Made Oil Seperator for less than $25.00

[HISSIN50]

No offense, but don't you think you guys are being a little cheap. You are spending tons of time online talking about this topic nonstop, paying gas to drive around and find all the parts, then have to take the time to make it along with a bracket and probably extra vac line, along with extra elements and time to clean them. All that to save $25-35 and in the end it still shouldn't be used with synthetic.

I think I'll just buy the steeda one and know that it is the best to use with synthetic.

What do you guys think?

I think that sounds fine to me. With the old school hot rodders (as I am, and some of the guys like Andy, Grady, et al) we grew up with no money, tinkering with things and doing little budget tricks to get more performance. E.g., We all made CAI-type deals to our carbs out of dryer duct at some point, even though we could have used a prefabbed product. Half of the joy was in trying things out and making things ourselves.

I dont see it as a pain - I to gain experience as I go. You might find that Justin and some of us others recommend in the future using a dedicated separator instead.

I dont suppose I can interest you in a home made catch-can made from a soup can, can I? I can show you how to tack the lid back on and tap the brass fittings. See above for why we might do that.

But for someone wanting a no muss no fuss drop-in piece, I say go for it. As you might have seen in a previous post of mine, Andy is smelling like roses right now, even though when he first installed his separator, people (not I!) gave him some ribbing for having spent so much money in the separator. I always knew he was smarter than I am.

 

[95cobraguy]

i think hissin brings up a good point about the stupid filter element in the separator, why does that oil need to be filtered? that filter element must be acting as a restrictor and the oil is already being filtered through the engine oil filter so i will be taking out that filter element 2morrow. one thing i am concerned about on my end is the gravity factor, i dont have my separator mounted on the firewall, instead its just suspended in the air, held up by the hose that runs from the pcv valve to the inlet of the separator, and the hose from the outlet of the separator to the upper intake. is that ok or does this thing really need to be mounted high? btw, i am using a home depot special here. as far as synthetics go, if the stupid filter element is removed there is no reason u cant run synthetics because once the filter is removed all thats left is basically a little container. i cant see synthetics affecting the container at all.

 

[rio95]

I think that sounds fine to me. With the old school hot rodders (as I am, and some of the guys like Andy, Grady, et al) we grew up with no money, tinkering with things and doing little budget tricks to get more performance. E.g., We all made CAI-type deals to our carbs out of dryer duct at some point, even though we could have used a prefabbed product. Half of the joy was in trying things out and making things ourselves.

I dont see it as a pain - I to gain experience as I go. You might find that Justin and some of us others recommend in the future using a dedicated separator instead.

I dont suppose I can interest you in a home made catch-can made from a soup can, can I? I can show you how to tack the lid back on and tap the brass fittings. See above for why we might do that.

But for someone wanting a no muss no fuss drop-in piece, I say go for it. As you might have seen in a previous post of mine, Andy is smelling like roses right now, even though when he first installed his separator, people (not I!) gave him some ribbing for having spent so much money in the separator. I always knew he was smarter than I am.

Yeah. If you have fun doing it, more power to ya. The soup can would definitely work, but I choose to spend $20 whole dollars on a jaz can.

I think the filter may be pointless also, but I think it would help keep the oil in the bottom of the housing rather than being picked back up by the air. You could give it a try. If it catches some oil, then I would say it is working. That would take care of the synthetic crap.

 

[DARK-5.0]

Jaz Can. I bought it awhile back. I think it was like $45.

And you can see if peepin in this pic

Jeremy

 

[NO_RICE]

That looks great, my question is what happens when it fills up with oil? How do you even know when it fills up with oil? Most oil traps on compressors I have seen where clear, I know that my pcv lets tons of oil past and I think it would fill up rather quick. It has a drain on the bottom, but where would you route that to?

 

[SeventyMach1]

My separator is clear. There's really no need to route the drain anywhere, IMO. It doesn't fill up that quick.

 

[HISSIN50]

I think NO RICE was asking about the Jaz can and knowing when it was full.

One could run a drain back to the crankcase, but who would want to do that? Blah. One could install a sight glass near the top or just play it by ear. I dont have one of those so I bet Jeremy or one of the other guys might have some insight about what they do.

 

[bill302]

Jaz Can. I bought it awhile back. I think it was like $45.

And you can see if peepin in this pic

Jeremy

is it just me, but i'm looking at the oil seperator above and it has a filter on the top of the seperator, would that not defeat the purpose

 

[SeventyMach1]

That was my exact thought when I saw it .....

 

[HISSIN50]

The can roughly does the same thing as the separator, and the same principle (in terms of knocking down oil-laden air) applies to open and closed systems (breathers, as Jeremy has, and closed PCV systems, respectively).

 

[DARK-5.0]

I bought my can because my old motor had a lot of blowby. It was intended to catch a lot of the oil that was getting sucked up and coating the intakes and valves. But now that I have a new shortblock with only 700 miles on it, it won't be that neccessary. Sure it can be looked at as not the best because its not clear and you can't see when its full. But its also not that hard to just turn the valve and drain it after a day of driving. Jaz does offer it in a white can so you can see the level but as you can look at my engine. I prefer black.

Jeremy

 

[nmcgrawj]

So if u run a setup like Jeremy does, with a breather on the PCV line, does that call for breathers on the valve covers too?

Im just a little unclear on what has to be "closed" and when to open it, and what happends when u run a open system and all that fun stuff

 

[95cobraguy]

i'm curious if the home depot specials that peeps in here r using needs to be mounted up high for the gravity aspect. mine is not mounted, just suspended in mid air, held up by the hose that runs from the pcv to the inlet of the separator, and then the hose from the outlet of the separator to the intake. is that ok?

 

[DARK-5.0]

Thats how mine is ran. Its not mounted to anything.

Jeremy

 

[95cobraguy]

Thats how mine is ran. Its not mounted to anything.

Jeremy

is yours collecting oil at all? i haven't really ran the car with this thing on there as i'm still sorting some things out but i cant see it not working.

 

[HISSIN50]

Yep, I dont think having the separator high or low matters (one could argue about things like residual oil in inlet-line draining once the car is shut off, etc, but that is kinda moot IMHO).

I did mine up high just because I could (tight engine compartment).

Nate, the stock PCV system is closed. There is the PCV valve in the lower and then the bypass hose in the oil filler (going to the air inlet). Both hoses are necessary since crankcases need to exhale as well as inhale (the oil filler line is for inhaling, and additional exhaling at WOT). And this all uses metered air (hence the closed system).

When someone starts to use a breather, the system is open. And once open, it is often more practical to run nothing but breathers (even doing away with the PCV valve altogether). This can allow unmetered air into the system though. One has to make arrangements for this by tuning around it, etc. Often the forced induction guys run an open system (if not a Supra or TC PCV valve) and they have made arrangments (tuning for running rich, etc) and the nature of forced induction requires a wide range of dynamics, so the unetmered air is factored into that.

My two cents.

 

[SeventyMach1]

I tinkered a little today as well. I cleaned the bowl & element with soap & water. I'll see if cleaning it makes it work effectively again. Let us know if your "gravity" method works.

Well, that's definitely the problem. It hadn't caught any oil for like 500 miles. Since I cleaned it, it works again. Today is the 1st time I've ran it since the cleaning. It gathered like 1/2" of oil in 60 miles ....... again.


Have you tried the gravity thing yet JT? Hopefully it will work. I really don't feel like pulling this thing out & cleaning it all the time.


Also, why does it seem like there's alot of fuel in the oil that's caught? I could tell there was gas in it .... it was really strong to the nose, lol.

 

[HISSIN50]

Well, that's definitely the problem. It hadn't caught any oil for like 500 miles. Since I cleaned it, it works again. Today is the 1st time I've ran it since the cleaning. It gathered like 1/2" of oil in 60 miles ....... again.


Have you tried the gravity thing yet JT? Hopefully it will work. I really don't feel like pulling this thing out & cleaning it all the time.


Also, why does it seem like there's alot of fuel in the oil that's caught? I could tell there was gas in it .... it was really strong to the nose, lol.

Justin, I forgot to look at it after driving yesterday. I will take a look later (been workin on one of the other cars til dark lately).

The fuel smell is because the air going through the separator is blowby from the combustion chambers (some of the air/fuel mix gets past the rings and into the crankcase. This air is what goes back through the PCV and into your separator).

 

[nmcgrawj]

Quick question, when u run a breather on the PCV line and on the valve cover, u no longer need a line going to the CAI correct? Just double checkin....

 

[HISSIN50]

Quick question, when u run a breather on the PCV line and on the valve cover, u no longer need a line going to the CAI correct? Just double checkin....

Breathers = bi-directional flow. The breather allows air back in, which the PCV valve's one way valve does not.


Justin, I looked and I do have oil accumulating again. The element, like yours, must have been the issue. I want to watch the separator while letting it idle, revving it, etc and see what is going on. I dont see why it wont work with no element in it though (so far). If anyone sees an issue, please post up.

And I was am with you and that was why I removed the filter in the separator - I dont want to have to clean the thing once a week.