Oil Seperator for Crankcase ventilation

[Sean]

I was thinking today, I remembered Jordan mentioning quite some time ago that he had figured out a way to keep crankcase vapors and oil seperate, so that the intake manifold didn't fill up with oil.

Well, searching thru these threads, someone mentioned that the E30 M3 had a crankcase Oil Seperator.

Looking thru the ETK, it sure does. Looks like it takes the breather hose from the valve cover, brings it down into the oil seperator device - then this splits off into the oil pan and the other goes into the intake manifold. This device splits the oil and gases - allowing the gases to enter the intake manifold, but cause the oil to enter the oil pan.



Looking at that diagram, you can see what I'm describing.

I'm pretty sure this is what Jordan did on his car to seperate the gases from the oil, so the intake manifold didn't get all gross with oil.

Only modification I would think this would require would be to make sure the hoses are the right length and that I have a spot to mount it - but I think I can make it work. My engine will be out, so I can easily pop a hole in my pan for this to release the oil back into my pan. This doesn't seem too difficult at all.

Just need to find the Oil Seperator! :D


So...what does everyone think??

[mcgrath]

Same exact thing I was planning on doing. Pelican Parts has it for $40.50 I didn't check but they probably have everything there. Sometimes prices are higher but they tend to have hard to find items.

Steven

[rs4pro3]

Why not just use a catch can from the valve cover breather tub?

[Sean]

Why not just use a catch can from the valve cover breather tub?

I could...but that's too easy. It'd be fun to get this whole system setup.

If I did do it, I could also just put a filter on the end of the gas tube...or run it back to my throttle body - there's another idea. lol

[bumpstop335i]

You will notice when rev limiting the usual smoke will be nolonger.

When i did this, i had my sump plug modified with a barb on the end. It was welded and a hole drilled through it to make hole for the oil to come back from the catch can via 3/8' hose.

NB: I had a factory sump guard fitted before hand!

I had an beather unit on top with a catch can. piped back into the sump.
I found that it gave it more responce. at about 2-3. Thinking about why. I have concluded that the tappet cover gases are not metered in anyway. So taking that away all the engine gets now is just metered air from the afm, that makes it run cleaner?

[Sean]

I suppose I could do something similar, instead of bringing the release gases back into the throttle body, I could just put a filter on it and it'll release thru there, couldn't it? Or, would that not work?

I don't really want to leave it wide open, and rather than trying to find a spot to put a catch can, AND leave it there, I'd rather reroute the oil back to the pan and the gases out - the whole reason for the oil seperator.

[bumpstop335i]

block up the hole where the crankcase breather was. If you dont do this it wont work. Because all the air will be sucked in through here and it wont work. The crankcase will work fine under atmospheric pressure just fine. Plus all the crap that gets sucked into the engine from the vapours, gets rerouted into the sump. Having the sump vented also acts as a surge tank.
One,of the other positives to come out of this is that the oil and air seprate faster from inside the sump. All the bumbles that get mixed into the oil, cause the oil to breakdown faster and the oil transfers heat less effectivly because the surface area of the oil is reduced. Removing the bubbles sooner will help in better heat transfer.

Because i had no a/c. I removed everything else. Where the a/c dryer was that were i places the catch can/breather unit. it fitted prefectly. I would stick pic's up but my 325i had an engine bay fire coming up a year ago now. I still have everything from the 325i. Just waiting for some spare time to place it on my 335i.

TIM