Return oil from bypass to oil filler cap issue

[sifan]

The oil is returned from my bypass filter to the oil filler cap thru a swivel fitting. I am experiencing the problem with oil being sucked thru the PCV valve even though the filler cap and the PCV valve are at either end of engine.

I am thinking of returning the oil to the oil drain plug to prevent PCV valve being fouled up during the installation of pre-luber kit. My question is: Does my engine benefit with my current setup besides the PCV valve issue like lubrication to the top of engine?

 

[Gary Allan]

That is odd, sifan.

There's no benefit of merit to having it returned to the valve cover, imo. It just has to return somewhere.

 

[canadiantim]

How have you determined you're getting extra oil thru the PCV valve? Have you compared the contents of your catch can with and without the oil being returned to the rocker area to see what is "normal"? Toyota baffles the heck out of the PCV breather within the valve cover so it would seem difficult to get a lot of oil flow thru there.

It's normal to get some oil thru the PCV system and "some" is beneficial to lubricate the valve seats, etc.

I have a 1.8L Toyota engine and I return to the drain plug as it's under warranty so easy to make disappear (I'm using a Franz adapter for supply like you). I can send you photos if you drop me a PM and I may have part# information to fit the Toyota still. Once it's out of warranty, I'll drill and tap the valve cover like my other cars. The oil return holes in the head are immense (4 square inches) so I can't see any extra oil up there causing any problems.

 

[sifan]

Prior installing the AMW PCV catch can I had to clean the TB/IAC with Sea Foam Deep Creep every 1k-1.5k miles, and watched white smoke coming out of my tail pipe after startup. That was 20k miles after the installatin of oil bypass filter. Since the installation of catch can, I cleaned the TB/IAC every 3k miles several times and saw no white smoke from the tail pipe. Also, I did not notice any significant improvement in engine performance after each treatment as before. So, the catch can is doing a very good job in removing oil from the PCV gas.

 

[mjo]

I'm not familiar with that engine. Can you take off the valve cover? You may find that when you take it off there is an open space on the side of the cover where you can tap into without hitting any valves. You'd need a spot that is further away from the PCV valve.

I tapped into the valve cover of my transmission pan for returning the clean automatic transmission oil from a Frantz bypass filter. The transmission pan was located on the top of the transmission on my car. It worked fantastic.

P.S. whenever the PCV valve on the Saturn gets plugged up with goo I am always able to clean it out very quickly with carb/brake cleaner. All that's required is to spray it and shake until the plunger gets unstuck and the spray doesn't remove any more grime. Although, come to think of it, I haven't had an oil return line connected to my oil cap. Just a thought.

 

[plexx]

I had my Frantz return to the valve cover for a while but now it returns to the drain plug and I find that the filter drains much better this way and makes element replacement much neater, also if you look at any OEM bypass filter set up they almost always return the oil to the pan.

 

[RalphPWood]

I put a filter on a Peugeot diesel once returning the oil to the valve cover. I had to stuff a jacket in the air cleaner to shut it down. It was running good on motor oil. That was just before Frantz came out with the two port sandwich adapter. A sandwich adapter can save a lot of headaches. These days I use a Perma-Cool universal 189 sandwich adapter. Some of the engines have a short nipple and the universal adapter has a little more reach. My Nissan diesel is a short one. I have a 181 adapter on it. It is holding by about 3 threads. If you have an engine that tends to pull a oil mist into the intake it doesn't need more oil. Most engines it's not a problem.

Ralph

 

[sifan]

mjo - I do think I have the time and resources to remove the top. Few days ago I drained two qt. of oil and added makeup oil. I immediately noticed the engine ran a lot quieter and smoother. This morning I drained the PCV catch can at a gas station during refueling, and a lot of oil came out after about 1.5k miles of driving. I will definitelly return the oil from my bypass filter to oil drain plug instead of filler cap, and do short OCI.

 

[sifan]

mjo - I meant I do not have time and resources to remove the top of my engine.

 

[Pablo]

I'm probably making a huge assumption here

but the problem is being caused by too much oil in the top end? Have you considered a restriction to slow the return oil? So what kind of filter are you using? May I please have some more details?

Maybe I'm not grasping reality here

 

[simple_gifts]

sifan, check the oilguard website, they have an oil pan return gizmo that replaces the OEM drain plug; no drilling/tapping necessary. It has a threaded hole for the return hose to attach and a threaded hole to plug, this is where you can drain the oil.

 

[sifan]

I finally finished installing the pre-luber kit yesterday. The kit came with a drain plub adaptor which allowed me to return the filtered oil from my Frantz bypass filter to the oil pan. The only issue I have with this adaptor is that the hose is touching the oil pan at the barb connector while the other hose that feeds the pre-luber reduces a slight ground clearance.

 

[TP4ME]

What engine are we discussing here?

 

[simple_gifts]

Yota 1NZ-FE in the Echo/Yaris/ScionX[AB]