I think there's a Ford technical service bulletin about some engines with a missing baffle in the valve cover, which allows oil to get into the filter box. Did the problem just begin recently, or as long as you've owned it? I'll look for the TSB.


NormSpeed

 

Blow by is caused by pressurized air leaking past piston rings and valves. That air pressure builds up in the crank case. Now under normal conditions there is little air leaking past the valve and rings. What does, is evacuated through the PCV system. When more air pressure builds up than the PCV system can deal with, ventilates through the breather. As an engine wears out, more air is able to leak past rings and valves, causing more air to evacuate through the breather. Now so much air is blowing out the breather with more force, that it picks up droplets of oil with it. This in turn soaks down the filters and eventually gums up the carb or throttle body. If the PCV system is working properly, then its time for a rebuild. At least a head job and re-ring it. Once you've gone that far, you might as well rebuild it though.

What I did to buy time until I could rebuild my engine was to take a bicycle water bottle and drill a bigger through hole in the nipple. I then drilled several smaller holes in the cap for air to escape. I then placed a large wadding of course steel wool in the bottle and ran the breather hose from the valve cover to the bottle and stuffed the hose over the nipple. Now the bottle will catch the oil and air is able to vent through the small holes in the cap. I also mounted bottle carrier to my core support. Then I just had to pop the cap off and empty the bottle every now and again. Something to think about.

Eric R. Tachell

 

NormSpeed: I only noticed it in the last year, it could have been existent for a while. I only started the heavy mountain driving lately. I will check for the missing baffle. Let me know about the service bulletin. Thanks!

Eric: I haven't checked the compression yet (spark plugs too hard to get to) but I am assuming that the problem is both valve guides and piston rings. The engine has only 110,000 miles on it. It is real unfortunant for such a young engine. Just pulling the heads off the engine is a major task because of all the hoses and wires that need to be disconnected and reconnected. I will try your bottle solution (sounds like a good idea). Thanks!

Curtis

 

Well, forget the missing baffle, the TSB doesn't apply to your year. Good luck....Norm

NormSpeed

 

I ran that bottle trick for two to three years and put 40,000 miles on it. When I decided to rebuild the engine it wasn't because of that, I noticed that my power wasn't what it used to be. When I first bought the truck, I could run up a pass at 60 mph. Just before I rebuilt it, I dropped clear down to 45. My wife actually told me to do it then.

 

Thanks Eric, 40,000, that is good to know. I too, can run up the passes at 60mph. It still has a bit of power left in it.
I just heard that K&N makes a breather that will pass the vapors but not the oil. The photo I saw showed a filter and a reservoir to collect the oil and a drain plug to drain it. I will have to check into it.
Later,
Curtis

 

Found this photo on the jeep forum (no, I am not defecting, never will either).
Now I am not sure who makes this, but the post says that it is similar to the K&N.
The K&N setup fits on the PCV port, which is buried under the intake. There is no application for my setup, but I think I can modify it to fit.
Curtis

 

I saw the same thing on the Jeep board and I plan to give it a try.

 

Any idea who or where the (pictured) filter comes from?
_______________________________________________

Must have hit the maximum number of threads, I am unable to reply in thread order. (This is a reply to the following post on the filter.)
GeeAea: Thanks for the location and product info.
As far as the crankcase under full vacuum, I don't think the PCV works under engine load, I think the vacuum is only at idle, but I am not sure. I will give it a whirl. Thanks again!
Curtis

 

Here's the url for the breather can:

http://www.racesearch.com/CGI/Search?description_id=&sort=racesearch_price&sub_category=0&opt=id&category_id=1481&category=1481&kit=&skip=1&cat_id2=&description_id=&action=Display+Products&action.x=77&action.y=16
I posted the picture......the site says that it's not currently available.....but it gives you a good idea of how to fab one. I did something simular ....but not quite as compact and clean. Mine just went inline and kept the hose to the air cleaner intact. .....It worked much like a shop vac except under pressure.....the blow by went into the big chamber......lost all it's velocity and the oil dropped to the bottom.

It kinda looks like a mini K&N on top of it.
Have you considered trying to run the crankcase under full manifold vacuum? This is what BMW does.....if you pull out the dipstick on a bimmer....it stalls (on my 78 320i anyway). I imagine if you eliminated the PCV valve and tee'd it into the hose to the other valve cover (and you didn't have too many leaks) this would work. I'd like to know if it would cause any problems at higher rpms .....it really shouldn't swamp the intake charge too much.

Good luck
GeeAea

Figures don't lie ....... but liars sure do figure.

 

Here's another available at Summit Racing:
http://store.summitracing.com/produ...duct.asp?ssid=U8BQ7O5DMJMQKDL47EYWL3HQTH&p=A6ED2583-3612-11D3-949D-080009FC5B5F

You should be able to fab this yourself......ahhhhh but for $30......
GeeAea

Figures don't lie ....... but liars sure do figure.

 

I have the same problem with my 82 351 I was told if you have good wet/dry compression & the PVC valve is good, then the bottom of the intake manifold is burnt out and this is causing the problem. I have not had the time to check mine. I hope this helps

Pat

 

I guess if you have a "carb warmer" passage through the intake....and it had a hole in it - it would vent to the lifter/cam valley and pressurize the crankcase/valve covers. This should be quite apparent at idle....and I would think right away. I've just never heard this one before......ya learn something everyday, I guess.

GeeAea

Figures don't lie ....... but liars sure do figure.

 

My daily commute has changed significantly in the past 3 weeks. No more extreme uphill. It is all city driving now. The vehicle has not burned a drop of oil since.
How does the bottom of the intake manifold burn out? It is a fuel injected vehicle. I don't get it. I have more time now, and will examine the engine. I still fear a rebuild (too many wires to tag and disconnect/reconnect)
TIA
Curtis

 

Curtis,
I don't think that you have this passage on your intake......check and see if you have a "heat riser" on one of your exhaust manifolds......this is the heat riser's only function -to provide a pressure differential to force hot exhaust gasses across the intake manifold (there's an exhaust port on the intake side of each head that mates to an under carb passage in the intake) I don't think the fuelies have this (I've never owned a fuel injected V8) feature.
The hill thingie tends to make me lean toward rings.......you could have bad valve guides as well. Just run a compression check and squirt a little oil in each cylinder that is low. If it comes up in compression.....it's rings. Just don't squirt too much or too fast or you may splash the oil up on a leaking valve and mask it's leakage.

I wouldn't rebuild the motor unless you're not getting acceptable service out of it (one of my former careers was maintaining a small motor fleet). That is, if it's not fouling plugs often and provides acceptable performance......even if it uses a qt. every 300-500 miles......it just doesn't pay to spend the money IMHO. Now I might look for a decent engine in the junk yard and tear it down in my spare time and rebuild it a little at a time as needed. Then when the time comes it's a "turn your head and cough" swap and not two weeks of downtime because the machine shop is holding up the process.

Just my .05 (gas went up)

Good luck!
GeeAea

Figures don't lie ....... but liars sure do figure.