Crank breathers

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guesstimator - 15 Nov 2003 23:50 GMT

I recently posted about developing an oil leak from the rocker cover.
Having searched through the postings i checked that oil was not rising
and filling the rocker cover, wich it doesn't (phew)

Once the grommets and the gasket were changed the problem disappeared,
however i also removed the brether pipes that lead to the carbs and
found one of the almost completely clogged up with whiteish paste.
Having cleared these up i also checked if the cylindrical separators
where not pressurising the crankcase and both do seem to allow air
out. However the one on the flywheel housing passes much more gases
the the other.

I was wandering how much of a blow out should the separators produce
and is it proportional to engine wear? what colour if any should the
gases escaping the cramk case be?

Thanks everyone!!

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tim_lis - 16 Nov 2003 18:52 GMT

if you have a white scum forming in the oil its a sure sign that you have
water getting into the system. Is your radiator using any? or is the car
running hot? Do you park your car out doors? is it in a place where water is
getting into the engine bay, IE blown under the bonnet/grill by wind etc.
high pressure gas blowing out of the crank breather, or indeed just about
any breather is a sign of "blow by", this is casued by compression forming
in the block, usualy from a broken or worn rings/pistons. Or as you have
obviously got water in the oil it could be a cracked block, none of these
things is healty I'm afraid.

Just some thoughts...and worst case scenarios, but it could be just the
neighbours kids have put water in your oil filler ! (or similar)

> I recently posted about developing an oil leak from the rocker cover.
> Having searched through the postings i checked that oil was not rising
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Thanks everyone!!

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DaveG - 16 Nov 2003 19:13 GMT

But it is the usual case to get some white deposits in the breathers or
rocker cover / oil cap if the car is only used on short journeys and the oil
hasn't reached it working temp.

When there's a serious problem, the will be a lot of contamination and loss
of coolent etc.

If that isn't the case then don't wory, but do change your oil more
frequently and consider a change of thermostat.

> I recently posted about developing an oil leak from the rocker cover.
> Having searched through the postings i checked that oil was not rising
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Thanks everyone!!

Reply to this Message

guesstimator - 17 Nov 2003 00:01 GMT

Thanks for your responses!!

just thought i'd point out that i've only recently aquired the car and
this was the first time checking the breathers.

There are no water leaks whatsoever, i've a new rad, new head gasket
(so some water may have ended there before it was chenged) and my
cyliner pressures are
139, 142, 142, 149 Psi, the car lives outside unfrotunatelly and i'm
giving it a couple of days to see if the oil emulsion forms again.

But i was wondering what the benfits if any would be of fitting
filters instead of returning crank gases to the carbs.

There are no signs of blue smoke at all, which is quite surprising
given the age of the car, even uner large loads nor on release, maybe
i'm overconcerned given that its my first car

P.s one of the hoses, the one clogged up was not tightly fitted to the
separator i.e. it was just pushed on with a not so tight fit. The car
is a 76 1.3 innocenti cooper.

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fraggy - 16 Nov 2003 21:58 GMT

hiya
The breathers tend to condensate inside causing the oil to go white , if
you have white oil in the rocker cover and are using water then chances are
its a head gasket blown.
Do an oil change and see if there is scum in the old oil.

fragged

> I recently posted about developing an oil leak from the rocker cover.
> Having searched through the postings i checked that oil was not rising
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Thanks everyone!!

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