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PCV and crankcase breather vent

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Old Sep 8, 2007 | 09:05 PM
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PCV and crankcase breather vent

I understand it's illegal to vent, I'm not concerned about that. I know that when you just put on a breather filter or just run the line from the valve cover to under the car, you'll throw a CEL. Atleast I did when putting a breather filter on my crankcase breather. I reset the ECU, assuming the CEL was no coincedence and it was because of the removed line. NO CEL after that, but I figure the breather will get super messy anyway, so maybe just dumping the line to the ground is a better idea. Obviously I'd cap the nipple on the rubber intake tube and the inlet on the ITM.

I'm pretty sure the CEL light is just for emissions purposes, but my real question is... will venting cause any serious problems? Call me lazy but I don't feel like dealing with catch cans. Most of them don't work, and I'm too poor to afford a good one and making one seems pointless too, unless you stuff the can with cotten or something :P

So, aside from a CEL and being illegal, will venting the PCV (rear valve cover to ITM?) and crankcase vent (right valve cover to intake?) cause any harm other than throwing a CEL?

I have an '03 with over 60k, and my intake is a little gunky. I just cleaned up my MAF. Looking down into the turbo, the inelt and compressor wheel look VERY clean. I'm concerned about how the FMIC looks inside, and from what I read (yep, I searched), hot side IC pipe gets dirty too, but cool side pipes stay fairly clean. I may clean those out when I have time.

Please give some suggestions
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Old Sep 8, 2007 | 11:13 PM
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long story short, no it wont cause any problems, but i could go into a lot of depth about pcv/catch can/crank case breathing systems
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Old Sep 8, 2007 | 11:38 PM
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if you vent it your loosing the vacuum affect from the intake so there is no way to get rid of the bypass oil. Over time all that oil that cant escape will lead to "sludge" in your engine which will rob you of power. Also if you vent it your loosing some air so you will be running that much leaner, not much though of course.
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 06:16 AM
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I know that some companies that sell intakes require you to but a filter on your crankcase vent because they don't have a port on the intake. Seeing that, I assumed it would be ok.

From reading it seems alot of people say the PCV side dumps alot more oil, but going into the ITM, and also since it's close to you fuel injectors, it can lower your octane rating, but by how much.....who knows?

Aside from the inside of the intercooler getting dirty, is it really that big of a deal?

I'm curious as to if I used a catch can for both PCV and Crackcase breather whether or not it'd be totally neccacery to clean out the pipes. Over time it almost seems as if it'd clean it's self out because there is no longer a constant supply of oil going into the intake and IC pipes. If it didn't clean it's self out, wouldn't it just continue to collect? I hope what I'm trying to say is understandable.

My idea for a catch can was to get a two baby food bottles with two ports threaded into the cap. Stuff it with cotten or some sort of filter material. Hahahaha, ghetto yes, but it sounds like it may work. The bottle would be clear so I would know when to change the cotten. My only concern would be the vaccum sucking cotten fibers into the engine. I could always form some kind of mesh around the outlet fitting inside

Last edited by MitsuJDM; Sep 9, 2007 at 06:22 AM.
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 07:46 AM
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i vent the valve cover side i have no probs...i dont run lean...and i still catch oil on the pcv side with my catch can
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 07:58 AM
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1. No the breather will NOT throw a CEL.

2. The crankcase breather is NOT there to get rid of "bypass oil".

3. There is no such thing as bypass oil.

4. Venting it to atmosphere will NOT cause the car to run "leaner" as it is not cylinder air venting, it is crankcase and blowby air.

5. The crankcase breather is there to vent potentially flammable gases from the crankcase and relieve pressure under the pistons.
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 09:05 AM
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Obviously TTP does not know much about a PCV/breather system. You should go read up on it. OH I forgot you dont believe in theory your 100% experience.
TTP needs to stop playing the pretend that he knows what he is talking about game.
The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve helps control pollution from cars by returning crankcase fumes to the engine's intake manifold to be re-buried. Breather elements function similarly to air filters, filtering outside air into the PCV system. A clogged PCV valve or breather element causes heavy engine sludging, poor engine performance and stalling.
During off boost or vacum, bypass air and oil are passed through your PCV into yout intake manifold. During Boost or WOT the PCV Valve shuts and the vacuum created from the intake tract sucks the air/oil through the breather. With the breather just hanging to vent, its harder to get that oil out because of loose of suction.

All TTP says in false, try this and verify yourself, during idle disconnect your PCV vavle line, you will see your car idle low and most likely die.

Originally Posted by TTP Engineering
1. No the breather will NOT throw a CEL.

2. The crankcase breather is NOT there to get rid of "bypass oil".

3. There is no such thing as bypass oil.

4. Venting it to atmosphere will NOT cause the car to run "leaner" as it is not cylinder air venting, it is crankcase and blowby air.

5. The crankcase breather is there to vent potentially flammable gases from the crankcase and relieve pressure under the pistons.
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 09:12 AM
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From: wexford,pa
here google it, first read the obvious wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCV_valve
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 09:19 AM
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When I disconnected my crankcase beather tube, it threw a CEL. Reinstalled the oem line and reset the ECU. CEL went away.

Today I took my stock intake off the clean it out, obviously the crankcase breather was disconnected. I turned my key on to listen to music as I was cleaning and when I turned the car on to test drive it to make sure everything was good.. CEL immedeatly. I'm 90% sure it's because I had the key on with the breather disconnected. I culd be wrong. But the crankcase breather DID throw a CEL on my car.

I still want to know if my baby food bottle/cotten DIY is a good idea. I think it'd work. What other type of filter material would anybody suggest?
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 10:35 AM
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Originally Posted by lemmonhead
Obviously TTP does not know much about a PCV/breather system. You should go read up on it. OH I forgot you dont believe in theory your 100% experience.
TTP needs to stop playing the pretend that he knows what he is talking about game.
The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve helps control pollution from cars by returning crankcase fumes to the engine's intake manifold to be re-buried. Breather elements function similarly to air filters, filtering outside air into the PCV system. A clogged PCV valve or breather element causes heavy engine sludging, poor engine performance and stalling.
During off boost or vacum, bypass air and oil are passed through your PCV into yout intake manifold. During Boost or WOT the PCV Valve shuts and the vacuum created from the intake tract sucks the air/oil through the breather. With the breather just hanging to vent, its harder to get that oil out because of loose of suction.

All TTP says in false, try this and verify yourself, during idle disconnect your PCV vavle line, you will see your car idle low and most likely die.
You have no idea what you are talking about dude...

I think I have found a new signature though
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 10:38 AM
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My dad just gave me a great idea... haha I can't believe how retarded it sounds, but... lawn mower fuel filter. Looking at it, it seems as if it'll work. They're $5 and easily replacable once it's starts getting gross and oily. Anybody ever think of this before?

You could use 4 of them, 2 for PCV and 2 for the breather for extra filtering. I think it'd work, what do you guys think?

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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 12:04 PM
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here is the best way i have seen for a cheap diy catch cans using Campbell Hausfeld catch can

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...pbell+hausfeld

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...pbell+hausfeld

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...pbell+hausfeld

Last edited by evo150; Sep 9, 2007 at 12:41 PM.
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 12:27 PM
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Originally Posted by lemmonhead
Obviously TTP does not know much about a PCV/breather system. You should go read up on it. OH I forgot you dont believe in theory your 100% experience.
TTP needs to stop playing the pretend that he knows what he is talking about game.
The PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) valve helps control pollution from cars by returning crankcase fumes to the engine's intake manifold to be re-buried.

Correct

Breather elements function similarly to air filters, filtering outside air into the PCV system. A clogged PCV valve or breather element causes heavy engine sludging, poor engine performance and stalling.

Ive never known anyone to have these symptoms because of a pcv valve or breather filter, as it is not a necessary component of the engine for it to run properly

During off boost or vacum, bypass air and oil are passed through your PCV into yout intake manifold. During Boost or WOT the PCV Valve shuts and the vacuum created from the intake tract sucks the air/oil through the breather. With the breather just hanging to vent, its harder to get that oil out because of loose of suction.

I wouldnt call it "bypass air and oil"....it is actually oil vapors and whatever air is inside the crankcase. Calling something "bypass" is a little misleading.

All TTP says in false, try this and verify yourself, during idle disconnect your PCV vavle line, you will see your car idle low and most likely die.

Yes thats because theres a open hole to your crankcase and everytime a piston goes down it forces air out that hole and everytime a piston goes up it sucks air in....if you plugged the hole the car would run fine, the pcv system is only in place to appease the epa and other agencies/govt sectors worried about the environment

But what TTP says actually isnt false, but i dont blame you for thinking he is wrong, there are a lot of misconceptions about breather/crankcase ventilation/pcv systems
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by MitsuJDM
My dad just gave me a great idea... haha I can't believe how retarded it sounds, but... lawn mower fuel filter. Looking at it, it seems as if it'll work. They're $5 and easily replacable once it's starts getting gross and oily. Anybody ever think of this before?

You could use 4 of them, 2 for PCV and 2 for the breather for extra filtering. I think it'd work, what do you guys think?

i ran a clear filter like that between the intake and valve cover on my integra about 4 or 5 years ago, it will do the job just fine
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Old Sep 9, 2007 | 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by MajorPayne
i ran a clear filter like that between the intake and valve cover on my integra about 4 or 5 years ago, it will do the job just fine
how about the pcv side? looks like a good idea, just cut the hose and put this inline. easy and take about 5 minutes to install or change out when dirty
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