Hello, everyone,

I just updated my white paper regarding PCV valves, oil catch cans, and related info. You can view it by clicking on the following shortcut:

http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/PCV...oval%20102.pdf

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Dave

 

I had a beautiful billet aluminum catch can on my blown 427 in the 'vette at anything more than 8 lbs it had a bit of blow-by and soe serious crankcase pressure. The catch can worked well, though. Could always tell how hard I had worked the motor for the week by how much was there when I checked Sunday morning.

 

Lee,

As you may know, at WOT, flow into the engine via the fresh air line reverses so that "dirty" air flows into the airbox and into the intake. From what I understand, some of the more serious racers install a vacuum pump, although I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the exact setup. I believe many supercharged setups include breather filters on the valve cover and/or oil fill cap. I prefer to trap the blowby oil/unburned fueland particulates before they re-enter the engine. Certainly, there are a few ways to do this and each has at least some advantages and disadvantages.

Dave

 

Eventually I installed a vacuum pump, and it added a net of about 15 HP by reducing pressure underneath the cylinders, but it was a pain, with lots ofproblems for the belts and all, and it was just a mm or so clearance with everything else under the hood oversize radiator, the Procharger, etc., so eventually I just gave up the power gain and removed it.

Makes you appreciate factory engineering . . . .

 

Dave, What do you think of this? Year of car: 2014

Date of manufacture: July 20th 2014

Z51 or base: Z-51

Total miles on car:4740

Where do you keep your oil level as indicated by the dipstick in the sump tank: ½ way up the range

Miles on car when can first installed: 1200

Are you running clean side separator in addition to catch can or not: Yes

Type of can/setup: Elite Engineering best

Amount of miles run since last clean out/empty of can: first cleanout of can

Amount of fluid in can for this report: 6 ounces

Makeup of fluid in can ( oily/water, oil,etc): Look at the picture.... doesn't really smell like oil nor gas - - kind of an odd smell

Type driving in this report % city, %highway, %track - - - - 5% city, 95% highway

Comment section: Can anyone tell me what this means? Should I be concerned about this?

 

This is fairly common during Winter months and those during which there are wide ambient temperature swings. What you are seeing is lots of moisture. The big question is: Is there any oil in the port that is pulling vacuum.
Most catch cans can trap larger droplets of oil. However, very few can trap sub-micron droplets; they can still contribute to oil accumulation in your intake and on your pistons as carbon buildup.

Dave