Lots of oil coming out of PCV breather vent

[masospaghetti]

I just finished a track weekend and was having trouble with oil coming out of the crankcase breather. I had one of those little K&N filters on there and it was blowing through the filter all over the engine bay, enough to create lots of smoke and quite a mess. I tried rigging up some catch cans using an empty oil quart container which worked somewhat. After a 20 minute session of very aggressive driving I had accumulated about 12 ounces of oil in the catch can.

I don't have any issues or oil consumption during street driving.

I'm thinking a combination of high engine RPM and high cornering g-forces is causing oil to slosh into the head? I am planning on installing an oil/air separator (meant for pneumatic systems) inline with the breather vent for next time. Anyone have experience on this issue?

[toycar]

it's probably nothing given the nature of your spirited driving and the non issue aside from that.

but, if it gets worse or continues, you may want to pressurize the cylinder (leak down test) and listen through the dipstick. you might be starting to have blow by on your rings. catching the problem early(rering) is much cheaper than letting them fail (possible bore, home, then rering/reassemble)

so if it keeps up or gets worse under normal driving, check out your rings before your cylinder walls get scored.

[Losiracer2]

since you track the car, I would definitely add a oil catch can big enough that you can dump the oil out after each run.

Your accord wasn't meant to be exposed to track capabilities, just road use, so some mods have to be considered.

Ask what the other track guys are doing that have been autox in the past and see what works.

Also, this is off topic, since you track your car a lot, you can remove your balance shaft belt and pickup about 5whp from not having to spin those 8-9lb shafts off the crankshaft.

[masospaghetti]

There's a big variety of what the other guys are using at the track. I saw more than couple of Nalgene and gatorade bottles being used as catch cans.

There's a bunch of sellers with 750mL aluminum baffled cans for pretty cheap ($35) so I will probably try this first.

Thanks for the feedback.

[masospaghetti]

Just an update, I installed an oil catch can. I took the car out at Road Atlanta, a relatively high speed course with long straights (which means a lot of full-throttle time in my slow car). I was filling my oil catch can after about 3 laps, the can isn't very big but this still seems excessive. I also popped my dipstick once which made quite a mess. The oil catch I installed is probably about 250mL.

Since then I've added bigger diameter fittings on the can to help relieve pressure and a new PCV valve although the old one seemed fine. Car ran strong, it has good compression on all four cylinders. Not sure what to do next without replacing the motor or doing some engine work. Engine Restore maybe? XADO liquid engine rebuilder? (joking)

Also, this is off topic, since you track your car a lot, you can remove your balance shaft belt and pickup about 5whp from not having to spin those 8-9lb shafts off the crankshaft.

Meant to respond to this earlier, engine already had the balance belt removed, thanks though!

[GhostAccord]

Where do you have your crank case vents located?

Are you still using the stock PCV vacuum source on the intake manifold?

The issues with a stock PCV setup is that it relies on intake manifold vacuum to pull crankcase gases out of the engine. If you are doing a lot of WOT operation the PCV system will be lacking vacuum and will no longer be able to suck the gases out through the intended intake. The engine will evacuate crankcase gases and sloshing hot oil through any open port. There is really no way to reduce this, it is normal under these conditions.

In this case what you want to do is set up a vented catch can with a drain back system. Where the oil is separated from the crankcase gases and returned to the engine. You can install a return line at the bottom of the catch can. You can also install a one way valve (PCV valve) in the return line so that crank case gases will not enter the catch can through the drain line. In this system the oil will drain back once the pressure inside the crankcase has dropped.

[Raf99]

Where do you have your crank case vents located?

Are you still using the stock PCV vacuum source on the intake manifold?

The issues with a stock PCV setup is that it relies on intake manifold vacuum to pull crankcase gases out of the engine. If you are doing a lot of WOT operation the PCV system will be lacking vacuum and will no longer be able to suck the gases out through the intended intake. The engine will evacuate crankcase gases and sloshing hot oil through any open port. There is really no way to reduce this, it is normal under these conditions.

In this case what you want to do is set up a vented catch can with a drain back system. Where the oil is separated from the crankcase gases and returned to the engine. You can install a return line at the bottom of the catch can. You can also install a one way valve (PCV valve) in the return line so that crank case gases will not enter the catch can through the drain line. In this system the oil will drain back once the pressure inside the crankcase has dropped.

Ya, this! But not sure why anyone would want to put the oil back in the engine. Every time i drain my catch can it looks like brown milky crap, nothing close to healthy oil.

[masospaghetti]

Where do you have your crank case vents located?

Are you still using the stock PCV vacuum source on the intake manifold?

I'm using the stock PCV setup, stock valve and breather. I have the breather running to the catch can. The catch can has a vent and it's also vented into the air intake tube like stock.

In this case what you want to do is set up a vented catch can with a drain back system. Where the oil is separated from the crankcase gases and returned to the engine. You can install a return line at the bottom of the catch can. You can also install a one way valve (PCV valve) in the return line so that crank case gases will not enter the catch can through the drain line. In this system the oil will drain back once the pressure inside the crankcase has dropped.

Great idea. I would need to move my catch can to allow gravity drain but this would solve my issue. Is there a suitable plug that can be used somewhere for this on the engine block?

[thumping_accord]

Not to be a debby downer, but when I had an issue with high crank case pressure on my h23a1 (it would pop the dipstick out along with oil) it turned out to be a cracked piston. Have you done a leak or compression test?

[masospaghetti]

That WOULD be a downer. I don't have a leakdown kit but I did do a compression test, and all four cylinders were pretty good (240-270 psi - note that my gauge doesn't "zero" out so it's really only good for relative measurement).

I do have an endoscope, maybe I'll take a look inside each cylinder.

[toycar]

That WOULD be a downer. I don't have a leakdown kit but I did do a compression test, and all four cylinders were pretty good (240-270 psi - note that my gauge doesn't "zero" out so it's really only good for relative measurement).

I do have an endoscope, maybe I'll take a look inside each cylinder.

the pressure is coming from somewhere, thats for sure

[masospaghetti]

Haven't done the endoscope yet, but here's a question.

If I had bad rings / scuffed cylinders / cracked piston, etc - basically any path for compression to escape into the sump - wouldn't I also be burning oil in the cylinder and see blue smoke out the tail pipe?

I've reworked my breather with a bigger hose and better fittings that should allow it to flow a bit better, should help with evacuating crankcase pressure (although its not going to reduce the volume of oil).

[GhostAccord]

Yes, if you have worn rings, worn cylinder walls or a cracked/broken piston you would have oil burning in the combustion chamber and grey/blue smoke out the tail pipe.

[masospaghetti]

Would the balance shaft "maintenance hole" work as an oil return drain? On the back of the block?

Considering running a line from the bottom of my oil catch can to this maintenance hole.

This is the hole i'm talking about:

[GhostAccord]

I don't see why that wouldn't work. I don't think it is a pressurized journal, as long as there is no oil pressure in that location while the engine is running. You should be good to use it as a drain back location.