Stan Galat, '05 IM, 2276, Nowhere, USA postedYou might just need to get used to that "light oil dusting", or spend a bazillion clamoili on something more exotic. My engine bay is dry, but ti cost me two years of my life to get it that way.
I'm okay with it- just unsure what "normal" is and isnt. I had a B6 A4 avant (1.8t) boosted to 21lbs and that would vaporize oil like no tomorrow leaving a loving glaze on everything post turbo inlet.
The lady's like them shaved too!!
Dubtub,
I would rotate that breather box 90 degrees so that the servicing cover is facing you. The way it is now the vapor that condensates will have to rise to the level of the hose before it can flow back into the oil fill tube.
Also make sure your hoses to your valve covers are not collapsing a bit when warm as I had this happen from too tight of a radius on the hose, it looked fine when installed but over time it pinched itself off. I'm down to one small drip from my oil pump cover after sitting for a while which I consider an air cooled identification spot.
I epoxied a block of wood to the car and mounted the box to it.
MikelB posted:Dubtub,
I would rotate that breather box 90 degrees so that the servicing cover is facing you. The way it is now the vapor that condensates will have to rise to the level of the hose before it can flow back into the oil fill tube.
Isn't the case lid venting to the atmosphere? I know there's media in the box to prevent "splash" but potentially introducing liquid to the lid scares me.
That breather box is designed to have the cover with the letters facing the rear of the car. You have it facing up. The cover should have a seal between it and the box, just inside of the edge. It probably looks like a rectangular O-ring but is most likely formed in place of either a cast rubber or oil-resistant silicone caulk (like Permatex RTV for oily environments).
The drain for the oil that condenses inside of the box is currently facing you (towards the rear of the car) but it is located about 1/2" UP on that surface. That means, as Mike mentions, that the level of liquid oil in the box must rise up to the bottom of that drain hose before it can drain back into the case.
For that matter, where does that drain hose go? If the other end is attached to a nipple or something to allow it to drain into the case, then that's OK. If, instead, it is attached to a carburetor as a vapor return to be burnt off, well.....Not quite so good especially with the box situated as it is. The box will forever have about 1/2" of oil in the bottom of it, because it can't drain out unless the box is rotated 90 degrees to put the drain on the bottom. Accelerate quickly and the liquid oil inside of the box will flow rearward, build up to get into that rear hose and flow to wherever that hose goes. If it's going to a carburetor and not draining back into the case, not good at all.
The way that box works is to intake oil-laden vapor from the valve covers (by the looks of where the hoses go), slow down the passage of the vapor inside of the box so that it condenses into droplets which then find their way to the bottom of the box and out the drain, back into the case.
Tell us where all of the hoses go, and we'll go from there.
Gordon Nichols posted:That breather box is designed to have the cover with the letters facing the rear of the car. You have it facing up. The cover should have a seal between it and the box, just inside of the edge. It probably looks like a rectangular O-ring but is most likely formed in place of either a cast rubber or oil-resistant silicone caulk (like Permatex RTV for oily environments).
The drain for the oil that condenses inside of the box is currently facing you (towards the rear of the car) but it is located about 1/2" UP on that surface. That means, as Mike mentions, that the level of liquid oil in the box must rise up to the bottom of that drain hose before it can drain back into the case.
For that matter, where does that drain hose go? If the other end is attached to a nipple or something to allow it to drain into the case, then that's OK. If, instead, it is attached to a carburetor as a vapor return to be burnt off, well.....Not quite so good especially with the box situated as it is. The box will forever have about 1/2" of oil in the bottom of it, because it can't drain out unless the box is rotated 90 degrees to put the drain on the bottom. Accelerate quickly and the liquid oil inside of the box will flow rearward, build up to get into that rear hose and flow to wherever that hose goes. If it's going to a carburetor and not draining back into the case, not good at all.
The way that box works is to intake oil-laden vapor from the valve covers (by the looks of where the hoses go), slow down the passage of the vapor inside of the box so that it condenses into droplets which then find their way to the bottom of the box and out the drain, back into the case.
Tell us where all of the hoses go, and we'll go from there.
Every box I've ever seen (besides a CB tower) has little standoffs on the lid, so that the lid itself doesn't seal on the box. It's generally stuffed with a sponge, but sometimes there's a wad of AL "chore boy" pot scrubbers in it.
The idea is that they will vent air, but not oil mist. The mist is supposed to condense and flow back to the engine.
The reality is that they are about 1/10 the size they would need to be to do anything significant, and the hoses are generally also quite undersized. A stock VW "seals" at the pulley end by means of a groove meant to throw the oil back into the case. Every time somebody starts talking about the "sainted German engineers" who could do no wrong-- I think of that lack of a seal as "exhibit A" why a lot of time has passed since the 1930s.
The set-up as adequate when the engines displaced 1200 cc, and it was OK to dump oil vapors under the car from the filler neck. Bore and/or stroke the thing, and there's a lot of pumping action inside that tiny little case. Get even a tiny bit of blow-by, and it's highly pressurized and coming out somewhere.
One of the things that would be really, really cool is an aftermarket PCV valve set-up that could be added to anybody's engine to keep that pressure at bay.
That, or dry-sump it. That keeps the engine compartment clean. I did, but I still have a sand-seal. A real seal just seems... civilized.
I don't think any oil in that drain line will get to the filler with that big P-Trap.
The correct way?
Why are all the bugpack boxes i see online mounted lid up?!
Also in that pic with the empi box, where does it return? I"m thinking I'll reroute the return in front of the shroud to the filler tube- but that may begin to ugly up the engine view. I like how it's behind the shroud now...but obviously that loop in the line is no bueno.
Here's a return line that is routed behind the shroud, but runs downhill all the way to the filler with no loops to trap oil.
The filler is an original VW piece, with the breather tube lower than yours, which makes eliminating loops easier.
Note that the drain is from the bottom of the breather box, which opens from the side facing the rear of the car for cleaning the foam element inside.
Tubes feeding into the box (only one of which is in the photo) are from the valve covers. No oil is sent to the carbs.
Mounting the breather box as high on the firewall as possible helps.
Bill, that P trap is my fuel pressure regulator which sets behind the breather box as its mounted to the firewall.
Dubtub, the return goes back into my oil filler neck and is always sloping downhill to that location as any loop lower than the filler neck will create a trap and fill with liquid preventing the gases from flowing to the box. I'll get a better picture today of the routing of that line.
I think after viewing your setup the biggest problem is that loop which is lower than the filler which if corrected would reduce the need to relocate the box. I found that a lot of the information on these boxes does show the box mounted as you have it but I felt the constant force of gravity was a better way to go than to just let the box fill up to the level of that return and then flow back.
Also, I think a lot of this information online comes from the California guys and condensation would be less of an issue for them.
MikelB posted:Bill, that P trap is my fuel pressure regulator which sets behind the breather box as its mounted to the firewall.
Dubtub, the return goes back into my oil filler neck and is always sloping downhill to that location as any loop lower than the filler neck will create a trap and fill with liquid preventing the gases from flowing to the box. I'll get a better picture today of the routing of that line.
I think after viewing your setup the biggest problem is that loop which is lower than the filler which if corrected would reduce the need to relocate the box. I found that a lot of the information on these boxes does show the box mounted as you have it but I felt the constant force of gravity was a better way to go than to just let the box fill up to the level of that return and then flow back.
Also, I think a lot of this information online comes from the California guys and condensation would be less of an issue for them.
Mike, The P-Trap (long looping return line) comment was meant for Dubs pic
Much mutch better!
You can always plug the one drain line and Tap another straight off the bottom.
I've seen them mounted on the shrouds to.
Got any photos and info on the brackets? Thanks.
BobG posted:Got any photos and info on the brackets? Thanks.
Basically it is 3 layers of the thin angle metal with holes in it. (Not pretty by any means but mostly hidden) I cut one piece in half length wise but left the last inch w/hole on the end on angle (light mount point ) then took another piece and hammered it together flat, again leaving last inch on angle.
End result is 3 layers of metal coming off the bumper bracket and 2 layers on angle for the light to mount to. I need to paint the one piece black still and slip on the rubber gasket from the nerf bumper bars. That will hide most all of the metal.
3 layers gave no movement so the light won't bounce all over when driving. Prolly could do a single piece of thicker metal later, we'll see...
Great! Thanks for the info.
