PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Routing excess oil separator out of engine bay

destroy · #32 11-22-2012, 01:47 AM

Guys are always trying to make the point that the stock design is so great and doesn't need changing because it draws a small charge air from in front of the radiator and already flows more air than the engine could ever possibly use without different manifolds and porting the head. That's all good and fine, but the stock assembly is a needlessly gargantuan POS that rattles around like a bag of pots and pans, and self destructs far too often for my liking. It sucks nasty oil all over the inside of the housing making a huge mess (when it's not leaking all over the rest of the place), and consequently makes any servicing of the intake very unappealing to me. The fact that the steel housing for the filter sits on top of a very heat centric location on the engine and does in fact get hot itself does kinda defeat a bit of the "cold air intake" argument. The fact is though - these aren't high performance (and are bad platform for making high HP at that) cars and as long as comparable filters are used - probably will be effected very little in engine life and performance by a change between systems at this point in their life cycle. These things are 30 years old by now and I don't think there's too many daily drivers that will live to the point where it would have noticeable adverse effect on either measurement.

The system I have now is compact and effective. It draws air from right where the mouth of the collector in front of the rad exits. It's simple to inspect, service, and replace. It doesn't use the stock crankcase vent or drain that always seems to leak, but I haven't put in any solutions. Thanks for that link, btw.