New engine blown 😕
Evolving Member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 126
Likes: 21
From: Florida
Ah, GREAT question, thanks for asking.
PCV does many things involving dirt and contamination.
Let's start with the drink cup analogy. If you have a cup, like a random plastic water bottle is fine. Make a hole in the bottom so it can leak water (or oil).
Now you have a simulated engine oil leak. Above the level of that "oil" (i'll assume you used water though) there is an air pocket. If you put a cap on the bottle that is sort of like the valve cover I guess.
Anyways. The valve cover has holes to let air in, so you can make a hole in the top as well. This will help the 'oil' leak out because now atmospheric pressure can replace whatever liquid leaves and you get a steady stream.
Okay, that was a "VTA" pcv system. vent-to-atmosphere. You have a leak, and the VTA helps the leak faster. If you put a cap (cover) with NO vent, the leak would probably stop unless atmosphere can get inside the bottle from the leak itself. We've all tried to pour gasoline from a gas bottle only to find it "glugs" when the little vent is shut off.
So anyways, this is where pcv comes to the rescue. Instead of venting to atmosphere from the top, PCV means the pressure is below atmospheric, which means you are actually applying a suction to the top of the bottle.
With enough suction applied, the leak will actually stop (if small enough).
That is, PCV directly impacts the ability of an engine to leak oil from all seals.
All engine oil seals leak. New, old, it doesn't matter; oil gradually works it's way from one end to the other. The only way to stave this symptom of chaos/entropy for long is to apply a negative (below atmospheric) pressure to the crankcase, that is called PCV.
Remember if you can leak out, you can leak in, so by applying PCV to the crankcase during all conditions (WOT and CRUISE and IDLE) you are preventing the leaks from forming in the first place, and keeping the outside from getting in (the dirt from contaminating leaks which contaminates engine oil).
That said, there is another completely separate, important aspect of PCV which also cleans the engine free from contamination.
#2: the combustion byproduct soup that is formed from chemical reactions in the combustion chamber; some of which always passes the engine oil seal (piston ring = oil seal).
Any typical gas at rest, will distribute evenly throughout its container. Tires stay inflated because of molecular collisions with the insides of their container, which simply outnumber the number of collisions from the outside.
Those collisions are elastic, energy is not lost as they rebound. So the tires stay inflated for a looong time with very little change. Although molecules are very small, and gradually they are able to escape... it is very difficult to truly seal a container as a tire. Anyways- The point is this. Combustion gas passing a piston ring contains conglomerates, partially combusted hydrocarbon compounds. Its going to be fragments of whatever the engine ingests. Not all gasoline is turned to water and CO2; much becomes "hard/sticky tar-like substance" which builds up gradually on many surfaces. This is the hard diamond-like coating that forms on pistons and valves. This is the goo you find piled up in the dark recesses, the sludge that seems to find any orifice it can stick down and build upon itself over time, that slime that looks like it wants to sneak up past the intake valve and coat the intake ports.
Carbon like this can clog tiny oil orifices for which modern engines are known to depend upon.
That sludge- is mostly partially reacted hydrocarbons, it might contain any number of other components but the main thing we focus on is the carbon content, the sticky carbon formations which originate from the combustion chamber.
These compounds will generally dissolve in gasoline, and engine oil, because gasoline and engine oil are the origins (they are all similar hydrocarbon chains).
Engine oil does a great job of 'washing' this sort of tar-substance from parts. the engine oil is responsible for capturing and holding it until the oil is changed.
These substances will 'dilute' engine oil, because they are similar to oil and gasoline but their chains are shorter and chewed up so they don't lubricate or have any beneficial work detail. In other words, oil should be mostly conforming, long-flat hydrocarbon chains, (it depends on temperature and oil additives) and exclude the presence of oxygen (which indicates it reacted chemically and now no longer offers the protective properties of clean oil).
Anyways. Before these compounds and molecules (many sizes and shapes of randomly, partially burnt or reacted hydrocarbon content) they exist as a gas, a high temperature gas which is able to pass the piston ring (oil seal) of an engine. All the pistons feed this hot carbon stew as a gas into the crankcase, where, as we know from classical physics (remember the tire) they will bounce around in their containers forever, until eventually losing energy in the form of heat (the heat must equilibrate, the molecule gradually cools and slows down) and when that high energy is lost, the molecule will find a resting place... somewhere.
So this is the key of the pcv system that is often missed. While those tar-like carbon conglomerates are still HOT and FLYING around the crankcase, the pcv system's job is to suck them up into a tube (I dont care where they go; intake is fine, exhaust is fine, vacuum pump is fine, just get them out of the crankcase) and get them away from the engine and engine oil before they have a chance to cool and stick to something. Once they stick to a surface... that could be it. Eventually with heat cycles, enough time, and enough molecules getting together, you've seen the hard diamond like carbon formations that are very difficult to clean from such an easy surface as a piston. Imagine trying to remove that stuff from a tiny orifice within the engine that you can't access or see, or even know is there. It's basically impossible; even if the engine is hot-tanked and thoroughly cleaned, if it was originally mal-maintained (PCV removed many miles ago) there is a good chance that all those machine-shop cleaning regimens are not going to be able to fully clean the block back to "new" cleanliness and therefore the engine becomes a hazard, practically un-rebuildable. Indeed I've seen it many times in 4-cylinder platforms; all that machine work, such new parts, so much money spent, only to find an orifice is clogged after 500 miles and trashes the engine. But I digress...
Lets summarize shall we
1. pcv prevents oil seepage/leakage by providing a pressure below atmospheric which keeps the engine free from contamination
2. pcv suctions out the hot-partially reacted combustion byproduct as a gas before it has a chance to form hard tar-like carbon solid structures in and around the engine orifice
main point: pcv helps keep the oil clean, prevents dissolution/dilution of engine oil, allows the engine to achieve a high mileage and high oil life-span.
PCV does many things involving dirt and contamination.
Let's start with the drink cup analogy. If you have a cup, like a random plastic water bottle is fine. Make a hole in the bottom so it can leak water (or oil).
Now you have a simulated engine oil leak. Above the level of that "oil" (i'll assume you used water though) there is an air pocket. If you put a cap on the bottle that is sort of like the valve cover I guess.
Anyways. The valve cover has holes to let air in, so you can make a hole in the top as well. This will help the 'oil' leak out because now atmospheric pressure can replace whatever liquid leaves and you get a steady stream.
Okay, that was a "VTA" pcv system. vent-to-atmosphere. You have a leak, and the VTA helps the leak faster. If you put a cap (cover) with NO vent, the leak would probably stop unless atmosphere can get inside the bottle from the leak itself. We've all tried to pour gasoline from a gas bottle only to find it "glugs" when the little vent is shut off.
So anyways, this is where pcv comes to the rescue. Instead of venting to atmosphere from the top, PCV means the pressure is below atmospheric, which means you are actually applying a suction to the top of the bottle.
With enough suction applied, the leak will actually stop (if small enough).
That is, PCV directly impacts the ability of an engine to leak oil from all seals.
All engine oil seals leak. New, old, it doesn't matter; oil gradually works it's way from one end to the other. The only way to stave this symptom of chaos/entropy for long is to apply a negative (below atmospheric) pressure to the crankcase, that is called PCV.
Remember if you can leak out, you can leak in, so by applying PCV to the crankcase during all conditions (WOT and CRUISE and IDLE) you are preventing the leaks from forming in the first place, and keeping the outside from getting in (the dirt from contaminating leaks which contaminates engine oil).
That said, there is another completely separate, important aspect of PCV which also cleans the engine free from contamination.
#2: the combustion byproduct soup that is formed from chemical reactions in the combustion chamber; some of which always passes the engine oil seal (piston ring = oil seal).
Any typical gas at rest, will distribute evenly throughout its container. Tires stay inflated because of molecular collisions with the insides of their container, which simply outnumber the number of collisions from the outside.
Those collisions are elastic, energy is not lost as they rebound. So the tires stay inflated for a looong time with very little change. Although molecules are very small, and gradually they are able to escape... it is very difficult to truly seal a container as a tire. Anyways- The point is this. Combustion gas passing a piston ring contains conglomerates, partially combusted hydrocarbon compounds. Its going to be fragments of whatever the engine ingests. Not all gasoline is turned to water and CO2; much becomes "hard/sticky tar-like substance" which builds up gradually on many surfaces. This is the hard diamond-like coating that forms on pistons and valves. This is the goo you find piled up in the dark recesses, the sludge that seems to find any orifice it can stick down and build upon itself over time, that slime that looks like it wants to sneak up past the intake valve and coat the intake ports.
Carbon like this can clog tiny oil orifices for which modern engines are known to depend upon.
That sludge- is mostly partially reacted hydrocarbons, it might contain any number of other components but the main thing we focus on is the carbon content, the sticky carbon formations which originate from the combustion chamber.
These compounds will generally dissolve in gasoline, and engine oil, because gasoline and engine oil are the origins (they are all similar hydrocarbon chains).
Engine oil does a great job of 'washing' this sort of tar-substance from parts. the engine oil is responsible for capturing and holding it until the oil is changed.
These substances will 'dilute' engine oil, because they are similar to oil and gasoline but their chains are shorter and chewed up so they don't lubricate or have any beneficial work detail. In other words, oil should be mostly conforming, long-flat hydrocarbon chains, (it depends on temperature and oil additives) and exclude the presence of oxygen (which indicates it reacted chemically and now no longer offers the protective properties of clean oil).
Anyways. Before these compounds and molecules (many sizes and shapes of randomly, partially burnt or reacted hydrocarbon content) they exist as a gas, a high temperature gas which is able to pass the piston ring (oil seal) of an engine. All the pistons feed this hot carbon stew as a gas into the crankcase, where, as we know from classical physics (remember the tire) they will bounce around in their containers forever, until eventually losing energy in the form of heat (the heat must equilibrate, the molecule gradually cools and slows down) and when that high energy is lost, the molecule will find a resting place... somewhere.
So this is the key of the pcv system that is often missed. While those tar-like carbon conglomerates are still HOT and FLYING around the crankcase, the pcv system's job is to suck them up into a tube (I dont care where they go; intake is fine, exhaust is fine, vacuum pump is fine, just get them out of the crankcase) and get them away from the engine and engine oil before they have a chance to cool and stick to something. Once they stick to a surface... that could be it. Eventually with heat cycles, enough time, and enough molecules getting together, you've seen the hard diamond like carbon formations that are very difficult to clean from such an easy surface as a piston. Imagine trying to remove that stuff from a tiny orifice within the engine that you can't access or see, or even know is there. It's basically impossible; even if the engine is hot-tanked and thoroughly cleaned, if it was originally mal-maintained (PCV removed many miles ago) there is a good chance that all those machine-shop cleaning regimens are not going to be able to fully clean the block back to "new" cleanliness and therefore the engine becomes a hazard, practically un-rebuildable. Indeed I've seen it many times in 4-cylinder platforms; all that machine work, such new parts, so much money spent, only to find an orifice is clogged after 500 miles and trashes the engine. But I digress...
Lets summarize shall we
1. pcv prevents oil seepage/leakage by providing a pressure below atmospheric which keeps the engine free from contamination
2. pcv suctions out the hot-partially reacted combustion byproduct as a gas before it has a chance to form hard tar-like carbon solid structures in and around the engine orifice
main point: pcv helps keep the oil clean, prevents dissolution/dilution of engine oil, allows the engine to achieve a high mileage and high oil life-span.
Thread Starter
Account Disabled
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 174
Likes: 8
From: Uae
Ah, GREAT question, thanks for asking.
PCV does many things involving dirt and contamination.
Let's start with the drink cup analogy. If you have a cup, like a random plastic water bottle is fine. Make a hole in the bottom so it can leak water (or oil).
Now you have a simulated engine oil leak. Above the level of that "oil" (i'll assume you used water though) there is an air pocket. If you put a cap on the bottle that is sort of like the valve cover I guess.
Anyways. The valve cover has holes to let air in, so you can make a hole in the top as well. This will help the 'oil' leak out because now atmospheric pressure can replace whatever liquid leaves and you get a steady stream.
Okay, that was a "VTA" pcv system. vent-to-atmosphere. You have a leak, and the VTA helps the leak faster. If you put a cap (cover) with NO vent, the leak would probably stop unless atmosphere can get inside the bottle from the leak itself. We've all tried to pour gasoline from a gas bottle only to find it "glugs" when the little vent is shut off.
So anyways, this is where pcv comes to the rescue. Instead of venting to atmosphere from the top, PCV means the pressure is below atmospheric, which means you are actually applying a suction to the top of the bottle.
With enough suction applied, the leak will actually stop (if small enough).
That is, PCV directly impacts the ability of an engine to leak oil from all seals.
All engine oil seals leak. New, old, it doesn't matter; oil gradually works it's way from one end to the other. The only way to stave this symptom of chaos/entropy for long is to apply a negative (below atmospheric) pressure to the crankcase, that is called PCV.
Remember if you can leak out, you can leak in, so by applying PCV to the crankcase during all conditions (WOT and CRUISE and IDLE) you are preventing the leaks from forming in the first place, and keeping the outside from getting in (the dirt from contaminating leaks which contaminates engine oil).
That said, there is another completely separate, important aspect of PCV which also cleans the engine free from contamination.
#2: the combustion byproduct soup that is formed from chemical reactions in the combustion chamber; some of which always passes the engine oil seal (piston ring = oil seal).
Any typical gas at rest, will distribute evenly throughout its container. Tires stay inflated because of molecular collisions with the insides of their container, which simply outnumber the number of collisions from the outside.
Those collisions are elastic, energy is not lost as they rebound. So the tires stay inflated for a looong time with very little change. Although molecules are very small, and gradually they are able to escape... it is very difficult to truly seal a container as a tire. Anyways- The point is this. Combustion gas passing a piston ring contains conglomerates, partially combusted hydrocarbon compounds. Its going to be fragments of whatever the engine ingests. Not all gasoline is turned to water and CO2; much becomes "hard/sticky tar-like substance" which builds up gradually on many surfaces. This is the hard diamond-like coating that forms on pistons and valves. This is the goo you find piled up in the dark recesses, the sludge that seems to find any orifice it can stick down and build upon itself over time, that slime that looks like it wants to sneak up past the intake valve and coat the intake ports.
Carbon like this can clog tiny oil orifices for which modern engines are known to depend upon.
That sludge- is mostly partially reacted hydrocarbons, it might contain any number of other components but the main thing we focus on is the carbon content, the sticky carbon formations which originate from the combustion chamber.
These compounds will generally dissolve in gasoline, and engine oil, because gasoline and engine oil are the origins (they are all similar hydrocarbon chains).
Engine oil does a great job of 'washing' this sort of tar-substance from parts. the engine oil is responsible for capturing and holding it until the oil is changed.
These substances will 'dilute' engine oil, because they are similar to oil and gasoline but their chains are shorter and chewed up so they don't lubricate or have any beneficial work detail. In other words, oil should be mostly conforming, long-flat hydrocarbon chains, (it depends on temperature and oil additives) and exclude the presence of oxygen (which indicates it reacted chemically and now no longer offers the protective properties of clean oil).
Anyways. Before these compounds and molecules (many sizes and shapes of randomly, partially burnt or reacted hydrocarbon content) they exist as a gas, a high temperature gas which is able to pass the piston ring (oil seal) of an engine. All the pistons feed this hot carbon stew as a gas into the crankcase, where, as we know from classical physics (remember the tire) they will bounce around in their containers forever, until eventually losing energy in the form of heat (the heat must equilibrate, the molecule gradually cools and slows down) and when that high energy is lost, the molecule will find a resting place... somewhere.
So this is the key of the pcv system that is often missed. While those tar-like carbon conglomerates are still HOT and FLYING around the crankcase, the pcv system's job is to suck them up into a tube (I dont care where they go; intake is fine, exhaust is fine, vacuum pump is fine, just get them out of the crankcase) and get them away from the engine and engine oil before they have a chance to cool and stick to something. Once they stick to a surface... that could be it. Eventually with heat cycles, enough time, and enough molecules getting together, you've seen the hard diamond like carbon formations that are very difficult to clean from such an easy surface as a piston. Imagine trying to remove that stuff from a tiny orifice within the engine that you can't access or see, or even know is there. It's basically impossible; even if the engine is hot-tanked and thoroughly cleaned, if it was originally mal-maintained (PCV removed many miles ago) there is a good chance that all those machine-shop cleaning regimens are not going to be able to fully clean the block back to "new" cleanliness and therefore the engine becomes a hazard, practically un-rebuildable. Indeed I've seen it many times in 4-cylinder platforms; all that machine work, such new parts, so much money spent, only to find an orifice is clogged after 500 miles and trashes the engine. But I digress...
Lets summarize shall we
1. pcv prevents oil seepage/leakage by providing a pressure below atmospheric which keeps the engine free from contamination
2. pcv suctions out the hot-partially reacted combustion byproduct as a gas before it has a chance to form hard tar-like carbon solid structures in and around the engine orifice
main point: pcv helps keep the oil clean, prevents dissolution/dilution of engine oil, allows the engine to achieve a high mileage and high oil life-span.
PCV does many things involving dirt and contamination.
Let's start with the drink cup analogy. If you have a cup, like a random plastic water bottle is fine. Make a hole in the bottom so it can leak water (or oil).
Now you have a simulated engine oil leak. Above the level of that "oil" (i'll assume you used water though) there is an air pocket. If you put a cap on the bottle that is sort of like the valve cover I guess.
Anyways. The valve cover has holes to let air in, so you can make a hole in the top as well. This will help the 'oil' leak out because now atmospheric pressure can replace whatever liquid leaves and you get a steady stream.
Okay, that was a "VTA" pcv system. vent-to-atmosphere. You have a leak, and the VTA helps the leak faster. If you put a cap (cover) with NO vent, the leak would probably stop unless atmosphere can get inside the bottle from the leak itself. We've all tried to pour gasoline from a gas bottle only to find it "glugs" when the little vent is shut off.
So anyways, this is where pcv comes to the rescue. Instead of venting to atmosphere from the top, PCV means the pressure is below atmospheric, which means you are actually applying a suction to the top of the bottle.
With enough suction applied, the leak will actually stop (if small enough).
That is, PCV directly impacts the ability of an engine to leak oil from all seals.
All engine oil seals leak. New, old, it doesn't matter; oil gradually works it's way from one end to the other. The only way to stave this symptom of chaos/entropy for long is to apply a negative (below atmospheric) pressure to the crankcase, that is called PCV.
Remember if you can leak out, you can leak in, so by applying PCV to the crankcase during all conditions (WOT and CRUISE and IDLE) you are preventing the leaks from forming in the first place, and keeping the outside from getting in (the dirt from contaminating leaks which contaminates engine oil).
That said, there is another completely separate, important aspect of PCV which also cleans the engine free from contamination.
#2: the combustion byproduct soup that is formed from chemical reactions in the combustion chamber; some of which always passes the engine oil seal (piston ring = oil seal).
Any typical gas at rest, will distribute evenly throughout its container. Tires stay inflated because of molecular collisions with the insides of their container, which simply outnumber the number of collisions from the outside.
Those collisions are elastic, energy is not lost as they rebound. So the tires stay inflated for a looong time with very little change. Although molecules are very small, and gradually they are able to escape... it is very difficult to truly seal a container as a tire. Anyways- The point is this. Combustion gas passing a piston ring contains conglomerates, partially combusted hydrocarbon compounds. Its going to be fragments of whatever the engine ingests. Not all gasoline is turned to water and CO2; much becomes "hard/sticky tar-like substance" which builds up gradually on many surfaces. This is the hard diamond-like coating that forms on pistons and valves. This is the goo you find piled up in the dark recesses, the sludge that seems to find any orifice it can stick down and build upon itself over time, that slime that looks like it wants to sneak up past the intake valve and coat the intake ports.
Carbon like this can clog tiny oil orifices for which modern engines are known to depend upon.
That sludge- is mostly partially reacted hydrocarbons, it might contain any number of other components but the main thing we focus on is the carbon content, the sticky carbon formations which originate from the combustion chamber.
These compounds will generally dissolve in gasoline, and engine oil, because gasoline and engine oil are the origins (they are all similar hydrocarbon chains).
Engine oil does a great job of 'washing' this sort of tar-substance from parts. the engine oil is responsible for capturing and holding it until the oil is changed.
These substances will 'dilute' engine oil, because they are similar to oil and gasoline but their chains are shorter and chewed up so they don't lubricate or have any beneficial work detail. In other words, oil should be mostly conforming, long-flat hydrocarbon chains, (it depends on temperature and oil additives) and exclude the presence of oxygen (which indicates it reacted chemically and now no longer offers the protective properties of clean oil).
Anyways. Before these compounds and molecules (many sizes and shapes of randomly, partially burnt or reacted hydrocarbon content) they exist as a gas, a high temperature gas which is able to pass the piston ring (oil seal) of an engine. All the pistons feed this hot carbon stew as a gas into the crankcase, where, as we know from classical physics (remember the tire) they will bounce around in their containers forever, until eventually losing energy in the form of heat (the heat must equilibrate, the molecule gradually cools and slows down) and when that high energy is lost, the molecule will find a resting place... somewhere.
So this is the key of the pcv system that is often missed. While those tar-like carbon conglomerates are still HOT and FLYING around the crankcase, the pcv system's job is to suck them up into a tube (I dont care where they go; intake is fine, exhaust is fine, vacuum pump is fine, just get them out of the crankcase) and get them away from the engine and engine oil before they have a chance to cool and stick to something. Once they stick to a surface... that could be it. Eventually with heat cycles, enough time, and enough molecules getting together, you've seen the hard diamond like carbon formations that are very difficult to clean from such an easy surface as a piston. Imagine trying to remove that stuff from a tiny orifice within the engine that you can't access or see, or even know is there. It's basically impossible; even if the engine is hot-tanked and thoroughly cleaned, if it was originally mal-maintained (PCV removed many miles ago) there is a good chance that all those machine-shop cleaning regimens are not going to be able to fully clean the block back to "new" cleanliness and therefore the engine becomes a hazard, practically un-rebuildable. Indeed I've seen it many times in 4-cylinder platforms; all that machine work, such new parts, so much money spent, only to find an orifice is clogged after 500 miles and trashes the engine. But I digress...
Lets summarize shall we
1. pcv prevents oil seepage/leakage by providing a pressure below atmospheric which keeps the engine free from contamination
2. pcv suctions out the hot-partially reacted combustion byproduct as a gas before it has a chance to form hard tar-like carbon solid structures in and around the engine orifice
main point: pcv helps keep the oil clean, prevents dissolution/dilution of engine oil, allows the engine to achieve a high mileage and high oil life-span.
Wowwwwwwwwww thats a good read...👍
Evolving Member
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 126
Likes: 21
From: Florida
I'm sorry about the long post. Believe me when I say: "I know long forums posts can be annoying for many reasons"
When I make these, intuitively after 20 years of making these sorts of posts I already know it will become 50/50 love/hate relationship. Many use forums for the 'quick fix' short posts with very little explanation.
That is why I abbreviated at the bottom, the cliff notes if you will, its three short sentences I could have deleted everything else and just listed those.
But then people would wonder "why he said that" and "what pcv has to do with dirt or oil quality". So I offer a more complete explanation for those who wish to learn the "why". You don't need to read it if you aren't the reading type. Or into science. Or whatever
Even with enough experience and beginner's engineering, we still never get to the point of understanding subtleties of PCV and crankcase theory. It seems to take more than just experience. Seems like we need a background in chemistry and bio-science, IMO. I started with chemistry, biology, every chem and bio course/book one may find, moved on to engineering, and I thought surely. Surely in engineering books and coursework they will explain about pcv and those sort of things as important as oil control.
It never appears. I read statics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, adv control, advanced mechanics, fluid mechanics&dynamics... Years of extra coursework... Thinking, surely at some point I would see an example or explanation somewhere.
but it never happens. The closest they seem to get is hydrodynamic bearing lubrication equations (fluid dyn) and partial differentials regarding the dirac of a pollutant in a moving stream, stuff like that.
The math and examples are far more complex and cover greater detail in "perfect worlds" where there is no such thing as dirt or life. Its.... weird. Coming from a bio background I was taken with the mechanical/machinery and eventually realized that practical applications are often far removed from book work examples... well of course they are.
What I posted about PCV is an undergrad organic/chemistry combined with basic knowledge of oil seal and crankcase goal (oil quality and oil control). There is very little engineering or mechanics needed (all the experience or engineering books apparently won't prepare you for SEM pictures of... almost anything in real life) as its more of a biochemistry aspect than anything, trying to understand the behavior of gasses and carbon is "easy" but it never appears in mechanics of materials books which seem more concerned with macro-pictures, large collaborations of parts working together with very little regard for minute surface finish or contamination. Which is uh, everything to something as simple as an combustion engine in real life. When I say combustion engine is trivial I mean its literally one of the simplest examples in the book(s). explode mixture -> heat + torque. lol chapter 5 thermodynamics freshman work that never goes into detail about air fuel ratio and cleanliness. It does however give an interesting example which calculates distance a vehicle can achieve based on vehicle and gasoline mass. I already knew engine size wasn't a factor but to see an actual book example was comforting.
I tried to leave out obvious info about things we all intuitively understand, such as "sand scratches cylinder walls" can you imagine the piston rubbing a bit of rocky quartz up and down a cylinder? Of course you can.
What it would do to the oil film, and wall. I didn't mention because ppl already know it. So keep that in mind if anyone spends time reading my stuff I usually leave out the obvious connotations to save reading time.
It might seem "long" but in reality it is very little compared to the length of a book.
I focus on the rarely discussed aspects, things you will likely never see... anywhere else. It is a special vision just for those... obsessed with knowledge... enough to take the time to read it.
And Boring? Only if the inner most secretive subtle chemistry of modern engine theory is, and to many this is reality
When I make these, intuitively after 20 years of making these sorts of posts I already know it will become 50/50 love/hate relationship. Many use forums for the 'quick fix' short posts with very little explanation.
That is why I abbreviated at the bottom, the cliff notes if you will, its three short sentences I could have deleted everything else and just listed those.
But then people would wonder "why he said that" and "what pcv has to do with dirt or oil quality". So I offer a more complete explanation for those who wish to learn the "why". You don't need to read it if you aren't the reading type. Or into science. Or whatever
Even with enough experience and beginner's engineering, we still never get to the point of understanding subtleties of PCV and crankcase theory. It seems to take more than just experience. Seems like we need a background in chemistry and bio-science, IMO. I started with chemistry, biology, every chem and bio course/book one may find, moved on to engineering, and I thought surely. Surely in engineering books and coursework they will explain about pcv and those sort of things as important as oil control.
It never appears. I read statics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, adv control, advanced mechanics, fluid mechanics&dynamics... Years of extra coursework... Thinking, surely at some point I would see an example or explanation somewhere.
but it never happens. The closest they seem to get is hydrodynamic bearing lubrication equations (fluid dyn) and partial differentials regarding the dirac of a pollutant in a moving stream, stuff like that.
The math and examples are far more complex and cover greater detail in "perfect worlds" where there is no such thing as dirt or life. Its.... weird. Coming from a bio background I was taken with the mechanical/machinery and eventually realized that practical applications are often far removed from book work examples... well of course they are.
What I posted about PCV is an undergrad organic/chemistry combined with basic knowledge of oil seal and crankcase goal (oil quality and oil control). There is very little engineering or mechanics needed (all the experience or engineering books apparently won't prepare you for SEM pictures of... almost anything in real life) as its more of a biochemistry aspect than anything, trying to understand the behavior of gasses and carbon is "easy" but it never appears in mechanics of materials books which seem more concerned with macro-pictures, large collaborations of parts working together with very little regard for minute surface finish or contamination. Which is uh, everything to something as simple as an combustion engine in real life. When I say combustion engine is trivial I mean its literally one of the simplest examples in the book(s). explode mixture -> heat + torque. lol chapter 5 thermodynamics freshman work that never goes into detail about air fuel ratio and cleanliness. It does however give an interesting example which calculates distance a vehicle can achieve based on vehicle and gasoline mass. I already knew engine size wasn't a factor but to see an actual book example was comforting.
I tried to leave out obvious info about things we all intuitively understand, such as "sand scratches cylinder walls" can you imagine the piston rubbing a bit of rocky quartz up and down a cylinder? Of course you can.
What it would do to the oil film, and wall. I didn't mention because ppl already know it. So keep that in mind if anyone spends time reading my stuff I usually leave out the obvious connotations to save reading time.
It might seem "long" but in reality it is very little compared to the length of a book.
I focus on the rarely discussed aspects, things you will likely never see... anywhere else. It is a special vision just for those... obsessed with knowledge... enough to take the time to read it.
And Boring? Only if the inner most secretive subtle chemistry of modern engine theory is, and to many this is reality
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