Oil seperator, baffle or both?

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Aug 10, 2007
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Oil seperator, baffle or both? Update

331, 10.5:1, cobra upper and lower.

My valve cover has the baffle and I am currently running a breather with PCV system. (no vacuum problems).

I do have baffles in the lower, but not the larger one that was an after thought by Ford.

The problem is that once in a while when I hit it, I get a little smoke out the tail pipe. Only really happens when I do some stop and go driving. Not when i start it up in the garage and let it run. even when reving the engine. So I assume i have some type of oil build up in the intake. Heads are brand new AFR with about 2,000 miles on it. so I am pretty sure it is not valve seals, and the engine is new as well.

So, what have you guys done for fixes? I just ordered Steedas seperator.

will this do it? or do I need the baffle as well?
 
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You boned yourself my friend.

That kit that you ordered from Steeda could be had in simple parts from the air compressor section of your favorite hardware store for 1/4 the price.

Anyway, onward and upward... You say you're getting smoke during start and stop driving but not necessarily when you're hard on the gas for good power run? You may have a vaccum problem after all only it's not what you might think.

First thing is first... pull codes and see what you get.

Has the car been chip tuned in any way?

What size injectors?

What EEC?

What MAF?

What color is the smoke?


For what it's worth (and I'm just spit ballin here), your breather in combination with the rest of your setup may be causing some AFR lag in your transition(s) between WOT and idle/cruize. If that's true then it leaves the adaptive capabilities of the EEC to play catch-up during those transitions.

I guess that a quick way to tell, might be to replace your valve cover breather with one that has an integrated check valve (allow the crank case to exhale but not inhale). If that fixes it, press on with pride.

If all your parts are new and the combo was assembled correctly then it may be as simple as needing to be dyno tuned and getting the fuel/spark/MAF tables to all work together.
 
It's been dyno tuned once by Brad Brand of Atlanta Chassis dyno. I do need another as I completely deleted all emissions equipment.

No codes except EGR, which has a dummy plug. balance test was fine as well.

As for the Steeda kit, I place a much higher price on convenience rather than driving all over town getting pieces to put together for the same thing I can order hand have shipped my door. (plus the money I would have spent in whatever store just because I am tere) hahaha

th color of the smoke is blue/grey. All of the other supporting mods are right for the car. the breather is currently installed on the oil fill tube. Do they make a screw in check valve breather that will fit?
 
The oil cap breather with a one way valve? I'm not sure. I don't recall ever seeing one.

Question though... when you had it tuned... did it have the breather on it at that time?

The blue gray smoke leads be to believe that you are in fact, getting a small surge of rich fuel mixture. Some years ago when I ran an FMU for a supercharger, I'd get the same thing when I hammered the gas pedal down.
 
No. the breather wasn't on. I put the breather on for one reason! rear main seal!!!

When I get back down to Atlanta Chassis, i will have Brad check it out. I will put that steeda kit on and see. I may take off the hose from filler neck to tb and block the holes. I don't know how much that may help.

I am still getting a little vibration from 3200-3700 rpm. The only thing left for that to check is my balancer which is new and an sfi solid one or my msd box. although it could be the way te engine is mounted on the aje k member?

But, my balance test still come out good? who knows...just trying t track these little gremlins down....

will ake some time. I have about 1,500 miles on since the resto was complete
 
Well now you're talking about more and more possible items as we go. You're firmly into territory now where I can't think of a way to try and help more without standing infront the vehicle and looking at/seeing what you are.

Lots of possibilities there.

Another thought though... you're not running boost. You should not have to vent your crank case to air. The PCV should be able evac the crank case nicely unless there's something wonrg with the rings.

If you're seeing oil infront of or in back of your throttle blade then an oil separator would be warranted. If you're seeing it further down in the intake then you need one inline with your PCV.

A breather installed on your oil filler port that allows air in either direction basically renders your PCV system inoperative. You'll still get SOME pull but the circulation will not be as it was intended.

Should you decide to put a separator between the intake and the PCV, I also recommend getting a brake booster check valve form the HELP section at the part store and the necessary fittings and adapters to make it work. Most PCV valves do a poor job and the extra check valve is a definite plus.

Other than that, I still think that your problem could be the result of fuel ramping up before air and spark. You really didn't indicate if you had confirmed the existence of oil in the intake tract.

Hope it helps.
 
331, 10.5:1, cobra upper and lower.

My valve cover has the baffle and I am currently running a breather with PCV system. (no vacuum problems).
I beg to differ... by definition, this is a vac leak...

Compression test
Leakdown test

This will tell you what kind of shape your bottom end is in. Excessive blowby cannot be handled by the PCV system...
 
I beg to differ... by definition, this is a vac leak...

Compression test
Leakdown test

This will tell you what kind of shape your bottom end is in. Excessive blowby cannot be handled by the PCV system...

As stated earlier...everything is NEW!

It did not do this before i deleted the cats, smog, egr, etc...

I will find it. Just will take some time. besides it needs to be re-tuned anyway. Not too worried about. Just thought i would see what other people thought. But it is NOT the bottom end, nor is it the valve seals.
 
As stated earlier...everything is NEW!

It did not do this before i deleted the cats, smog, egr, etc...

I will find it. Just will take some time. besides it needs to be re-tuned anyway. Not too worried about. Just thought i would see what other people thought. But it is NOT the bottom end, nor is it the valve seals.
What ever you say champ! :nice:
 
Well, here is the seperator after taking an aggressive ride on some twisty backroads. About 10 miles...

i think i am going to track down the larger baffle as well. This was also with the oil cap on, not the breather.

no smoke at all. runs great.
 

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Well, until I locate a baffle for the lower intake, I am going to add another pcv valve on the pass. side vc.

vristang...I assume this worked for you from what i have read?
Basically, yes... it helped... but there were other issues that I found out about later... which is why I suggested the compression and leakdown tests.

I had a HG issue due to poor machining from the shop that I thought I could trust. Even though the heads had been completely re-done, they weren't 'right'

You may or may not have issues with the bottom end... I have no idea.
But right now, my point is that neither do you.
The parts being 'new' has nothing to do with diagnosing a problem.



That much oil in a 10 mile run is bad.
If you indeed have factory baffles, then something is off.
If you have read my past posts on the subject, then you know that one of the first things I will recommend be done is a compression and leakdown test.


Hope you don't take any of this as me trying to be rude.
 
Already did a compression test. 205-210 in ALL cylinders was the highest reading.

I haven't done a leakdown yet. I don't have a tester. see, my upper is a factory Cobra intake. Actually off of a '93. My lower is not an original cobra lower. It may be from an explorer. However, the lower intake has the small baffle. Who knows. I will leak it down to verify. But, like i said, i doubt there is something wrong. At least i hope not.
 
Waiting on my leakdown tester to come...Ordered it yeaterday...

So, i am going over a few scenarios in my head. 1. If it's a head gasket or valve then fine, replace it, move on. 2. if it's rings, :(after i have cried in the fetal position) :rlaugh: I may change pistons to lower the compression for a blower.

The way I was told to leak it was to pop the covers, loosen/take off the rockers, hook it up and read the nummbers and call him with results.

I have also read about the tdc and bdc method too. :shrug:
 
Leakdown tests...

amazing....about: 5 ways to do the test, different instructions for every make of tester, quality of tester....and so on...:rolleyes:

So far, my engine is either 3-7%, which it should be as it's near new, or 55-75%, depending on the directions!!

Just bought another tester...waiting on it to get here...

question, what did we do back in the day when this test wasn't popular?
 
Leakdown done...5-6%...Went around twice. better reading the second time once i got a good seal from the plug O ring!

so bottom end is fine, heads are good, now what?

2nd PCV? Plug it and run breathers? baffle?:shrug:

any thoughts would be welcome... Thanks!
 
Already did a compression test. 205-210 in ALL cylinders was the highest reading.

I haven't done a leakdown yet. I don't have a tester. see, my upper is a factory Cobra intake. Actually off of a '93. My lower is not an original cobra lower. It may be from an explorer. However, the lower intake has the small baffle. Who knows. I will leak it down to verify. But, like i said, i doubt there is something wrong. At least i hope not.

small baffle is chinese cobra knockoff garbage. explorers have the larger baffle.