Blacksheepdj

iTrader: (88)

OK, I recently went back to the AEM cold air intake. After seeing the oily sludge in my intake pipe, I decided to use a catch can. So the nipple that comes off of the valve cover now goes to the breather and not back into the intake.

This of course leads to lumpy idling. I'd guess relates to the car being somewhat more rich than it would be if I'd left things alone. My assumption is that the car now is receiving less air than it expects to.

Am I "hurting" anything with the current setup? Should I look into routing the air back into the intake piping? Will things even out after I add the ported IM and TB (my assumption being that more air will help.)?

OZLancerlunatic

iTrader: (10)

EDIT: are you turbo?

WADADLIG_OZ

iTrader: (9)

I had an Injen CAI and even when I took it off at the end I did not have any oily sludge.

You must have run through something and sucked up the sludge. Either that or you over oiled your filter when reoiling.

WADAD

.L.

iTrader: (3)

dj

you have actual sludge in your intake? hmmm weird. i've never experienced this. obviously a tiny amount of oil does pass through, but nothing major. even when i switched from my rmr intake to the sds setup, i still had the hose routed to the filter. anyways i guess i really cant comment because i dont know. the only thing i remember reading is that on a n/a motor, nothing should be affected. its ok to use a breather. well thats what i remember reading anyways.

Blacksheepdj

iTrader: (88)

OZ - no, N/A.

Wadad - no, it definitely looked like oil. It wasn't a large amount, but I decided that I'd stick with cleanliness.

Manny - thanks. Maybe I have excessive blowby, maybe I'm worrying about nothing. But either way, I'm sticking with the breather.

lancermarin

iTrader: (4)

I was under the impression that that hose simply sucks gasses from the head and into the intake to get burned and released, unless you were turning hard enough to toss fluids through the hose (in which case a catch can would be appropriate). So in the end you shouldn't be getting any more or less air to the intake via the hose, breather, or catch can.

I do know that a breather will fail CA's visual inspections, though. Dunno about Ohio.

Blacksheepdj

iTrader: (88)

No, I'm not tossing fluids into the hose. It's just that some of the blowby that is mixed with the air collects in the intake. Take yours off and look. Or maybe it's just my car.

There is less air, though. The air that once went back into the intake now does not.

.L.

iTrader: (3)

i'm sure you'll be fine with the breather. i've used them on my previous 2 n/a cars and have never had a problem.

ambystom01

iTrader: (7)

Could always get an oil catch can, don't those come with two hoses, one from the valve and one back into the intake to keep things running like stock?

Danno

iTrader: (4)

He said he is using it already

josh930

iTrader: (1)

The tube from the head is an emissions thing and to keep the oil from getting sludged up. Did you adjust anything with your throttlebody? The throttle plate should stop any blowby from passing the throttle body because it only opens when air is sucked in. Is your check engine light on? You could have a dirty mass air flow sensor or your 02 sensors and cat may not be working properly. But it definitly sounds like a rich condition.

Blacksheepdj

iTrader: (88)

No SES light. Didn't adjust TB.

Yes, I have a catchcan. But I'm not bothering with the return line. It's just going to the can and then vented out the breather.

josh930

iTrader: (1)

In my opinion< it really doesent sound like a big problem. Just keep checking it and if you see more than there is now I would start to worry. It sounds kind of normal the way your explaining it. I would keep the stock set up if I were you.

Automatic 51

iTrader: (2)

if you're just using a breather, then you wasted money on the catch can.

and did you clamp off the nozzle on the intake hose? if there's unmetered air getting in after the MAS, the it'll run really ****ty. i know, i forgot to hook it up when i installed my intake once.

Blacksheepdj

iTrader: (88)

The catch can has a breather on the top of it, Auto. The air enters the catchcan, the oil stays in the can, and the air leaves via the breather filter (since I already said that I'm not using the return line from the can).

Yes, I capped the nozzle on the intake, so there's no unmetered air involved.