Air/Oil seperator question!!!

[mustangsquared]

I put an air/oil sperator on the passanger side line between the TB and the valve cover. I checked it after a couple of days driving...I had a almost clear fluid in it...what the heck is it?? It doesnt feel completely like oil....I dont get it. The engine was just rebuilt in February and only has about 5,000 miles on it. The oil has been changed...I am running 5W30 synthetic.

 

[Daggar]

Pics of the install required.

I don't want to jump to any conclusions because there's a lot here that's unknown. Initial guess is that you're picking up radiator fluid from the EGR spacer somehow. Either because what you've done is hooked up wrong or you've got a leak in the gasket spacer.

The worst theory:

If you've got that much moisture coming from the valve cover, then head gaskets are bad or a water jacket is broken. Check your oil for color or consistency. I can't imagine that you could capture that much water from your valve cover without having foamy coffee in the crank case.

 

[mustangsquared]

The oil looks good, no foam, nor is there any oil in the rad.

The install was easy....I simply placed the air/oil seperator in the hose that goes from the valve cover to the TB.

Picts will have to wait till I get off of work.

 

[Daggar]

Try dumping what's in the separator into a clear glass and letting it sit for an hour to see if it separates. I know it's humid as hell where you live and that the e-cam is good for pushing water out of the tail pipes before it warms up but wow... it sounds as if you've got a LOT of water getting into your separator.

My next step would be to cap off the lines going to the EGR and running it that way for a while to see if there's any difference. I certainly won't hurt anything to try.

Other than that, I'm at a loss.

One thing seems to be reasonably certain. Your piston rings seem to be great shape. lol None of that slop is making its way to your crank case if the oil is clean. I've heard of this sort of thing happening to folks who were running water/meth injection with crappy or clogged nozzles. It's definitely making me go "Hmmmmmmmm".

 

[mustangsquared]

I am using a seperator from LOWES (for air compressors...not bad for $30). I never thought about the condensation from the extreme changes in temp with the humidity and rain we have had. I emptied it last night so I will check it when I get home today....after 150 miles of driving I may have something in it.....and I will add one to the PCV side as well....maybe helpful to see what shows up on that side. That could narrow down the search for the issue...or widen the search.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[vristang]

This isn't really much of an issue.

I installed one of these separators a while ago and have the same thing.

What is happening is over night condensation builds up on the inside walls of the engine block. When you fire it up in the morning all of that moisture willevaporate and get pulled out the pcv. This is part of the reason for having the pcv. Your new separator is catching this moisture before it gets into your combustion chamber, which would be bad for the motor in the long term.

To verify this theory empty the catch can before starting the car in the morning, then check the can for moisture when you reach your destination. As long as the engine has reached full operating temp, you should have some moisture there.
Then, with the motor still warm, empty the catch can and do some more driving. At this point you should only find oil in the catch can.

Hope that helps
jason