that's good, if not because you just are not concerned about emissions or fuel efficiency then just ignore it.
That's all I have to say.

 

are you getting upset because some people would rather buy a $5 breather vs a complicated and more expensive setup that adds more to the engine bay?

I respect your surely sincere feelings towards emissions and the virtues there of.. But I dont see any added fuel milage from introducing oil vapor into your combustion chamber, both the performance decrease and the milage increase would be fractional at best, and an even trade off.

The reason that I personally run a breather is because its cheap, clean, easy, and effective. Its one less thing I have to disassemble when I work under the hood. But Im not getting pissy because you may choose to keep your PCV intact.

I appricate you fronting some usefull information, but maybe being less cinical would help both yours and others experiences here

 

I appreciate your honesty on this, I do get a bit upset when I try to pass some information out for others who might be interested and then someone starts to make sarcastic comments about the whole thing. You are right about me trying to keep my emissions system intact. But that is something that I conciously decided to do and I am also willing to give up the small, if minute loss of performance in the process.
If I got upset I do apologize.
-Ozzy

 

No hard feelings, glad to see it come around




and again thanks for the provided information.

 

that might be the ticket for our blown 502 Scarrab. The breathers blow off, and when the stay put they still cannot contain the oil and it does get messy. When you run 8 lbs of boost the oil seems to not want to stay in the crank case lol. Not going to use the cooler due to no air movment in the engine bay. Hummm thanks for the post.

 

If you want to keep a breather your best bet might be a Jaz catch can. These I've heard they work pretty well.


Now, the one that I installed on mine does not completely remove all the oil but it does remove quite a bit. I have seen where other people put some steel wool or some of that Brillo Pad stuff you use in the kitchen to clean up pans. That helps remove most of the oil.

SRR makes a nice catch can too:
http://www.ipsracing.com/engine/acce..._oilcatch.html

 

someone told me to place steel wool in the baffles
(sp?) but I did not want the metal floting around in my oil when the steel wool broke down. Nice photos of nice products but the cost...we are simple country folks trying to save a few $$$. Every buck saved is a few more gallons of gas lol.
If the Home Depot ideal works thats much cheeper with the same outcome

 

Ozzy,
I personally think it's a great idea. This is the ticket for people with a little too much blowby. Granted, a breather would do it to but the more blowby you get, the more oil will build up in the breather and start dumping out of it.

 

One thing to look at on many TPI engines, mine included is the amount of oil in the throttle body. The PCV is designed to handle a certain amount of flow. If the engine is worn or you are runing a turbo or supercharger then the blow-by will increase. If the PCV valve cannot handle the increased blow-by the crankcase pressure will rise and the gases will then flow to the throttle body.
As far as the cost is something of a personal choice. I had built mine using the Campbell Hausfeld because it was cheaper that other products in the market. Yeah, I am cheap too. One thing though, it does seem to work better without the filter element.
If anyone went to the "Condensator" site you can see that some like this would help some that do not have a choice on having to pass emissions.
-Ozzy

 

Has anyone thought of simply connecting the PCV to the AIR tubes? Even without the AIR pump, the tubes still suck a little air, probably enough to ventilate the crankcase.

Unless it's mechanically unsound, that's what I think I'm gonna do, because I removed my AIR pump and didn't bother yet to remove the AIR tubes. I have the valve blocked off for now, but they're still connected to my manifolds.