Quote:
Originally Posted by 68GMCCustom
yeah......I do need to find some way to make that hose all "flow visually"
I'm no internal combustion engine engineer or anything...just a senior performance nut that has had a handful of these vehicles going back to 1999, and speaking from personal experience. Not claiming any particular "expertise" tho...just observation...but feel free to educate me.
The little thingy at the white arrow is an air/oil separator (cheap compared to some), and part of my positive crankcase ventilation. Normally I would agree with everything you're saying if it were a sbc or other and go with what the factory did....but an LSx motor wound tight will spew a little oil that gets past the baffles in the valve covers and winds up in the intake, being sucked down and burned off but not w/o causing issues. Look at how nasty the thing looks now vs when I 1st installed it. Have you ever had to clean your 5.3's throttle body because the motor won't idle right? Its been my experience that these motors need extra oil management.
As far as the orange arrow, I was just tying the right side in with the left side. I had a little K&N filter on that side (as you can see in the 2nd pic) originally, but decided to just tie the banks together thru the air/oil separator and then to the manifold.
If you know or some reason I'll have a catastrophic failure...pulling a vacuum on both sides...I can go back to the filter with that side vented. (if I can find it )
Never caught on with my LS1 powered '99 T/A, but did with my LQ4 powered '01 GMC Sierra C3 and later a 5.3 in an '04 Yukon...and wound up cleaning the throttle body every 15k or so. And did the MAF too while I was at it, with MAF spray cleaner. Just spray both sides of the blade down with throttle body cleaner, and clean inside and out...turning your rag nice and black from the ?carbon? residue/buildup from sucking crap thru the from the covers.
IIRC...back when I had the money to "let the dealer handle it"...dealers were charging about $80-$100 to clean the throttle body (and MAF too?) to correct your vehicles "erratic idle". I got old and cheap and started doing it myself. Anyway.....that mess of fancy hose is an effort to keep blow-by out of my intake path. |
I have to clean the TB on my 5.3L all the time, Yes I realize what causes it. No big deal to me.
Your PCV is not functioning when pulling vacuum on both sides, Especially at WOT when your engine isnt making manifold vacuum. Your using all your vacuum on the crankcase. The objective is to "Evacuate" the crankcase, Not to Vacuum it down. Some race application use a dedicated crankcase vacuum pump, Not for street use though.
The PCV has to draw fresh air through the vent to function properly, The vent is routed to the air intake because...again at WOT no vacuum is present, At WOT the air intake tract is a low pressure area, And will effectively "evacuate" the crankcase.
The left cover has a "orifice" in it, basically a "permanent/Fixed" PCV valve. So when you put vacuum to it....Its not just wide open to the crankcase.
The vent port on the right IS wide open, When vacuum is applied It can be considered a HUGE vacuum leak.
I agree, LS engines dont have the greatest oil control system, Its poor "Bank to Bank" breathing that causes this. Look it up, Its well documented.
Here's a PCV diagram, I know its old, But the principal applies to all gasoline engines.