Cyclonic action CCV Air/Oil separator fabrication

Maybe I don't understand the puck well enough. Wouldn't the diaphragm in it stop any back pressure from the IC line from getting into the valve cover? If you use a very small line (or maybe an orifice or needle valve in it), friction loss in the line would reduce the pressure to some extent. Full boost pressure would likely be a problem. You could always vent the collection jar on the lower end of the cyclone separator to atmosphere if it was a small volume. Some movement is needed to move the oil but you certainly wouldn't want a significant volume that would affect boost for the engine.

Deejaaa: I think you have a great idea there....measure the pressure!

Is it ok to hook up the seperator to the puck instead of using an elbow?

trj said:

Maybe I don't understand the puck well enough. Wouldn't the diaphragm in it stop any back pressure from the IC line from getting into the valve cover? If you use a very small line (or maybe an orifice or needle valve in it), friction loss in the line would reduce the pressure to some extent. Full boost pressure would likely be a problem. You could always vent the collection jar on the lower end of the cyclone separator to atmosphere if it was a small volume. Some movement is needed to move the oil but you certainly wouldn't want a significant volume that would affect boost for the engine.

Deejaaa: I think you have a great idea there....measure the pressure!

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The valve works in the opposite way; it closes with negative pressure (vacuum). Positive pressure and the internal spring open it.

panteramatt said:

Is it ok to hook up the seperator to the puck instead of using an elbow?

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Absolutely.

Couple of thoughts:

Since the line between the IC and valve cover is much smaller than the the line to the separator and intake I don't see crankcase pressure going up. Actually might be beneficial in that you now have positive crankcase ventilation; fresh air purging out the blowby. Might be even better if plumbed into the bottom end. Could play around with orificing if it flows too much.

As for lost boost; doesn't the ECU look at manifold pressure? Won't it compensate for the "leak"? Seems to me the lost air would be insignificant and would result in a slight overfueled condition since MAF would be higher for given MAP.

Prolly could quantify all this with some before and after plots of MAF and MAP.

Tweak the IQ to compensate?

it'll be the end of 3 weeks before i get back to measure anything.

It's very simple, if you tap the Pressure Side of the Turbo and route it to the CCV system, there will be times when the pressure is increased, i.e., when the Turbo is boosting!

And, do not forget, although not much, unless there is a leak in the system, the Vacuum Pump discharges into the top of the valve cover to be vented via the CCV system.

I stand corrected considering there are so many different posts, pictures, quotes, etc., to the point it gets a little confusing. But, what I see in one post is Turbo pressure diverted to the CCV system with no means to check it. And, that bit of pressurized air (up to 15-16 psi with a non-tuned engine) will be travelling much faster than blow-by gases which may negatively affect the efficiency of the oil separator. And, keep in mind, at idle, the Turbo does not provide any boost, zero. To check the range of pressure will require sitting-up a boost gauge on the tapped hole in the IC or somewhere along the pipe. Unless there is some magic going on, it should show 0 to 16 PSI, depending on the position of the go pedal, at least that's how it works on my set-up.

Lastly, I like the concept(s)... but, I believe the IC purge system should have a means to do it on a periodic basis with the "tap hole" located in the lowest point of the Inter Cooler. Remember, part of the oil that contributes to a "run-away" is that which has accumulated in the bottom of the IC.

Wouldn't the simplest method be the drilling and tapping of the lowest point on the intercooler? That would be the lowest point of the whole system. Just drain once a week and call it good?

I've read the engine likes the extra lubrication from the excess oil.

Chris Bell said:

The valve works in the opposite way; it closes with negative pressure (vacuum). Positive pressure and the internal spring open it.

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That being the case, it sounds to me like connecting the IC (or anything on the pressure side of the turbo) to the CCV system is a bad idea. A tapped hole with a small valve (for convenience) in the IC to drain at say oil change intervals sounds like the way to go to me, and installing the cyclone between the puck and the intake MAY be ok....maybe this is just not needed if you just drain the IC regularly.

Question: Deejaaa (Post #134) The pipe tap in the vise grips in your pic. Is that a 1/8" pipe tap?

trj said:

......Question: Deejaaa (Post #134) The pipe tap in the vise grips in your pic. Is that a 1/8" pipe tap?

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i will have to check when i get back home, in a week and a half. in Canada right now.

deejaaa said:

i will have to check when i get back home, in a week and a half. in Canada right now.

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Thanks, have a good safe trip!

5200 mile trip and I was tired when I got home Sat. will get to the tap size soon. gonna retap at lowest point on IP.

When mounting the the cyclonic canister, should you be keeping it straight up and down? or is there an acceptable tip or angle it would still be effective? I just got my ebay cheap separator and want to make a nice bracket to keep it in a nice location. Want to try to use the stock mounting bolts, and those are on the slope. Will have to play angles instead of easy 90 degree brackets.

I think it's best straight, not angled. if it can't be avoided, no more than 5 degrees is my best bet.
i'm hoping to put the final touches on mine tomorrow.

didn't get a chance to retap the lowest part on the IC but while i was out of town (think it was Canada) i picked up a 90 degree elbow. drilled/tapped it so now it looks like it is a little more intentional instead of cobbled.

this is the tap i used this time as well as last time:


that's it for now. will have to wait until next Tu or We till i can get back on it. i did empty less than 2 ounces from the jar.

deejaaa said:

that's it for now. will have to wait until next Tu or We till i can get back on it. i did empty less than 2 ounces from the jar.

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Nice!

Thanks deejaaa. I was hoping to get the size used to tap into the bottom of the IC. Is that the same size? Not a pipe tap is it?

the tap i used looked like the same pitch as this one i posted but couldn't read the size because of surface rust. it's a pipe tap. being plastic, i wanted to get close but smaller but not so much to that it would split. the fitting will cut new threads if the pitch is different as long as the hole is smaller. the fitting i used was stainless and threads coated in teflon.

**EDIT**
I will also be installing a pressure gauge at the 90 degree to see what pressure's are running through system when I get to the final fitting installed.

installed the gauge tonight. will see tomorrow what is being sapped from IC.




**EDIT**
gauge needs to be zeroed.
pressure was around 1psi on overpasses but cruise was not registering so it was minimal.
kind of confused about this though: should I remove the line to the 90? is the gauge interfering with the reading although it is a static line? not sure what to think.
in the first pic looks like some blow-by was thrown on the intake tube. would have to be the fitting threads or the line connection.
any thoughts?

There is line friction loss. Would be more on a smaller size line. Yours should be minimal. In larger pipe we figure each 90* ell is equal to about 10 feet of straight pipe. Maybe the oil contributes to the pressure loss setting in the ell at the bottom of the IC. What was in mine was pretty thick stuff.

hello there im new to this well can you please tell me am i doing wrong here and why well i saw joshs one on utube and i have bought one of those bmw oil air separators. well im kinda thinking my set up i have is maybe better well this it the way that i did it.i bought one of thos oil catch cans with the air filter on top.well i had it that way but i ended up just taking the pipe that goes into the ccv puck and runing that to the ground to drip .there is not much anyways.well then i taped up the pipe on the oil catch can where the ccv pipe was supposed to go so all the air that is going to be sucked in is only fresh air.is this a good set up or no and tell me why.to be honest i am not a big fan of the oily gasses going into the air intake again anyways.love to here you guys to see what u say about my set up.i did the intercooler drain also and well my tdi has now on it 108k on it and well after i did the drain there was only a teaspoon of oil next to nothing.i put a screw back in it again and took it for a drive being sure was not leaking and it was not.

you already said all this in the other thread you started.

deejaaa: Did you get any higher/other readings on the gauge? Would like to hear what you found for pressure.

trj said:

deejaaa: Did you get any higher/other readings on the gauge? Would like to hear what you found for pressure.

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the gauge wasn't the best to measure accurately so the figures I came up with:
1 psi @ steady 55-60 mph.
8-9 psi accelerating.
took it off because of the gauge itself. figured there is some bleed pressure flowing to the cyclone but not enough loss to funk up mpg's.
I still need to re-tap the IC. every once in awhile I will get a surge from accumulated oil. still catching it in the jar so it's working.
I really like it because of it's size. the last method tried was a very large water filter canister. it worked, still got the occasional surge though, but it was BIG. as you know, space is limited so it was taken off way before I tried the cyclone.

Update?
Interested because
I have the Provent 200 and i do return to the oil pan drain plug.

mine is working perfect. capture a few ounces every month. i dump it into a waste oil tank but i should just dump into the fuel tank.

Bump because this is a great idea and finished the install on my vehicle last weekend. I ordered the BMW cyclone generator, added a little bit of steel wool on the inlet side, and fabricated a catch can out of a Diesel Purge canister. Mine sits in front, about 6 inches behind the radiator fan. The Diesel Purge can sits right on top of the antifreeze line allowing it to be kept warm and vibration down.

This thread is not dead!
Lots of information here. Although it took me a week to read it all.
Ordered a cyclone oil separator, still waiting for it to get here. Can’t wait to get it hooked up.

Does anyone have any updates they would like to share? Still using yours?