is the breather hose from the valve cover leading to the intake runners necessary for performance? or can i omit that and just attach a breather filter of some sort?

the reason i ask is because even before the head job was performed, my engine always had this oil gunk where the head and the timing chain cover meet. it seems there is oil weeping in that area, even with the new gasket and head installed.

i was wondering if removing the breather hose would more effectively release blowby gasses versus routing the gasses to the intake runners... which i read doesn't have a strong a vacuum anyway...

i'm also having issues with a little bit of smoking at idle and during acceleration, i'm thinking(wishfully) that by cutting off the blowby gasses going to the intake runners would somehow lessen the smoking... because i would theoretically be lessening the amount of "fuel" reaching the cylinders... blowby gasses with atomized oil = combustible fuel right?

opinions?

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

you can direct the blow by out to the environment, it has to go somewhere, if it was plugged-up the pressure will build up and cause the engine to either shut off (in the case of the 123's and 126's w/ a vacuum shut off valve, or the pressure could blow seals and cause engine damage.
If the blow by is normal its just burned along with fuel I wouldn't worry about it.
OTOH the EGR is something to defeat, for experimental purposes of course
If the valve cover is distorted it won't seal effectively (there is always a little oil that gets by the seal it seems) maybe yours is bent? Don't overtorque the hold down nuts.

__________________
'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

How about something like this -

http://www.angelfire.com/space/neon/catchcan.html

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

That blue one is a helluva lot more trick than my quickie-engineered catch-can prototype. I have to do this so the intercooler doesn't become fouled internally.

hehe,
ofcourse i'm doing this just for experimental purposes...

so in a performance experiment... it would be ideal for a DIESEL engine if the breather is not routed to anything? just let the gasses escape and let the hitech experimental engine booth do the air purifying?

hmmmm, it seems that assembly is mainly for preventing oil from getting to the chambers... the gasses still go the intake, i believe its a gas engine? so there will be vacuum, still making the system efficient...

the effect will be different with a diesel engine? gas would still be building up?
correct me if i'm wrong.

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

Why is it you think a diesel engine can't evacuate it's crankcase gases properly? I doubt MB or any other mfgr would consistently set up the same stock breather arrangements if they didn't function correctly. The only reason I've modified mine is to avoid coating the charge-air cooling system. The stock set up worked just peachy prior to the IC install.

I don't think it has anything to do with vacuum. The crankcase breather allows blowby gasses to vent. If you plug the breather eventually the engine will stall.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

i'm not saying that diesels can't evacuate properly, i just figured that if there weren't any such routing then the gasses would have a more direct path to vent. I'm thinking that if the gasses are routed to the intake that it would (in my mind, i may be wrong) vent at a slower rate.

i'm not sure but with gas engines there is a scavenging/sucking effect because of the higher manifold vacuum... correct?

anyway, my system isn't perfect coz i have a fair amount of blowby, or so it seems, when i disconnect the breather hose i see this steady stream of gas...
i just want it to vent faster that's all... i feel it's responsible for all the oil weeping.

and does my theory about blowby=extra fuel make sense?

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

I'm out of my league here but here's my thinking - the crankcase vent doesn't go directly to the manifold but into the pipe between the air cleaner and the turbo. Same with gassers where the vent goes upstream of the throttle plate. No significant vacuum there. The potential relevant differences between a Diesel and gasser in this situation are airflow and crankcase pressure. I imagine airflow is about a wash for the same engine displacement since in either case it's the downward motion of a piston sucking in air, aided or not by a turbocharger. Same displacement, same airflow. As for crankcase pressure, I expect that a 20:1 CR means more pressure gets into the crankcase than with a 10:1 CR so you get more crankcase gunk into the intake tract with a Diesel... or maybe better to say that gunk builds faster.

I've lost track of the thread but I think your options are to run a hose down to the bottom of the engine bay or put an oil trap and route the gasses to the intake manifold. Seems like a matter of conscience more than anything else.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

hehe,

yep, i guess its just a matter of conscience.

i have a non turbo 603, euro version, it does go directly to the intake runners

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project

I don't know if redirecting the blowby gasses into the atmosphere would change the amount of smoking at idle. However, blowby is directed to the intake, as I understand it, because of environmental issues, blowby gasses are particularly noxious, burning them during combustion is supposedly a clean air solution. Putting a filter on it and allowing it to vent will work, though be ready to catch a bit of oil in the filter, and to be cleaning it regularly, it could be a drippy mess.

A good running engine with normal blowby shouldn't be affecting performance or smoking too much. If your compression is bad, and thus have a lot of blow by... well that's another story.

DS
87 300D
Northern Iowa

Hey Casey, I guess getting the oil in our intercoolers and piping lessens the cooling capabilities of the design? I guess I better do a modification like this thread suggests (nice job by the way!). Did you do something different or very similiar to what has been shared in this thread?

__________________
-disav

99 E300 TURBODIESEL Astral Silver 282K - AMG brakes, suspension, monoblocks, speedo & interior - Full Load Maxed on IP by custom Speed Tuning USA Chip - T3/T4 Garrett - EGR/MAF delete
98 E300 TURBODIESEL Alexandrite Green on black leather 289K
95 E300 DIESEL Green Queen 267K SOLD
84 300D 216k SOLD
87 300D 299K #22 head - intercooler - full load adj. - 8sec 0-60mph - SOLD
76 300D 214K SOLD

I highly recommend modifying the stock setup in your instance, especially since you're using a smallish IC. I'm still running the same catch-can I posted in the link above--it works quite well, capturing a few tablespoons of oil every two weeks of operation. I just dump it back into the crankcase from time to time, though one of these days I'd like to re-route it back into the turbo oil return line.

That is going to have to be my next project. Thanks!!

__________________
-disav

99 E300 TURBODIESEL Astral Silver 282K - AMG brakes, suspension, monoblocks, speedo & interior - Full Load Maxed on IP by custom Speed Tuning USA Chip - T3/T4 Garrett - EGR/MAF delete
98 E300 TURBODIESEL Alexandrite Green on black leather 289K
95 E300 DIESEL Green Queen 267K SOLD
84 300D 216k SOLD
87 300D 299K #22 head - intercooler - full load adj. - 8sec 0-60mph - SOLD
76 300D 214K SOLD

heehee UPDATE

with regards to that catch can thingy...
what i used eventually as a catch can is a "Fluidized Bed Filter" used in marine aquariums...
its basically a cylinder with an inlet and an outlet. the inlet tube runs the entire length of the main cylinder(a tube within a tube) and ends near the bottom of the main cylinder, at the bottom is a sponge filter, up top there is also a sponge filter before the outlet.

i find that this setup more effectively catches atomized oil as compared to just a catch can.

i tested this setup by placing white tissue paper at the outlet, it took a while before the tissue greyed up due to the atomized oil... i compared this to the catch can setup where the tissue almost immediately blackened with oil.

i'm thinking that the more the sponge gets soaked with oil the more effective it will be trapping oil... i'm still monitoring the setup, i'm watching out for the sponge blocking the gasses entirely...

__________________

85 190E 2.3(SOLD)
86 230E (-->300D) sold
87 300D (-->300TD) sold
68 250S w/ a 615 and manual tranny (RIP)
87 300TD (SOLD)
95 S280 "The KRAKEN" (Turbo 2.9 602 transplant) traded
86 190E 2.3... current project