Crankcase Ventilation

[BillD]

I have an L28 with the MSA intake mainfold for an Eidlebrock carburetor. All of the pollution controls have been removed. The car runs great, but the crankcase ventilation pipe worries me. It has been capped.

It seems to me that I should be getting rid of all of those noxious blow-by products in the crankcase so that they don't gunk up my oil. Any thoughts on this? (I'm using a air filter on the valve cover breather).

Thanks in advance,

[Daniel]

I agree with your worry.The crankcase to valve cover was for reburn of those gases(pollution control).My 1946 chevy truck has a tube that just vents it out.Therefore my simple answer(or question as it were)If they knew the importance of a vent in 1946 ?????

[beandip]

Can you vent the line to the air cleaner you are running? If the engine cannot breathe you will form sludge bigtime . Do you smell fumes in the car with the use of the air filter on the valve cover? I hav heard that this was a big drawback to them. You should be running a PCV valve in the mix as it does nothing to the power and helps the engine to stay clean and get rid of the condinsation that formes in the block when the engine cools and heats. It should be connected to the crankcase vent line.

[BillD]

In theory I guess I should run a hose from the crankcase vent tube to the air cleaner with a pcv valve in series, but there is no place on the very simple "pancake" air cleaner to receive such a hose. (I might be able to fabricate such a port on the bottom of the air cleaner with a short length of tubing and some JB Weld.) There are small vacuum access ports on the carb itself that might be used for such a purpose. Any guidance would be appreciated.

I wonder if just putting a filter on the crankcase vent tube and letting the by-products vent into the air would work. This seems to be the old fashioned way to do it. I'm not smelling any fuel in the cockpit from the valve cover filter so it might be a viable option.

[Victor Laury]

For the old-timer, Non-environmental-friendly method of the "draft tube" extractor, run a flexible line from the crankcase vent to a hard line that protudes 1'' below the frame. cut the hard line at a sharp angle open to the rear of the car. the angled cut will produce a negitive pressure on the line at speed.

Of course, if your rings are bad, you'll get the added benifit of corrosion protection to the underside of the bodyLOL

Just like on dad's Rambler!

[abas]

Of course, if your rings are bad, you'll get the added benifit of corrosion protection to the underside of the bodyLOL

I 'vented' the crankcase on a motor bike I had that had knackered rings. The pipe exited out the back by the number plate. The smoke was so bad I ended up getting car drivers leaning out of the window and telling me my bike was on fire ( like in the John Candy film - Uncle Buck):classic:

Why didn't I replace the rings? I'm a cheapskate - except where it comes to z's.

[BillD]

I did some research and found that the Edelbrock has a PCV ready port right in the front. That knowledge, some 3/8" oil resistant tubing, an in-line PCV valve and some minor plumbing to connect it to the crank case vent tube and my car is now a non-polluting, sludge-free runner.

Thanks for the help and advice.

[Tourniqet]

Please elaborate on your findings bill. I have the same problem and was wondering what to do about it.

[BillD]

The Edelbrock specific information came from this URL:

http://www.gsdi.org:8088/Text/pcvhose.txt

The carb has a 3/8" fitting coming out of the front that has a powerful vacuum. It had an easily removed rubber vacuum cap. I got an in-line PCV valve from my local car shop (E-Tron ComponentFV181/187) that had a 3/8" fitting on the carb side and I made an easy connect with an 18" length of 3/8" oil resistant hose. The crankcase side of the PCV valve was about a sixteenth of an inch smaller than the inside diameter of the crankcase vent tube (which was stopped with an easily removed rubber cap). The PCV valve had a lip on it that didn't allow it to go all the way into the tube. I made a collar out of gasket material (with a "safety lip" so it couldn't fall in the crankcase) and was able to press fit the PCV valve into the tube. I may replace this with an o-ring kludge eventually, but for now everything appears to be solid and air tight. I had a chromed air filter on the valve cover vent tube already. I changed the oil and filter and put about 150 miles on the car using this system and everything is holding up fine. No smells, fires, or dying trees. If anything the car appears to run a little stronger.

I love this car.