SsZERO

I took my car down to the track last weekend, and discovered a weird problem. Whenever I'd do a burnout, oil would splatter out of the filler hole with enough pressure to force the breather filter out of its mount. The breather would either fall onto the ground, or get stuck in the engine bay. I could see oil splattered on the inside of my hood, above the filler hole.

I've never had this problem before; and my car did about 6 pulls on a dyno the weekend before without encountering this problem. What could cause this to happen, and is it possible that I could have damaged my engine internally? This only seems to happen under sustained WOT, as it does not pop off with normal driving around the city.

-= SsZERO =-

2xLS1

iTrader: (25)

You have more blow by past the rings than the PCV system can evacuate pressurizing the crank case.

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

Is this a metco breather?

Another_User

What he said. That much blow by probably isn't too good. Are you boosted?

SsZERO

Yes, it is a metco breather. It is mounted via the aluminum coupler directly to the valve cover; the angled plastic filler tube was removed because the breather wouldn't fit with a strut tower brace.

I am N/A, but I do have a pretty agressive cam in there - a Thunder Racing "reverse split" part. Other than that, nothing really done internally to the engine.

Is there a fix for this problem?

-= SsZERO =-

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

Yep do a leak down on your motor and see if you have an issue if so then you may need to replace your piston rings or even as much as the pistons etc... I have a perfect example of this in my garage right now putting a forged bottom end in it etc... Sorry good luck!

SsZERO

Why would I need to do all that? What causes this problem? Was it the cam?

PREDATOR-Z

Ok, let us do the simple things first.
1- remove PCV valve and clean it with a good solvent (Soak it for awhile in gas)
or
2- Get a new PCV and slap it on, they are not that expensive.

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

Not the cam. It is caused by excessive blow by generating to much crank case presure. Could be a cracked ring , or cracked ring gland and or just plain old time for a rebuild. You will only notice it at high rpms usually. The cause could be like some have had the first and second ring gaps get lined up together happened to a few people and could be from runnig your car hard etc... There are to many possibilities to know for sure with out knowing your particular motor. Any time there is a weak link mods will only bring it to the surface. I am not a real technical person so I how this explanation helps you a little. I only had 14K on mine when it happened to me I just started tearing down the motor last night so far it looks like the rings cause the pistons look fine from what I can see right now. I will finish tearing it down tonight. If you are interested in looking I'll post some pics for you. The leak down test will tell you for sure that is why I suggested it. That will make a liar out of me and 2xLS1 if it comes out ok. And the tool to do it with can be rented for free at Autozone etc... I hope it does say I'm wrong for your walet's sake. Good Luck!

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

Oh and replacing the pvc valve is not going to do anything if he has a breather on there. If it was pluged etc.. it would be able to escape through the breather rather than the PVC system. Unless you know something that I am forgetting about. Unless it is just popping out because of it not being secured correctly.

PREDATOR-Z

If he only has one breather on the passenger side, the PCV function, although diminished still operates in relieving pressure on the driver one. If that one is plugged then all the pressure is going out of the only escape route (the breather) and is seriously increased on that side.
idealy there should be a second breather on the back of the driver side to equalize the load.
IMO I would do this :either put another breather on on the driver side. (I would use one of those baffled MOPAR ones) since under acceleration the driver side has a nasty habit of spilling oil.
Or I would just remove the one on the passenger, clean or change PCV valve and see if the pressure problem persist or is at least diminished.
Of course that does not negate the blow by theory, but his motor might still be within operational limits, untill time and funds are at hand.

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

I get concerned when folks immediately tell others that they have an internal engine problem.

Let's get more info - So your whole pcv system is stock except for that Metco? Break it down for us.

Replacing the pcv is not a bad idea if you have one, they are like $5.00.

With my motor I need to be running two metcos you should see how much blowby I get with my loose FI rings.

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

I agree it may run a while longer if it is not that bad etc...

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

PSJ I agree that I may have jumped the gun (I don't think so.) Unless as I stated above it was not attached properly. It takes quite a bit of presure to blow off a breather I am sure you know. I am FI also so that to was my issue. But that is why I suggested a Leak down run on all the cylinders it is free just a little work pulling the plugs etc... And it would eliminate one for sure answer about (Is there a cylinder issue of any kind?). And it is always a good idea to replace pvc valves on a regular basis so I am not saying he shouldn't do that, just that I don't think that is going to fix the problem. Of course I said that we needed to know more about his particular motor/car. And I didn't say that was his problem but a very probable cause, and hence the leak down test. So let me state for the record don't tear down your motor until you determine the problem for sure. I know you were not talking directly to me but I can assume you were.LOL! As alway start small and work towards the real problem.

SsZERO

Yes, my PCV system is stock; I just put the breather on. I'll check the PCV valves. Where would I put the breather on the driver's side? I don't remember seeing any holes that would be suitable for mounting it.

I should mention that my breather does sit pretty loose in its mount. I don't know if it is supposed to be tight or not, but I can pull it out with minimal force. I bought it used, and it has always been this way.

Is it possible that overfilling the engine by .5 quarts of oil could cause this? I think it is the blast of oil that is causing the filter to pop out, not so much the crankcase pressure itself. The oil comes out of the filler hole with enough velocity to spray the underside of my hood...that's a good 8-9 inches from the filler hole (it's on an angle, which is why the distance is greater). That means the oil is really shooting out of that hole like a volcano...something that never happened before either.

The other thing is why didn't this problem appear on the dyno after doing like 5-6 pulls? Is there a difference between the gradual engine speed & load increase on a dyno vs. the immediate speed & load of the track?

I'd like to avoid the serious problem diagnoses until we run out of simple possibilities. Man, my engine only has 18K miles on it...it's too young to die, or be sick.

-= SsZERO =-

Paul F

iTrader: (2)

No



You have a problem. Changing the PCV will be the easiest thing first but I seriously doubt it's the problem. The leak down test is what you should do next. It sounds like you have some excessive blow-by. You could have hurt the motor on the dyno which is why it just started doing it.

Inspector12

iTrader: (29)

Yes that is what I think also Paul. I was going to say that if the breather becomes saturated with oil then it might be causing it to not vent the presure and popping off with the fact that it is loose as you said. I am just giving you some hope and other allternitives, but I still think the leak down is going to tell the truth. Let us know what you find out. And like I said I only have 14K on my 02 so it is not uncomon.

2xLS1

iTrader: (25)

I suspect this is a problem on a lot of cars but is really only obvious when you have a breather installed. Could be a lot of what seems to be oil consumption by the PCV system is really crank case pressure forcing oil in the PCV hoses rather then the vacuum pulling it in. There is not a whole lot of manifold vacuum at WOT to evacuate the crankcase. Perhaps oil is being pushed into the PCV hose at WOT and when vacuum returns at lower throttle openings, it gets pulled into the manifold. I've always thought the oil separators in the valve covers on these cars sucked. Think about it. Would the starter of this thread suspect there was a problem with crank case pressure if he was running an oil cap instead of a breather?

SsZERO

No, I probably would not have noticed without a breather, because nothing would be popping off...unless a valve cover gasket actually blew.