CCV Valve - Oil Separation Failure due to cold weather...anyone else?

[dave762]

Originally Posted by JCL

You actually drive 3 minutes to work, on a regular basis? And you warm up your vehicle by idling it with no load on it? Those are both terrible for the engine, as I am sure you know since you own a repair shop.

Sorry to hear about your engine failure, but a 4.6 is not well suited to that type of driving.

Yes its a 3 min drive , actually 2 mins if I run the stop signs , I would never walk to work , thats too healthy ! besides we always have a ton of stuff to bring back and forth including kids and back packs because the school is right beside the shop, I refuse to leave the X5 parked while I drive some little Jap car , I paid too much money for the X5 to just have it sit in the garage at home, yes i am a mechanic and have a repair shop, I think I know engines inside and out and would never suggest to get in something in cold weather and just drive it ! you must give everything a chance to warm up equally and the oil to start flowing .
While my engine was out I studied the CCV carefully and I believe there are numerous causes of its failure , one the hoses/pipes and valve build up with carbon and sludge from poor quality oil then the oil cant drain back to the pan so it collects in the intake (missfires and oily tail pipes will be noticed) , second is the metal drain pipe on the RH side of the engine cant warm up so the oil wont flow back down , plus the pipe is too small, the valve will fill with cold heavy oil and carbon blocking the crank case vent , if the crank case does not vent then enough pressure will build up in there to push a valve cover gasket outward and oil will run down on an exhaust manifold causing smoke under the hood. Third is a vacuum leak , if there is no vac to the valve it can not keep itself clean .
As far as a proper fix I may experiment with removing and plugging off the whole thing and just vent the LH valve cover to the ground with a large diameter hose , there are two reasons why the engine is vented back to the intake , one is for a clean enviroment to be sure all "gases" are burned before they go to the atmosphere , second is so you do not smell the odor in or beside the vehicle , I suppose there could be a slight bit of steam and the odd drip if it were to the ground but big deal ! old 70's cars and trucks were vented this way and today Dodge Cummins/IHC Ford Power Stroke/GMC Duramax and all highway trucks/Ag tractors just vent to the ground.
This is only my opinion
Dave

[hbhavsar]

While so many X5 owners frustrated with oil separator valve problem and especially pain in a neck job to replace it, I was thinking of making some modification to mount it somewhere easy to reach location within the engine compartment. In this caase, we can not use OEM hoses but we may use oil resistant flexible hoses and attach them to the valve and place it at some place within the engine compartment so that one can easily remove and replace whenever it needed.

Anyone please reply how this idea sounds. Has anyone done such a remedy?

[dave762]

Originally Posted by hbhavsar

While so many X5 owners frustrated with oil separator valve problem and especially pain in a neck job to replace it, I was thinking of making some modification to mount it somewhere easy to reach location within the engine compartment. In this caase, we can not use OEM hoses but we may use oil resistant flexible hoses and attach them to the valve and place it at some place within the engine compartment so that one can easily remove and replace whenever it needed.

Anyone please reply how this idea sounds. Has anyone done such a remedy?

Being it relies on gravity to drain then the only place I can think of is to tee it into the dipstick tube but that is a cold spot due to the cooling fan, I am thinking it will ice up.
Dave

[JCL]

Originally Posted by dave762

As far as a proper fix I may experiment with removing and plugging off the whole thing and just vent the LH valve cover to the ground with a large diameter hose , there are two reasons why the engine is vented back to the intake , one is for a clean enviroment to be sure all "gases" are burned before they go to the atmosphere , second is so you do not smell the odor in or beside the vehicle , I suppose there could be a slight bit of steam and the odd drip if it were to the ground but big deal ! old 70's cars and trucks were vented this way and today Dodge Cummins/IHC Ford Power Stroke/GMC Duramax and all highway trucks/Ag tractors just vent to the ground.
This is only my opinion
Dave

It wasn't the '1970s, it was 1961. Some road draft tubes were still around in '62 through '64 until they were all replaced by PCVs. Early diesel pickups weren't subject to the same emissions regulations (depending on GVW) so some had road draft tubes, but those have gone away now too, as they are equipped with the diesel equivalent of a PCV.

I had a '63 GMC pickup with a straight six and a road draft tube for a while, just used it to clear some property. I never thought of turning my BMW into a GMC farm truck, but I guess it could be done.