Author Topic: Crank case ventilation  (Read 1118 times)

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Jb427

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Crank case ventilation
« on: November 04, 2020, 09:01:50 AM »
I have a question about crankcase venting my valve covers have a 4"ish long by 1" wide offenhauser style breather in the middle of each valve cover i was also running a breather cap on the oil fill tube at the front of the intake as well as a rear intake breather. Should i run a pvc in place of the rear intake breather tube?

GerryP

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Re: Crank case ventilation
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2020, 09:43:51 AM »
On the rear, is that just a simple breather or is it a road draft tube?  You really need something generating negative pressure for engine longevity.  A road draft tube is really an aspirator in that as air moves past the opening, it creates a suction.  Obviously, it does nothing when standing still but it is quite effective at road speed.  A PCV is desirable in that it does create a suction and, in conjunction with a ventilation breather, does remove vapors.  A PCV is not better than a road draft tube other than instead of exhausting crankcase vapors to atmosphere, it consumes the vapors in the combustion process.

If all you have is a phalanx of breathers, then you're relying upon positive crankcase pressure to move vapors out of the crankcase.  That's not all bad, it's just the least desirable of the ways to evacuate crankcase vapors since it doesn't move as much vapor.  You also have the issue where there is pressure pumping and atmosphere -to include dust and dirt- that can pass through the breathers into the engine.  You have to use the same filter quality you use for the air cleaner.  That steel wool filler many use isn't doing enough filtering like that.

So, if that rear breather isn't a road draft tube, then, yes, you should plumb in a proper PCV.

427John

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Re: Crank case ventilation
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2020, 12:18:02 AM »
Even if your rear breather is a road draft,if most of your driving is slow around town driving I would still consider converting to a PCV,as Gerry stated the road draft works great at highway speed,at slow speed not so much,it depends on a flow of air across the slash cut on the tip of the tube to create the negative pressure.Low airflow or damage to the end of the tube that changes the shape can significantly lower or eliminate the flow out of the crankcase.I remember years ago pulling the valve covers on road draft equipped cars that spent most of their time putting around town,the sludge deposits were unbelievable.