I'd like to install one of these on my car. Can anyone recommend me a nice, not-so-expensive brand I can go with that screws in? I was gonna get the cheap Pep Boys breathers they have but those are push-in and I've heard these have a tendency to blow out. thanks.

 

if you have stock valve covers , pep boys sells one that fits in place of the oil filler cap, so it twists in the same way. It is made by Spectre, if i can ill get u a part # for it .

 

I do have stock valve covers but my cap screws in instead of just twisting, so I don't think that cap would work.

 

thats strange , do u have a pic of it? theres gotta be something that will work

 

No pic sorry. I really need a digital cam. But in the covers I have, the oil filler cap is closest to the alternator and requires several turns to fully close. I know in earlier models the cap is towards the back, and IIRC from an 88 I owned, that one just twists closed with only like half a turn.

 

Why do you want a valve cover breather?????Any valid reason why you need one??

 

Just for better ventilation, and I like the way the ones with the exposed filter material look.

Yes, I know it won't do a thing as far as improving performance.

I guess of all the modded engines in here, no one has installed this type of breather??

 

I thought that was your idea to look....

 

i remember vader saying a while ago that on a TPI car a breather would do nothing but make you engine bay dirty.

 

doesnt the pvc valve work kinda like a breather?

 

Dumb answer Md, because the PCV valve does not look as a Chrome Breather. Its the LOOK!

 

My breathers havent made my engine dirty so far, (you cant see it in the pic but there is also one on the driverside)

Matt

 

Good looking breathers What have they done for you performance wise?????

 

as for performance i dont know what anyone could expect to acheive as far as that is concerned. I just did it because i liked the way it looked.

 

I rest my case about how useful valve cover breathers are, just for LOOKS.:hail: :hail:

:lala: LOOKS:lala:

Sorry about that Fastcamaro87, I coulnt resist,,,,

 

no prob,

like i said i dont know what people would actually expect a filter element mounted to a valve cover to do.

on a race car they probably serve a purpose but i honestly dont know what the benefits would be.

 

I've never had my push-in breather come out. Just make sure that you keep your PCV hooked up. The first time I installed a breather in both valve covers and didn't use a PCV valve. 10k miles later I had to yank the motor to replace EVERY gasket.

 

Jim,
Why did u have to replace the gaskets? how did not having the PCV valve mess everything up?

I have the breathers that replace the oil cap, so they twist in, I got my hands on another driver side valve cover so i could use the breathers on both sides and still have my pcv system running the same way. So i dont think i should have any problems, but I am interested in what happened to your motor.

TIA
Matt

 

Fastcamaro87
What did you do with the 90 deg tube and hose to the TPI intake
on the rear passenger valve cover??? When I installed my new engine and put new valve covers on, this 90 deg tube was cracked and I had a pretty good oil leak from it. That oil was going somewhere. Just a thought.

 

ok the peice you are reffering to was a goofy design to begin with and i wanted to get rid of it because of the potential oil leaks etc. so heres what i did, first i removed the TB and pulled the hose nipple out of it ( the one that goes to the passenger side valve cover) a pair of pliers is all you need to yank it out, then i tapped the hole for a 1/4 inch pipe thread, and screwed a 1/4 inch pipe thread fitting with a 3/8`s hose nipple on it. now i was able to use a length of 3/8s hose to run from the TB to the valve cover (now for the next problem, u need some kind of fitting to hook the hose to and the original peice is to big for the 3/8s hose , so i went to the store and got a pcv valve and grommet for the driverside cover, then i cut the bottom off the pcv valve so now it is just a press in 3/8s hose nipple, put the grommet and valve in the valve cover and hooked up the hose.
No problems so far and it works great.

if you have any more questions let me know and ill try to be a little more descriptive .

Matt

 

what is the part number for that breather? i really wana get one... i hate that stupid lookin thing... how big is that hole? im lookin for someting like that.

 

I had to replace all of my gaskets because I had too much crankcase pressure, which caused all of my gaskets to leak. I had to replace the rear main seal, timing chain gasket, oil pan gasket and valve cover gaskets. The only gasket that survived was my fuel pump block-off gasket. Granted I was stupid and used cork gaskets, but they still should have gone more than 10k miles.

Anyway, I wouldn't run a breather on the same side as your PCV valve. That will pretty much eliminate any benefit that the PCV valve has. It'll just suck air from the breather and can still cause pressures to remain elsewhere within the engine.

 

I decided not to get it. I used the money to help me pay for some brake dust shields instead. Had to special order them cuz no one seems to have 16" sets. Anyways I'm gonna paint 'em red and install 'em as soon as I get a chance.

 

thanks for the heads up Jim, i think i will remove the one on the driverside.

 

I think the one you blocked off on the rear passenger side
is more important. My Opinion

 

Besides keeping crankcase pressure in check, PCV also helps to keep your oil fresh and clean. By actively pulling out combustion vapors, as well as boiled off water condensation you will have that much less of that crap in your oil.

Another thing to note, putting a push in breather to replace the TB tube on a MAF car is effectively creating a vacuum leak since there is now a pather for unmetered air into the engine. Sometimes it doesn't matter, sometimes it causes all kinds of weird problems.

 

Edit: nevermind.

 

ok i think u misunderstood what i did, i didnt eliminate anything, i just replaced it with a better design, so the line that goes from the TB to the valve cover is still there (its just a peice of 3/8s hose now instead of that goofy plastic pipes and grommets all hooked together), and the pcv valve is still there, everything is in the factory location, except now there is a breather on each valve cover, I understand what you are saying about the vacuum leaks, maybe i will just put it back to stock, since from what you guys are telling me it seems like there are no real benefits to having these, and it actually may hurt the performance of my car (i.e. vacuum leaks, moisture accumulation etc,)

thanks for the info, this may actually solve a high idle problem i have been trying to figure out.

matt

 

Z28DJP1987

What does your car LOOK like?

 

Abubaca
For your info: And now deleted.

 

Abubaca
::hail:

 

Looks nice.

It just seemed like you were picking on him because he wanted something for looks.

-and we've ALL done things that help our cars look nice.

 

YES, Anyone can add anything for looks. But remove the PCV just for a Vavle Cover Breather so it looks good, I still say its not the best idea.

 

FYI,
Jim was the only one who ran breathers without the PCV valve, mine was always still there.

 

If you do run breathers you can do away with your PCV valve since it won't work anymore. Heres some info I posted in a earlier post on another section of the board.

As for the PCV I actually did a little reading on that yesturday out of my Demon Carb book. PCV is used to release pressure that builds up from the pistons. They say if you don't run a PCV or Breather it can build up enough pressure in the oil pan to blow out a seal or the pan gasket. They also went into the detail between the two designs. PCV does great job of pulling pressure out except at WOT. At WOT the book said the motor doesn't have enough vacuum to properly open the valve, so pressure can build. They continued on and said that it wasn't a big problem on street cars since they don't see WOT for extended amounts of time, but it would be a problem for a race car since they run WOT for extended amounts of time. They also said breathers were against local and federal laws on emission controlled cars (not that big of deal really we run them all the time on street here in IL).

 

Very informative...I was thinking of removing my PCV..just for the uncluddering effect ....

I have read up on the WOT and no pcv problem....Summit and JEGs sells crankcase vaccum booster pumps..for engines that runn extensively under wot conditions


thanks for a great forum


Regards

Thomas

 

You can get away with a breather-type oil filler cap on a speed-density TPI, but not a MAF TPI. Since the PCV air is part of the intake air calculation, it MUST be measured by the MAF. That's why there is a CCV breather tube from the TB to the rocker cover in the first place. All that CCV air already comes through the MAF and intake tract. Without it, you're just begging for a code '34'.

A S/D scheme doesn't need that air mass measurement, but there are no practical advantages to changing from CCV tube to the breather cover.

Aftermarket covers that don't provide a CCV tube opening will require some creative solutions, and a breather cap is an option for S/D. You may experience some backflow on hard acceleration or with worn rings/bores, and will have to deal with the mess created. If you have an emissions requirement and inspection, an astute visual inspector may fail you on a breather cap instead of a closed CCV system. If you install aftermarket covers on a MAF system, you have little choice but to plumb a vent line to the throttle body, or burn a different EPROM.

Of course, you could run without a PCV system, but that's just asking for trouble. If you like weekly oil changes, that's fine. If oil leaks aren't a problem for you, good. If varnish buildup in your engine doesn't bother you, good - take off the PCV valve.

 

Excellent point. I never even thought about that on a MAF, since I have a SD system.