Running an M20 without valve-cover breather

[ryan_george]

I've been noticing quite a bit of sludge building up in my throttle body, and it's all coming through the breather hose from the valve cover. The sludge is making its way throughout the intake and I assume my pistons/cylinders are loving it

Will there be anything wrong with just venting the breather hose to the atmosphere? I'd block off the port at the throttle body and just run a hose (with filter?) from the valve cover to the atmosphere somewhere....

I can't see anything wrong with this, do you??

-Ryan

[chuckybob]

tuned m10s run the breather hose to the atmosphere under the car, from what ive read, the only negative side effect is the bottom of your car getting dirty(er).

[nando]

aside from maybe emissions issues, no. just make sure you don't cause vacuum leak..

[ryan_george]

Great. That's what I was hoping for.
I can take care of the mess and any possible leaks.

Thanks.

[Jordan]

There is nothing wrong with venting the valve cover breather, except that it crankcase on e30's is under vacuum because of the connection at the TB. If you block off the TB you should have no problems with it.

Having it vented like that will introduce alot of moisture into the crankcase just so you know.

[BCMike]

You're treating a symptom, not the problem. It should really just be clean oil and a touch of combustion chamber gas in the uper head space. IMHO you should be more interested in figuring out why so much "sludge" is being produced in the upper head. I'd be thinking about how the valves are seating more than anything else.

[MR 325]

I don't run that vent tube, no issues

[EtaSport]

You're treating a symptom, not the problem. It should really just be clean oil and a touch of combustion chamber gas in the uper head space. IMHO you should be more interested in figuring out why so much "sludge" is being produced in the upper head. I'd be thinking about how the valves are seating more than anything else.

I'd suspect rings and poor oil in addition, possibly even condensation. If the passage is obstructed, there will be high crank pressure which can cause more blowby.

Aren't you running an oil/air separator jordon?

[Jordan]

Aren't you running an oil/air separator jordon?

Yes.

[ryan_george]

You're treating a symptom, not the problem. It should really just be clean oil and a touch of combustion chamber gas in the uper head space. IMHO you should be more interested in figuring out why so much "sludge" is being produced in the upper head. I'd be thinking about how the valves are seating more than anything else.

I realize that there is something more to the problem, but this is to ensure that I minimize any further damage.

I have a feeling that it's sand that's sludging up.... Sand from when the valve cover was sandblasted.

I took the cover off to have a look at the head/rockers/cam, and everythting was very clean. No buildup anywhere. I took the cover and gave it a thorough soaking, and there was lots of debris (sand/sludge) coming from within the baffle.

I believe my problem lies within the baffle on the valve cover. And on that note, what's behind the sheet metal? If I drill out the rivets holding it on, am I just asking for trouble?

-Ryan

[kowalski]

I realize that there is something more to the problem, but this is to ensure that I minimize any further damage.

I have a feeling that it's sand that's sludging up.... Sand from when the valve cover was sandblasted.

I took the cover off to have a look at the head/rockers/cam, and everythting was very clean. No buildup anywhere. I took the cover and gave it a thorough soaking, and there was lots of debris (sand/sludge) coming from within the baffle.

I believe my problem lies within the baffle on the valve cover. And on that note, what's behind the sheet metal? If I drill out the rivets holding it on, am I just asking for trouble?

-Ryan

well i hope you your engine isn't fucked up, if you got any sand in there you can kiss it goodbye... i don't know about the M20 cover, byt my m42 one had a rubber gasket on the top, and i took it off, cleaned it, and put a bead of scilcon all the way arround and it fixed my oil problem.

[e304me]

Having it vented like that will introduce alot of moisture into the crankcase just so you know.

Would a catch can also do this or would just a single filter stuck onto the valve cover do it?

thanks