Excessive Blowby/Crankcase pressure.

[batchman]

The Racor worked great but the filter element would be saturated in week or two. The filter elements are around 30 bux a pop.

In the race cars I've been involved with, we've used coarse-mesh metal wool instead of a filter. This lets the oil fog condense onto something that doesn't need periodic replacement.

Can I get you to redo my engine compartment ?? (just kidding, except not really!)

Best,
- Jeff

 

[Black dawg]

what is the id of all of that plumbing for blowby. Doesnt look big enough to me.

 

[TahoeTom]

I posted this setup in another thread. Goldenrod filters have a stainless steel strainer that can be used in place of the paper filter. After this picture I improved it by adding stainless pot scrubber on the outside of the stainless strainer. Hose and fittings are 1". I initially used heater hose but have replaced with better product. I have the Banks adapter on my oil filler

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[jwsfarrier]

All the plumbing from Valve cover to catch can, catch can to intake is 1". I ran thr Banks adapter initially and thought the location on frontof the timing cover was adding to the oil in the intake. I read somewhere that there was more oil splash in that location. Just trying differnt set ups to hopefully minimize the oil. At one point I ended up stuffing steel wool in the Racor to see if that did anything. At least i didnt have to replace the element every two weeks. Next step is a leak down test. Keep you all posted. Btw- thanks Jeff

 

[jwsfarrier]

Update: Finally got around to do some diagnostics to try and get to the bottom of my excessive blow-by. Ran a compression test(HF Diesel Compression Test kit) on the passenger side bank since that the side Im suspicious of. The tests were not at operating temps so I know the numbers are going to be be off. Cylinder 1- 0, Cylinder 3- 320, Cylinder 5- 400, I didn't test 7. After the 0 reading on 1 ,I thought it must be wrong. Tested 1 again same reading- 0! Im no master mechanic by any means but I think that is bad. The differences between 3 & 5 aren't encouraging either. Mind you, these readings are on an engine with approx. 32000 miles. Looks like that engine is coming out. Any thoughts on cylinder 1. Did a leak down test and didnt see any bubbles in coolant, valves seemed to seal fine. I could hear air escaping into crankcase through oil fill but I think some is normal because of the ring gap. Like I said Im no master mechanic, but all signs say that engine need to come out.

 

[david85]

Yikes, that's some low compression numbers and begs a few questions.

How does it sound while it's cranking? For there to be a completely dead cylinder, you would expect uneven cranking and excessive smoke once it's running. How did it run up to now? Plenty of power?

 

[jwsfarrier]

1. A little background on this engine. An intact core motor I bought locally that I striped down to bare block. Had everything gone through and reconditioned by a reputable shop. They also installed the R&D stage one cam following the instructions it came with. Heads gone through as well with upgraded valve springs. I finished assembly of the engine using head studs torqued to 150 ft/lbs. I felt I paid close attention to my clearances especially because of the R&D cam. But???, Mind you, I still feel Im a rookie with alot of this stuff but I felt it cranked over pretty evenly. I always had a light haze at idle , and not what I would call excessive smoke runnning down the road. I did always feel it ran a bit rougher than my 91 N/A , had a tick at idle and some vibration at higher rpms which I thought were normal. It still seemed to have plenty of power though. Nothing unusual gauge wise, It was still able to boost around 15 -18 if I got into it , which wasnt often. I drove it daily for a good while with a utility box probably coming in around 3000 -3500 lbs. What always bugged me is from the onset I had a pretty good good amount of oil that would leak down both sides at the back of the engine ,coating in the starter , back of oil pan and drivers side by the oil filter. Thought maybe the oil return on my turbo was leaking or the factory oil pressure port was leaking so I pulled turbo and resealed everything. That seemed to have slowed the leak a bit ,but it didnt totally stop it. I also considered the rear main seal might be leaking as well( oil leaking down the back of oil pan) but felt all the oil was just running over from where it was coming down the sides of the engine after i removed the inspection plate/cover. It seemed the more I drove it the more it leaked oil which I attributed to the blow-by, and that it was just pushing oil out the least path of resistance. Valve covers are not leaking and no oil in the valley pan. I cant help but think the low compression numbers ,excessive blow- by, and oil leaks are somehow related. If I was running on 7 cylinders the whole time I would not have known. It seems a lot of questions need to be answered that can only be solved by pulling the thing and opening her up. Any input is greatly appreciated as I know just enough to be dangerous!