Installed PCV Oil Separator

[joezek]

I've had an oil consumption problem since I bought this truck a few months ago. It's got 141,000 miles on it and looked as if it was poorly maintained. I changed the PCV valve with a factory Motorcraft unit, still consuming oil but never smokes. So since I had an oil separator on my Explorer, I figured it was time for one on the Expedition to see what I can catch.

Here's a few attachments of the separator I installed. It cost me $10 at Harbor freight. I installed it in series between the PCV valve and the intake. It's capturing all the oil that normally would have been getting sucked into my intake system. All this oil filled up in less than 150 miles (about 3/4 of a shot glass).

I bet the whole intake manifold is coated with burnt up oil especially all over the back side of the intake valves. Because this seems to be where all my oil is being consumed, I think a Sea Foam treatment should be done using the PCV hose.

I recently treated the engine with Avblend/Zmax and I'm keeping an eye on the consumption. That stuff is great at removing carbon deposits from pistons- hopefully it'll get the oil rings under control. If it doesn't then I may try 5W30 oil instead of 5W20.

One picture shows with oil in it, the other after I emptied it. I think the only way to improve this mod is to have a return drain to the crankcase that opens when the engine is shut off.

 

[KWT2000]

thats a nice setup... i ran something similar on a chevy 6.5 turbo diesel to contain my oil consumtion, i had a drain valve on it that i open when it would get full and drain back to the crankcase

 

[joezek]

My consumption had been about a quart every 800 miles. I can only imagine how long it's been like that and how much oil's been sucked through the intake system. It's got to be a total disaster inside my intake system. At least right now there's absolutely ZERO oil going through my intake.

I can't believe the factory and/or the EPA doesn't require something like this. That oil isn't supposed to be burned, it coats the O2 sensors, clogs the catalytic converters, and kills the efficiency of the valves and combustion chamber. I bet every car on the road has some oil being sucked into the intake through the PCV valve.

If they don't want to make the separator part of the vehicle because of increasing the maintenance requirement, they can instead put a splash guard under the PCV valve inside the valve cover.

 

[Derks88]

I am pulling my 4.6 out of my truck and have the intake off. It is very black and oily in the intake ports on the heads. I'll have to look inside the intake as well.

 

[KWT2000]

where did you get the seperator at??? thats much smaller than the one i have on my diesel...

 

[joezek]

I got the separator at Harbor Freight for about $10 on sale. It's just an air tool water separator/regulator. I took the top apart and removed the parts that regulate and restrict airflow, and I removed the stone filter. I used a few pipe to 3/8" hose fittings and mounted in series. The hardest part was figuring out where to mount it.