Ecoboost Performance Forum

Has anyone tried different oil separator/breather solutions for the cleanside part of the engine (crankcase/camcover to air inlet tract)?

Bpd1151 had an interesting solution with a K&N breather filter that fits into the camcover, but I'm not able to use the engine cover on my 2014 - the breather contacts the oil filler tube rubber ring and wouldn't clear the cover.

I've seen CFM's solution with the check valve in the oil filler cap with a breather filter. It is supposed to allow excessive pressure to release, but not allow air through the filler tube. It seems to have gotten rave reviews from forced induction users.

I already have the JLT 3.0 separator installed, and this came highly recommended from GT500 owners. I see that Ford Racing even has a oil separator for their S550 GTs and Shelby GT350s, so it looks like the OEM even wants to remove oil from the PCV system... but I don't see any easy standalone solutions for the cleanside.

Any ideas?

You can also buy the billet aluminum Rx CSS separately. http://teamrxp.com/products/clean-side-separator-billet-aluminum-housing (http://teamrxp.com/products/clean-side-separator-billet-aluminum-housing)

Just curious, are you having trouble with your JLT separator?

I have the Rx CSS (came with my OCC kit), and mine is VTA with a small press on filter. I do not have a check valve and have not yet seen any oil accumulating on the filter.


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Quote from: metroplex on December 19, 2016, 05:30:55 AM
I've seen CFM's solution with the check valve in the oil filler cap with a breather filter. It is supposed to allow excessive pressure to release, but not allow air through the filler tube. It seems to have gotten rave reviews from forced induction users.

I just re-read your post and noticed this. I looked up the CFM breather kit and found this description:
This breather is the ONLY one in the market which incorporates a check ball to keep unmetered air from coming through while the crankcase is under vacuum. In other words, this breather acts just like a factory oil cap under normal driving conditions and when you get into boost it will release any crankcase pressure present. 

To me, this seems like a BAD IDEA unless you have some other means to allow fresh air to enter the engine, otherwise you are essentially blocking the intake of your PCV system. With that breather in place, you'd want to leave your clean side plumbing hooked up to the charge pipe (or allow it to pull from atmosphere; filtered, of course). You would NOT want to block it off, otherwise I imagine you would prematurely fail your seals and oil life would be greatly reduced due to increased crankcase pressure and blowby with no way to vent off combustion byproducts.

This video is a little dry, but is a good general explanation of the PCV system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPIfI9aZHt4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPIfI9aZHt4)

I am familiar with how the PCV system works, it hasn't changed in over 30 years. The PCV allows a lot of oil vapors to enter the intake manifold, while the crankcase breather still allows some oil to go back into the air intake stream although it seems to be a much bigger issue with forced induction. With the CFM, I'd keep the cleanside tube in place - but I wonder how effective it would be if the oil vapor is free to flow back into the air intake tract since there are 2 paths to vent crankcase pressure.

Quote from: metroplex on December 22, 2016, 04:42:30 AM
I am familiar with how the PCV system works, it hasn't changed in over 30 years. The PCV allows a lot of oil vapors to enter the intake manifold, while the crankcase breather still allows some oil to go back into the air intake stream although it seems to be a much bigger issue with forced induction. With the CFM, I'd keep the cleanside tube in place - but I wonder how effective it would be if the oil vapor is free to flow back into the air intake tract since there are 2 paths to vent crankcase pressure.

Cool. Thought the video might be helpful for others. :)

Might be interesting to find out the cracking pressure of the CFM gizmo, because you're absolutely right - path of least resistance is where oil might end up.

Easy fix to your concern (but another component) is a check valve on the cleanside tube pointing toward the valve cover. That way, when it burps it only has one path, and your engine cover should still fit.

This obviously wouldn't fix the issue of possible reduced PCV flow when under boost, but it also wouldn't be worse than stock, and you'd probably keep more oil out of the intake over time.




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Looking at Ford Racing Parts' catalog, Ford obviously knows something is up because they have the PCV oil separator and Cleanside oil separator for the Mustang GT/GT350:
M-6766-A50 (PCV for 5.0/5.2) and M-6766-A50S (Cleanside for 5.2).

I'm not sure how often the breather element would need to be cleaned, and if it is too dirty (accidentally neglected) would it cause piston ring/sealing issues. A dedicated separator for the cleanside is probably the best way to go but I haven't seen any kits.

Quote from: metroplex on December 23, 2016, 09:31:13 AM
A dedicated separator for the cleanside is probably the best way to go but I haven't seen any kits.

While I haven't seen any advertised for the EcoBoost (other than the Elite CSS for the F150 (which the oil cap adapter may physically fit the transverse), the CSS "kits" that are out there appear to be simply the separator, a piece of hose, and a couple of clamps.

http://teamrxp.com/products/clean-side-separator-billet-aluminum-housing (http://teamrxp.com/products/clean-side-separator-billet-aluminum-housing)
http://www.uprproducts.com/ford-f150-billet-oil-clean-side-separator-ecoboost-11.html (http://www.uprproducts.com/ford-f150-billet-oil-clean-side-separator-ecoboost-11.html)
http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/clean-side-oil-separator/ (http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/clean-side-oil-separator/) (maybe the F150 is the same oil cap threads??)
http://www.rxspeedworks.com/product/clean-side-separator/ (http://www.rxspeedworks.com/product/clean-side-separator/) (similar or same as teamrxp CSS)

You could easily make your own kit with a few extra parts. Is Michigan an emissions inspection state, or are they OBDII only?

Based on your first post, I presume you want to be able to keep your engine cover in place.

Obviously, the primary objective is to keep oil in the engine and eliminate oil from migrating to the intake. The best way to do this is to remove the connection to the intake piping altogether.

The cheapest solution would be a breather filter on the valve cover. I haven't seen a picture, but this sounds like the BPD solution you mentioned. I imagine you may need to change or clean the filter once in a while as it would probably eventually get soaked in oil. Since your engine cover won't clear the breather, you could get a 90 degree elbow and a section of hose and remote locate a press-on filter to vent to atmosphere. This should fit under the cover, and if you route your hose with some thought, you can place your filter somewhere that would allow any oil in the hose to drain back into the valve cover, rather than pool up in a low spot. Even if the oil pools in your line, since this is generally under vacuum, it should suck oil back into the engine anyways. You could go one step further here and add a check valve that allows flow to the valve cover, but not out.

The CSS that replaces the oil cap is another, albeit more expensive, option. You could vent that to atmosphere with our without a check valve, or if you want closed loop, you could drill your airbox lid and install a hose barb, per Rx instructions.

Seems like everyone kind of puts their own spin on things, which I suspect is why you don't see a whole lot of vehicle specific kits available.

MI doesn't have emissions, so I could run just the breather. But I was thinking that if the filter gets clogged, it may cause issues with the engine. The separator is a cleaner solution, but I think it should just connect straight to the port on the intake tract and not have a new barb drilled into the airbox.

Quote from: metroplex on December 23, 2016, 10:53:41 AM
MI doesn't have emissions, so I could run just the breather. But I was thinking that if the filter gets clogged, it may cause issues with the engine. The separator is a cleaner solution, but I think it should just connect straight to the port on the intake tract and not have a new barb drilled into the airbox.

Well, even better then! :)

VTA, even with a CSS in place, would eliminate any possibility of oil re-entering the intake. You would just need to cap the intake port after removing the OE tubing. If you use a filter of light color, or a color other than oil, you could pop the hood and do an occasional quick visual inspection to see if oil is collecting in the filter media.

Even if the breather filter got oil soaked, it would still pull a good amount of air back into the engine, there's quite a bit of vacuum.

I tried opening the JLT but I couldn't fit my hands in there to loosen the reservoir, the only way that I can see is to remove the JLT from the fender mount. Is there an easier way?

Quote from: metroplex on December 23, 2016, 09:02:23 PM
I tried opening the JLT but I couldn't fit my hands in there to loosen the reservoir, the only way that I can see is to remove the JLT from the fender mount. Is there an easier way?

Maybe one of those rubber jar opener things? Or some channel locks with the jaws wrapped in electrical tape?

EDIT: Maybe I misunderstood. There's just not room to get your hand in there? Can you move the bracket slightly to get more clearance?

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The only thing I could do is remove the separator from the bracket.

Also, I used a pair of new 90 degree OEM fittings for the vacuum cap and breather filter, they are already showing signs of oil vapor but the filter still looks clean.

Quote from: metroplex on December 23, 2016, 10:00:49 PM
Also, I used a pair of new 90 degree OEM fittings for the vacuum cap and breather filter, they are already showing signs of oil vapor but the filter still looks clean.

Got a picture? I'm curious how you ended up doing this.

No pics yet. I guess I just forgot... but the problem with my 2014 is that no breathers can fit straight onto the valve cover and still be able to use the engine cover.

The 62-1330 and 62-1340 are 2" OD at the top, so they prevent the engine cover from being replaced. With the 90 degree fitting, they can vibrate against the coil pack right by the oil filler.

I ended up using 62-2480 which is a much smaller filter than the 1330/1340 (BPD1151 uses the 1330 based on his post from a few years ago), about 1-3/8" OD and shorter in height. I like the 90 degree fittings because they're the OEM quick-disconnect fittings, offering a more secure fit with barbed connections.

Quote from: MiWiAu on December 24, 2016, 05:32:45 PM

Quote from: metroplex on December 23, 2016, 10:00:49 PM
Also, I used a pair of new 90 degree OEM fittings for the vacuum cap and breather filter, they are already showing signs of oil vapor but the filter still looks clean.

Got a picture? I'm curious how you ended up doing this.

Its Pic's or Nothing!!. Z

Here are the pics.

I pulled the front BOV tube (still waiting on the K&N breathers to arrive) and after a short drive, I can feel fresh oil residue from the BOV itself.

Nice. If you wanted to upgrade your OCC, you could use that connector on the intake pipe you capped and tee in to the outlet of your can. You'd want to add a check valve to that line and your manifold line. This would provide you with dirty side evacuation under boost and while cruising. You'd probably have to empty your can more often, though. :)


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Quote from: metroplex on December 24, 2016, 08:52:31 PM
Here are the pics.

I pulled the front BOV tube (still waiting on the K&N breathers to arrive) and after a short drive, I can feel fresh oil residue from the BOV itself.

Thanks for posting  some pics  :) and a thread is worthless without pic's,lol.  Z

It'd be nice if I could drain the JLT without having to remove it.

Quote from: metroplex on December 25, 2016, 08:09:43 AM
It'd be nice if I could drain the JLT without having to remove it.

I think its most notable that your seeing the can working as designed and you could always modify a drain relief valve or upgrade to a larger unit.  Z

Did anyone not have their separator working? I'm still skeptical as it is only catching fuel vapors (very light petroleum vapors) and not actually engine oil. This stuff would probably burn fairly easily if ingested into the intake manifold.

For the cleanside, I'm just running that breather filter. The RXSpeedworks cleanside separator is basically an oil cap with 2 layers of mesh to prevent oil from seeping out of the vacuum tube. Their instructions say to drill and tap a barb for your airbox, or if you don't want to drill the airbox, you can mount a pod filter - which is basically the same as using a breather filter on the valve cover. Even though the airbox top is about $40 (AA5Z-9661-B) I'd rather not drill into it.

Mine captured much less material during warmer months and the stuff that was captured was what looked like a mixture of oil and water (more oil content). Some of what you're seeing now may be a by product of colder weather.


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Quote from: metroplex on December 25, 2016, 08:40:34 AM
This stuff would probably burn fairly easily if ingested into the intake manifold.

I'm skeptical. I make my own ethanol free fuel and the byproduct (ethanol/water solution) does not burn off easily.

You could shake it up and pour it into a metal container and try lighting to see if it burns. My guess is you probably won't be able to sustain a burn from that mixture, and if that's the case, I would think that having that pass to the combustion chamber would rob you of a little power and/or efficiency (but probably not substantial).



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Im not sure a match or lighter would be the same as the combustion chamber conditions? But wouldn't a bit of water or fuel vapor help clean the system or would it just contribute to carbon.

Quote from: metroplex on December 25, 2016, 02:55:28 PM
Im not sure a match or lighter would be the same as the combustion chamber conditions? But wouldn't a bit of water or fuel vapor help clean the system or would it just contribute to carbon.

Definitely not the same conditions as a combustion chamber, but I wouldn't recommend holding a match or lighter next to a bucket full of gasoline either. ;)

Water wouldn't contribute to carbon. It's just hydrogen and oxygen. Byproducts of fuel combustion could/do contribute, which is why the valves coke on DI.

I think if that stuff in your can would help keep the valves clean, then the stock engines with no OCC wouldn't have coking issues.

I guess one other possible benefit is maintaining better consistency in the cylinders. If you're tuned and running in very high humidity, perhaps a functioning can could help keep more moisture out of the combustion chamber and allow more consistent performance.

Dunno if anyone has done any experiments with OCC starting with clean valves to see if it truly prevents or significantly delays valve coking, but I feel better about myself as a person not letting that stuff back into the engine. LOL


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I just collected more of that clear/yellow fluid and used a match. It lit up very easily and didn't extinguish the match, but it wouldn't catch fire or stay lit by itself when the match was removed. The burning seemed to remove some of the fluid, but left some soot in the process.

Would it be possible/beneficial to put a can in that line going from the front valve cover to the air inlet.  Just replace the straight tube that is there? Instead of capping and using a breather filter or am I totally missing how the clean side separators work?

I put a breather on that valve cover and it didn't catch much oil mist at all. That port only blows mist into the fresh air tract under boost. Otherwise the vacuum from the crankcase pulls fresh air from the fresh air tract (like an old school breather tube with that foam or sponge sitting in the carb airbox).

Honestly, the oil that pools in the intercooler and ducting doesn't seem to come from the PCV system. The PCV side sends the vapors to be burned in the intake manifold. The cleanside just doesn't produce enough oil mist to be an issue, and if it does, then you have serious problems with the engine. The only benefit to something like the TracyLews/RX/UPR/JLT is to reduce the amount of vapors that can collect on the intake valves.

Sorry to pull up an older thread but I don't understand the distinction between clean and dirty side.  As I look at it the connection on the rear valve cover vacuums out vapors at idle, and the connection on the front valve cover vacuums out vapors when under boost.  Both sides look like they perform exactly the same function, so what makes the front connection "clean"?

I believe 90%- 95% of the bad stuff comes out of the dirty side via- PCV and ingested through the baffle and inside the oil separator.

The front clean side separator works independently which only contributes to 5%-10% and can be added as a stand-alone product. Z
(http://i.imgur.com/f7YaK97h.jpg)

Quote from: Agentlongwood on July 29, 2017, 11:37:18 PM
Sorry to pull up an older thread but I don't understand the distinction between clean and dirty side.  As I look at it the connection on the rear valve cover vacuums out vapors at idle, and the connection on the front valve cover vacuums out vapors when under boost.  Both sides look like they perform exactly the same function, so what makes the front connection "clean"?

In theory, the rear valve cover connection is where "dirty" air exits the crankcase (think exhaust), and the front connection is where "clean" air enters the crankcase (think intake).

When the front cleanside "vacuums out under boost", this is how oil can be ingested into the charge pipes.

The cleanside separator is supposed to help separate oil from the vapors before it re-enters the intake. On my setup, I vented my cleanside to atmosphere with a breather filter to completely eliminate oil ingestion under boost.


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Ok so at idle, air is being pulled into the "clean side" port due to vacuum from the dirty side intake manifold.  And under boost air is being sucked out of the "clean side" port by the vacuum created by the intake side of the turbo.  Just making sure I've got that correct, because I'm new to a lot of this stuff.  Seems like you could just add a check valve to the factory line from the front valve cover, so it only allows air in not out, and that would make it actually clean, lol.

Quote from: Agentlongwood on July 30, 2017, 10:34:18 AM
Ok so at idle, air is being pulled into the "clean side" port due to vacuum from the dirty side intake manifold.  And under boost air is being sucked out of the "clean side" port by the vacuum created by the intake side of the turbo.  Just making sure I've got that correct, because I'm new to a lot of this stuff.  Seems like you could just add a check valve to the factory line from the front valve cover, so it only allows air in not out, and that would make it actually clean, lol.

You got it!

Problem with a check valve, though, is you would build pressure in the crankcase, and the air needs to go somewhere. Could cause a valve cover gasket blowout or some other gasket/seal.


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Gotcha.  And under boost the gasses couldn't escape from the crank through the PCV because the manifold is pressurized.  I think I'm getting the hang of this lol.  My idea for a frankenstein setup with zero gunk getting into the intake is this:

Front valve cover has a breather filter, but with a check valve behind it so air can only go in, not out.  Rear valve cover has one line with a check valve so air can only go out of the crank case, not in.  This line goes to a breather tank, which collects material like a catch can, but has a filter venting to atmosphere.  No return line to the intake tract or intake manifold or anything.  Any time the crankcase experiences negative pressure, filtered air comes in the front valve cover.  Any time the crankcase experiences positive pressure vapors escape through the rear cover.  The check valves ensure this is the only way air can move.  Now you have ZERO gunk getting back into the motor and also free up a port on the intake manifold to use for meth or what have you.

Any reason that setup wouldn't work?