Shadowcat

Alrighty guys got a question about a breather setup.


Hopefully that picture worked but its a few sketches of ways to route the lines. In the first one (very top) I have lines comming from the vent on the VC and pcv valve on the VC going to a vented catchcan open to atmosphere. The second one (middle) I have the vent and pcv teed together going to one port and the other port goes to the vacuum line on the IM. So this system is sealed with no breather. The third setup is basically the same as the second but both lines are y piped together to one port and the other port on the catchcan goes to the IM for vacuum but just have the can mounted in a different location. So my question is. Which setup is better? I'm NA right now building it for boost

lostforawhile

lostforawhile

picture failed, you never seal your system or it wont work, blowby has to get out and be pulled into the manifold through the pcv and fresh air has to enter the system through the breather, it's supposed to enter through the breather, be circulated through the engine and back through the pcv valve and into the intake

Shadowcat

http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/69121561@N02/8671380019/

There that should work. So if I'm running a vacuum from the intake I want the catchcan to still have a breather on it?

lostforawhile

you are running N/A right? your engine doesnt have a fitting lower on the engine like on the top of the pan? normally air enters at the top of the engine and is pulled downwards to pick up blow by, then picked up lower on the engine and to the pcv valve, you seem to be wanting to pull a vacuum from the valve cover, where air normally enters the engine

schmitty915

iTrader: (1)

I run PCV -> Oil Catch Can -> Intake Manifold with a breather filter on that nipple on the left back corner of the valve cover.

N/A

Keeps blow-by out of my intake manifold very effectively.

Shadowcat

No i'de get vacuum from the intake manifold. All I'm trying to do is put a catch can inline with the pcv valve and have my vent run into the can aswell. (But i don't know weather I should keep it open atomospere or have vacuum on it like the original setup utilizes.) Pulling vacuum from the intake manifold and going to the pcv and vent would create a suction in the valve cover to releave crankcase pressure? Am I right?

lostforawhile

one end needs to be open to let air in, or have a filter on it, how is the factory PCV system setup on that car, I cant remember, you basically need the system stock, but add the can in the line going to the pcv valve, vacuum is going to be pulled towards the intake,

schmitty915

iTrader: (1)

That's exactly how mine is set up. Except I have the breather filter where there is a hose that normally connects the valve cover to intake piping because oil was making it's way into my intake piping.

Stock there is a hose from the corner of the valve cover to the intake tube. And the pcv connects directly to the intake manifold.

I think this is what you are suggesting: (out of picture is the oil catch can.) Mine just has a breather filter on the back right corner of the vc. and I plugged the nipple on the cold air intake.

Shadowcat

Ok but if its open and it's setup like stock with a vacuum line having it open would create a leak and idle a lot higher

lostforawhile

it sounds like you have some blowby, you leave the pcv part stock except for the catch can being in the line between the line going to the pcv and the pcv, the can will have to be sealed up or there wont be any vacuum to evacuate the crankcase

schmitty915

iTrader: (1)

None of the vacuum lines are open. I capped off the nipple from the cold air intake. There is a breather on the nipple in the rear left corner of the valve cover.

Yeah I have a saikou michi catch can all closed. H22 & H23A are notorious for blow-by.

Shadowcat

Ok awesome I think ill set it up the way you have it. Seems to be the most effective. And having the breather on the nipple helps air into the VC to move to the pcv and get sucked out into the can then the air from the mix would get sucked into the IM to be recycled

Shadowcat

Now my can isn't as nice as the one above but what if I had a pipe comming down the intake as seen above and then I heard you can use steel wool as the 'mesh' to separate the air from the oil

schmitty915

iTrader: (1)

Yeah there are write-ups floating around the internet somewhere for a DIY.

I believe you can purchase all necessary components from a hardware store for somewhere around $30.

EDIT Here you go:

DIY Oil Catch Can

I would get hose that can withstand the vacuum. Many of them collapse over short period of time so keep an eye on it.

lostforawhile

a lot of us use garden variety compressed air oil traps, you just set it up with the airflow arrows going in the direction of the PCV valve, air moving through it does exactly the same thing as compressed air moving through it would, the oil is trapped and condensed out, if it was hooked to a compressor the high pressure side would be the tank, and the low pressure side, whatever is hooked to the end, in a catch can setup like this, the high pressure side would be the crankcase, and the low pressure side the intake manifold, works the same

lostforawhile

I have a -4 AN fitting in the bottom of mine, what I would like to do is put a tank down on the lower fender well, with a level sensor, then when it's full, just reach under the car and open the valve.

lostforawhile

this is what I'll be using, it's a very simple principle, oil condenses out and cant travel through the fine mesh, and it collects in the reservoir, the extra fitting on the side is where I had to tap PCV vacuum to retain my canister





it just needs a coat of paint is all, on my setup it already has a factory oil separator on the rear of the block, why they didn't retain this system is beyond me. I've seen aftermarket systems that replicate the factory setup, and go for 5-600 bucks, if you can fabricate, you would need to add a vapor pickup with a simple splash baffle at the top rear corner of the pan, and you would need to add a port into one of the oil drain passages in the block, on mine they run at the rear of the block and the factory separator picks up blowby there, then fabricate a simple baffled can, the oil would condense out and run back to the pan, as blowby is picked up at the oil drain passage, this lets air circulate through the entire engine, not just at the valve cover

Shadowcat

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8674124708/http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8674124708/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/69121561@N02/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8673020155/http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8673020155/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/69121561@N02/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8673021107/http://www.flickr.com/photos/69121561@N02/8673021107/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/69121561@N02/, on Flickr

alright got mine all set up! thanks for the help!!!!!

P.S in the first pic the vc has a breather on it i changed it to the steel braided as seen in the third picture

P. Hunter

it makes me sad to be a honda owner sometimes..... seeing the stupid thing that honda people do to be "different"... why would you ever leave your timing belt open to the possibility of something getting in there? a simple rock could end your motor in no time

P. Hunter

is it all to show off your aftermarket cam gears??? lol wtf

lostforawhile

I haven't put it on yet, but I have one with a lexan window, you can inpect the entire belt with the cover in place, I've considered making both covers out of cast poly, but I don't have funds to get the materials needed

Shadowcat

Well actually I'm always adjusting my timing to suit how I'm driving weather I want the bottom end power or i want the top end. Having it like this makes it extremely easy to adjust on the go. If I had the gay *** cover on there I would have to pull the valvecover! So my question to you is wht the hell would you leave it closed? More work on yourself

98vtec

You got big problems if something gets lodged in your timing belt from the top half missing.

I've ran without the top half to I couldn't even tell you how long. Hell I ran with no covers when my prelude was on the street. Not that I recommend that but I ran in all sorts of weather with no problem.

Shadowcat

I didn't have any covers on the b16a that I had in my hatch. Didn't have cam gears or anything pretty much stock and NEVER had a problem. I've ran the H for about 8 months without the top half, it does have the bottom part tho. NEVER had a problem so idk what the hell roads your driving on but I'm not too worried about it, okay