Crankcase Vapor Condenser

[afgunn]

I am seeing and experiencing the problems all of you are talking about with the current stock crankcase vent and bottle. I am thinking about trying what I call a crankcase vapor condenser. I do not think it would work in those situations where the down hill angle would cause the oil to flow out. Following is a posting and update that I have put on a different diesel forum.

OK! OK! Don't laugh me off the site! And I have the empirical proof! Unfortunately, I am not able to find the link any more, if I do I will post it. Basically, you make a condensation jar and put it inline of your PCV vacuum. For us GM dieselers this would be inline with our CDR. I have had one on my daughter's 92 Ford Ranger (my previous truck) for a few months. We have not seen ANY increase in mileage, and did not expect any even though they mentioned you would. And the first time I checked the jar there was about 1/4 cup of very dark oil/fuel. It did NOT smell at all of gas! So, I ignored it. The oil was changed and the other day I happened to check her oil. It was as clean as FRESH oil! And it had been about 1200 miles! Never, never seen that before on that vehicle! I am impressed and will continue to monitor it and report.

By mistake (my daughter's mistake) HER '92 Ranger went 7000 miles on the last oil change and the oil on the dip stick was still only a dark honey color. There was about 1 cup of really black oil? in the sludge jar with some moisture and the beginning of sludge in the bottom. I am convinced - at least on a older gaser. Never, never seen that before on this truck. And currently, it is running smoother and the spark plugs are staying cleaner.

After seeing what it did for the Ranger and seeing how black and how quick my truck's oil goes black, today I put the sludge jar on the Silverado. Again not expecting much. Some black oilly stuff in the tube and hose connections. Started up and checked for vacuum leaks - none - of course, very low vaccum at idle. Now, I start up and drive to work. After 3 miles, the engine quiets down like I have never heard before - down the road and a idle! At idle the engine is quiet and smooth! It is scarry! Something BAD must be about to happen! When I got to work, about 12 miles, I left the engine idling and popped the hood to check for something leaking or broke but, everything was fine - just a smoother, quieter running engine! It will be interesting to see how the truck starts up and runs tonight after work. It has started well in the 6 weeks I have had the truck.

The quieter operation of the 98 6.5TD turned out to be old diesel vs fresh diesel. The sludge jar on the 92 Ranger gasser is still there and still working very well, keeping the oil basically clean between 5000 mile changes. Collecting about 1/4 cup dark black something and some brown sludge in the bottom - oil and water obviously. I never got to fully check out the operation of the sludge jar on the 98 because I sold it to my brother who traded it for a newer Duramax!? I have subsequently put one on the 93 Silverado 6.2L diesel (no turbo) I have and can report that after about 2000 miles there was about 2 tablespoons of black syrup in the bottom. The oil is still rather black though. Probably because the crankcase, oil cooler and engine have not been fully flushed and I probably have some blow-by in this 93 with 184K miles - still runs very good though!

I am going to try one of these on the 02 2500 CTD that I now own. But it may take me a while. If anyone is game I will send pictures and help with description. I will have to plumb into the intake pre turbo and the BBs (or steel gauze) should condense out the majority (all?) of the vapors that would coat or gum up the turbo like it does on the older 6.5 TDs on the Chevrolets.

I have pictures but do not know how to attach them here. I do not know if the link below will work but there are images in the 4th entry down.

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpforum/showthread.php?t=24253&highlight=sludge

[cummins2k]

You could do a setup like Mopar1973Man to condense the vapors and prevent the down hill problems. Moroso and the like make catch cans that are more convienent than factory setups.As far as it being honey colored, I can understand that. I have had gassers with plenty of miles to do that. Thats just changing the oil before it goes bad, and there is nothing wrong with that. Diesels will always blacken the oil to a degree because of the soot involved. However when I change the oil on the ram at 5k miles it doesn't look bad at all. I run a draft tube as my truck doesn't see any extreme angles.

[Mopar1973Man]

Hmm... Ford and chevy both got crankcase vents into the inlet of the turbo...I've seen another setup where the crankcase vent was plumbed into the exhaust stream and burnt off in the pyro heat...

[afgunn]

When I said the oil in the Ranger was only a dark honey color after 7000 miles that was very, very different for that engine. It had never, never done that before! And by mistake it had gone 7000 miles instead of 5000. The oil continues to be clean between changes and the "sludge jar" has about 1/3 cup of dark something (does not smell like gasoline) with brown sludge in the bottom.

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeah another thing to think about that Dodge's crankcase gasses are vented out to the atomophere... So crankcase gasses shouldn't have any effect... :confused:

[cummins2k]

Thinking about this a little further, wouldn't this cause somewhat of a distillation effect? Obviously it would seperate the heavier oils from the lighter ones based on the point at which they vaporize.

[afgunn]

Yes, the original article claimed a distillation effect, breaking down the complex hydrocarbons into simpler ones - especially when using copper plated BBs and the engine being able to burn the simpler hydrocarbons. I have never held to this idea but have been very impressed by the condensation of the heavier oil fumes, the cleaner burning and cleaner crankcase oil - in the gasoline engine that I have it on. Some sludge had condensed out of the 93 6.2 diesel that I had it on but the oil was still turning black - probably because I had not flushed the oil system. The 98 6.5TD that I had it on was keeping the oil clean after I flushed the oil system but I never checked the accumulation of sludge in the condenser because I sold the truck to my brother who then traded it in before I knew it. I would have liked to have removed the condenser! `:(I will be making and installing one on the 02 I have now (to replace the infamous sludge jar) and will report back here on the results. It will be awhile though. I am impressed that there is a bout 2K miles on the current oil change and the oil is not discolored much. :thumbsup

[Dave3500]

Michael,Do you have a link to your setup so that I can check it out?Thank you kindly,DaveBTW, got my fittings ordered from we filter it so that I can install my Frantz. I can't believe all of the so called car guys around my area that have never heard of Frantz or a TP filter. :smart

[Dave3500]

I will be making and installing one on the 02 I have now (to replace the infamous sludge jar) and will report back here on the results. It will be awhile though. I am impressed that there is a bout 2K miles on the current oil change and the oil is not discolored much. :thumbsup

[afgunn]

Here is the thread: http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpf ... hp?t=24253 or here: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showth ... p?t=103211 Well, I see the neither link will work unless you are a member. You can join either for free! Pictures are in the 5th post down. On the CTD, I am thinking of using 2" or 3" black drainage pipe to make the condenser with an end cap for the bottom and a screw in cleanout for the top. With the inlet tube flush with the bottom of the cleanout and enough extending out the top to attach the current hose. The outlet tube should be about 50-75% toward the bottom of the condenser with screen wire over the bottom to hold the BBs and extending out the top to the point where I would put a 90 to go toward the turbo input. I would put all the BBs in this outlet tube, should be tall enough to put as many BBs as needed! If the connection between the condenser and turbo input can be angled upward, great - any further condensation would run back to the jar! The inlet and outlet tubes should be as large as possible to allow free flow - 1/2" or larger would probably work. Remember, we will not be working with much vacuum here. A venturi connection to the turbo input would help as well. Hopefully, the condenser could be mounted where the current collector is?! The 98 chevrolet was a little easier since it was already sucking the vapors in ahead of the turbo so, all the connections were already there and I just inserted the condenser inline but there was no real good place to mount it. One guy in the thread mentioned that the condenser might keep the sludge from accumulating in the bottom of his IC. I have the pictures but I do not know how to post pictures here..., Mr. Administrator ` .