ProVent Modification - Lowering backpressure

[srb]

Just putting this here as reference so others don't make the same mistake I made. DONT FORGET TO CLOSE THE DRAIN TAP ON YOU PROVENT!
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=11052

[sierra]

If anyone's worried about the relief valve being set too high and causing problems it's only a simple spring in the lid.
Measure it in the lid compressed, then compress the four legs, slip it off. Measure it extended and cut say 1/3 of the difference off the length. Maybe leave a bit extra to tweak it back to a level end again or put the cut end in first.

Must be plenty of places that sell springs like this if you feel safer getting a couple of spares first.

You would have to wonder why Provent would set that relief valve too high in the first place unless it's to cater for all vehicles for simplicity?

[Newguy]

Ok so i took the inlet Pipe on the Turbo off, There was oil sitting in there Just in front of the compressor wheel.
Obviously the oil was coming out of the Rocker Cover Breather, so i have vented this to atmosphere and i have blocked the inlet off on the Inlet before the turbo where it used to breath to.
This has made the Turbo feel a bit more responsive and there is now no oil vapors heading into what should be only air into the Turbo. It also seems to dump the Compressed air that is coming back though the turbo out through the Air filter instead of going the easier route into the valve cover (I reckon As you can hear the Turbo More)
I think i will put a Catch can in eventually but it will only be a catch can and no re entering the engine.

Provent etc look like a Waste of time.

Just my 2c

[viking shippy]

Ok so i took the inlet Pipe on the Turbo off, There was oil sitting in there Just in front of the compressor wheel.
Obviously the oil was coming out of the Rocker Cover Breather, so i have vented this to atmosphere and i have blocked the inlet off on the Inlet before the turbo where it used to breath to.
This has made the Turbo feel a bit more responsive and there is now no oil vapors heading into what should be only air into the Turbo. It also seems to dump the Compressed air that is coming back though the turbo out through the Air filter instead of going the easier route into the valve cover (I reckon As you can hear the Turbo More)
I think i will put a Catch can in eventually but it will only be a catch can and no re entering the engine.

Provent etc look like a Waste of time.

Just my 2c

Hey new guy spend a dollar and find out more on what your talking about...
it's illegal and iresponceable to vent rocker cover fumes to the atmosphere and the pro vent is the best available at doing a great job at cleaning the said fumes before depositing it back into the combustion chambers.....keeping the roads and your engine bay free from oil

[Yoda]

Hi. Just read this whole thread. I am in progress of tuning up my 2.5TD Classic L200 in the Uk. I am planning on fitting a catch tank because the 4D56T runs a postive pressure crankcase ventilation system. As the oil churns up you will get vapours created. You will also get a blow-by of combustion gasses past the piston on the firing stroke which push the vapours into the rocker cover and out of a pipe where they go back into the inlet tract. As mentioned already here.

Now, by running the air in the crankcase (block) under pressure the bottom of the piston has to over come this pressure to move downward. The crank also sees an increased air resistance against rotation.
I also have another issue - the fact that an 'unknown' vapour mix is going back into my engine in the very place I am trying to send a very precise mixture.A properly designed catch tank will catch the vapours from the pipe and, at the same time, draw a vacuum to remove the air from the block.If tuning any engine seriously (especially a diesel) a catch tank is almost vital to protect the engine in the event of a piston ring failure etc as it will stop the engine blowing itself to bits by runnning on it's own sump oil. It also helps prevent issues with fuel getting into the sump oil and degrading it.

Now, as far as I can tell here the provent is a different system from the 'normal' english set ups, it returns the oil to the crankcase which requires drilling an entry to the crankcase? I can understand what you are saying about the possibility of it getting blocked. That is because you would need a non-return valve in the crankcase to prevent it becoming a reverse flow crankcase ventilator. Really the amount of oil that is being returned is so little that it doesn't require returning to the crankcase after filtering. Except that you guys seemingly are not allowed to vent into the engine bay? So for me it's best just caught in a catch tank and thrown away. After all it is not being returned to the crankcase at present and we aren't losing sugnificant amounts of oil.

All this considered a 2 litre catch can with a breather or release valve should do me fine. Manraj had suggested I take a look at what you guys were doing. But now I'm thinking your whole issue is arising because you can't use 'normal' catch cans??

[Snooozy]

When answering questions & supplying information it does help if you can add your location in your profile so that we can account for local laws.

You don't need to be too precise if you prefer not to, at least add your country

[Yoda]

Oh sorry, I'm in the UK

[Kegsy]

we return the filtered vapor, the oil gets thrown away. So effectively the PCV path is unaltered from factory, just has a filter added to the line.

As far as I know no one here has tapped a return to the sump. Waste of time.

[Mooons]

Oh sorry, I'm in the UK

I don't think snoozy was aiming at you yoda as you have mentioned UK & English in your post

[Snooozy]

Oh sorry, I'm in the UK

I don't think snooozy was aiming at you yoda as you have mentioned UK & English in your post

Mooons is correct there, just a general comment.
not sure if newguy is in OZ either

[Newguy]

Ok so i took the inlet Pipe on the Turbo off, There was oil sitting in there Just in front of the compressor wheel.
Obviously the oil was coming out of the Rocker Cover Breather, so i have vented this to atmosphere and i have blocked the inlet off on the Inlet before the turbo where it used to breath to.
This has made the Turbo feel a bit more responsive and there is now no oil vapors heading into what should be only air into the Turbo. It also seems to dump the Compressed air that is coming back though the turbo out through the Air filter instead of going the easier route into the valve cover (I reckon As you can hear the Turbo More)
I think i will put a Catch can in eventually but it will only be a catch can and no re entering the engine.

Provent etc look like a Waste of time.

Just my 2c

Hey new guy spend a dollar and find out more on what your talking about...
it's illegal and iresponceable to vent rocker cover fumes to the atmosphere and the pro vent is the best available at doing a great job at cleaning the said fumes before depositing it back into the combustion chambers.....keeping the roads and your engine bay free from oil

Fair Enough,

All though after doing 2000Km with a Catch Bottle Last week there is such a small amount of oil residue that comes out of the Vent. Most of it is Vapour.
i bet if you caught the Exhaust fumes etc there would be 10x the amount of Fumes coming out.
So i shall continue to vent to atmosphere, The Road and Cars will soon Destroy any oil That is Let go.

I'd Rather spend $5 on oil drain hose and have her coming straight up underneath.

[sarice]

My provent has pulled at least 100ml of oil and condensates from the blow by gasses. I installed it at 73000K after a manifold clean and am now on 96000k. I have squeezed plenty of oil out of the filter by hand as well. I catch it in a small bottle installed on the firewall so I can see how much I collect. Keeping the unit as cool as possible is the key so it condenses out inside the provent. I had a look down through the throttle body on the weekend and there is no sign of oily sludge residue, only a thin coat of dry carbon with no restiction at all.

[jd88]

I've got about 20cm of oil in the drain tube at the bottom of my provent, after about 7000km. Probably collecting at about the same rate as you sarice.

I pulled the hose off this morning to check the backpressure (last time I did it the filter hadn't fully oiled up and not much backpressure) and this time there it was - backpressure! Gonna have to consider investing in some fly screen and pot scourers - I already have some zip ties.

[sierra]

I've got about 20cm of oil in the drain tube at the bottom of my provent, after about 7000km. Probably collecting at about the same rate as you sarice.

I pulled the hose off this morning to check the backpressure (last time I did it the filter hadn't fully oiled up and not much backpressure) and this time there it was - backpressure! Gonna have to consider investing in some fly screen and pot scourers - I already have some zip ties.

The filter's so easy to remove, has anyone tried rinsing it in hot water and washing up liquid to see if it can be cleaned, say every 1000km? Might be safer than solvent?

[sarice]

I use a clean rag and wrap it around the filter. The oil is easy to squeeze out of it and soaks into the rag.
I think cleaning too harshly would defeat the purpose.
I`ve said it before but I reckon these provents are a good thing for cleaning up the intake weather the EGR is blanked or not. If all (or most of) the oil and condensates especially are removed it has got to promote better combustion which results in less carbon to be sucked back in. Seems to have worked for me anyway along with the swirl control disable.

[sierra]

I use a clean rag and wrap it around the filter. The oil is easy to squeeze out of it and soaks into the rag.
I think cleaning too harshly would defeat the purpose.
I`ve said it before but I reckon these provents are a good thing for cleaning up the intake weather the EGR is blanked or not. If all (or most of) the oil and condensates especially are removed it has got to promote better combustion which results in less carbon to be sucked back in. Seems to have worked for me anyway along with the swirl control disable.

Thanks for that.
What is the 'swirl control' that you disabled?

[sarice]

The ball bearing in the vacuum line to disable the butterfly in the lower manifold.
I did that and added the provent at the same time. Made a huge difference to my 3.2.

[sierra]

I didn't know there was another butterfly valve in the lower manifold.
What does it do?

[viking shippy]

I didn't know there was another butterfly valve in the lower manifold.
What does it do?

Ah I think that's for the flux capacitor or the new guys brilliant "positive atmosphere ventilation system"

[Cowboy Dave]

Here's a whole thread about the swirl control mod:

http://www.newtriton.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=6513&hilit=SWIRL+CONTROL+VALVE#p109985

[jd88]

The filter's so easy to remove, has anyone tried rinsing it in hot water and washing up liquid to see if it can be cleaned, say every 1000km? Might be safer than solvent?

I wouldn't trust myself to keep cleaning the filter every 1000km.The scourers and flywire sound like a good fix for the problem all things considered. So long as flywire tolerates prolonged exposure to sump oil - I hate the thought of one day pulling the filter out and finding some of it has disappeared!

[jd88]

I've done the flyscreen/pot scourer mod, and I was worried that it might block up after it oils up (because I did about 4 laps of flyscreen, and there was a small amount of backpressure straight up when I installed it), so I've done the blow test on it a few times, and today I've noticed no change in backpressure, but the oil level in the collector tube hasn't changed, and there's plenty of oil at the end of the tube connecting to the turbo. So it doesn't appear to be collecting any oil at all. The only thing I can think is I didn't use standard flyscreen, I used thicker polyethylene (I think??) stuff.

Can anybody tell me what type flyscreen they've had success with? Or any other tips on where I might be going wrong?

[leonbee]

Best way to clean your provent filter like new!. Simple cheap detergent is all that is needed to dissolve oil. Dish washing liquid is great. Rub in detergent all over filter. Allow to sit for a minutes. shake in a bucket of warm water. Repeat until all oil is removed. Next I spin mine almost dry in the washing machine. Allow to air dry overnight. The sun will reduce the life of the material.
I have a garage so leave the bonnet up to remember to replace it . For quick dry finish use a hair dryer on warm setting. No need to use solvents which may damage the filter material.
I placed a scourer at the top of the filter and not in the middle of filter to catch thick deposits.
I keep mine clean washing 2 weekly no less than monthly. Well before it gets saturated.
If you can not clean it often I would go the fly mesh. You can clean as above with detergent.

[Scott_]

Bit of an old thread but just wondering if the provent or any catch can for that matter is really worth it. By itself the small amount of oil shouldn't have any effect on the engine that I can see.
Therefor if you have your EGR blocked off how is it any different to the oil that lubricates your piston rings?

[Tony]

In my opinion, not worth it and unnecessary on these types of engines if you deal with the carbon issue.

Even with provent fitted, you will still pick up a small amount of mist from the turbo seals with diesel engines and there for coats manifolds and intercooler.

There are plenty of small diesel engines that have lasted the expected life time with standard PCV fitted.


Lot different to a large truck running over one million ks per year.

You would be better off putting the money towards a 2um secondary fuel filter (If you want to prolong the fuel systems life) and utilize the valuable space you just saved but not fitting the provent.