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Yeah going to be cleaning my valves first thing next summer so it would be nice to see how well this is working.
It works very well. I have taken my charge pipes off a couple times in the 2 years i have ran it and never had oil residue in the pipes. Will it eliminate it forever, I don't know. Will it minimize it and give you the best chance at going long periods before having to clean the valves, yes. What else are you going to do, clean the valves yearly or every other year? You could probably run meth and it might help. A catch can isn't going to work, it's been discussed before.
Just wanted to show an update without the separator. I cleaned my valves at 75k and now at 115k. 3 years. I will say there was a hell of a lot of oil in the manifold, on the dead end surfaces of the head, and pretty much everywhere you would expect. I'm guessing PCV went bad.
I still don't see a real need for the separator. New gasket, new PCV valve, GM Top End Cleaner and other cleaning supplies set me back $60 and it took me 6 hrs flat. I could have done it in 5. The GM cleaner did very well. Had the valves clean within an hour of soaking. Used a home vacuum and a can of computer duster air.
Very interested. I have the top end cleaner but never tried it on my valves. I have done the walnut shells before however, I picked up a solid 3MPG in normal fuel usage after cleaning. Did you happen to snap an after pic?
Very interested. I have the top end cleaner but never tried it on my valves. I have done the walnut shells before however, I picked up a solid 3MPG in normal fuel usage after cleaning. Did you happen to snap an after pic?
No I did not. But I can confidently say that all of my gunk was off the valve. I'm averaging 27mpg post cleaning.
I have the head that came off my car last Spring that I can take some pictures of.
I have run the PCV v2 since 2013 and upgraded to v3 last spring.
Valves are pretty clean. I should probably add that I have been running E85 before installing v2 and E47 since I installed it. I understand that helps as well.
As ECaulk said, my hot side charge pipe was bone dry when we took it of a couple weeks ago. Before I installed V2, I had to take off my cold side pipe several times and it was always dripping with oil which is why I got Powell's separator.
In my mind, installing the separator doesn't just save you from doing a manual cleaning once a year or every other year. It makes sure stuff stays clean all the time which I have to believe helps overall engine health/longevity, performance and/or mileage. Just my $0.02. Pictures to follow in the next few days!
Well I guess my valves weren't as squeaky clean as I thought. I did run about 3 years on this head (2010-2013) before I installed my first Powell PCV oil/air separator. It'll be interesting to see what the valves look like in the head that's in my car now when it comes out.
Well I guess my valves weren't as squeaky clean as I thought. I did run about 3 years on this head (2010-2013) before I installed my first Powell PCV oil/air separator. It'll be interesting to see what the valves look like in the head that's in my car now when it comes out.
Adrian- I think your only hope is to slow it. I don't think you can eliminate it. Mine at 28,000 miles before the separator were horribly built up, but it's first 20,000 were lady driven miles. The oil mixture had formed a really hard deposit on the valves. I checked them again at 38,000, (a couple years later) after the separator and I did have some oil in the ports and on the valves, somewhat, but nothing like before, and the deposits wiped off with a paper towel.
Here was them at 32,000
Adrian- I think your only hope is to slow it. I don't think you can eliminate it. Mine at 28,000 miles before the separator were horribly built up, but it's first 20,000 were lady driven miles. The oil mixture had formed a really hard deposit on the valves. I checked them again at 38,000, (a couple years later) after the separator and I did have some oil in the ports and on the valves, somewhat, but nothing like before, and the deposits wiped off with a paper towel.
Here was them at 32,000
I should add that in the first three years of owning mine, I drove ~30K miles of the total ~44K that are on it today. So yes, most of the damage was definitely done before installing the PCV separator.
I cant find a picture of my car at 100k. but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I have a picture of Erics car at around 40k or 45k and it was pretty bad. Definitely worse than mine at 100k
I cant find a picture of my car at 100k. but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I have a picture of Erics car at around 40k or 45k and it was pretty bad. Definitely worse than mine at 100k
Eric must have babied it. Whereas maybe you drove it a little harder?
No. I think the issue was the PO of Erics car blew up a turbo and it coated his stuff with oil. He (the PO) drove around not knowing that he was burning tons of oil. which we think is what contributed to the coating.
No. I think the issue was the PO of Erics car blew up a turbo and it coated his stuff with oil. He (the PO) drove around not knowing that he was burning tons of oil. which we think is what contributed to the coating.
No. I think the issue was the PO of Erics car blew up a turbo and it coated his stuff with oil. He (the PO) drove around not knowing that he was burning tons of oil. which we think is what contributed to the coating.
Pretty sure this was the issue. Might dig in my phone and find those photos. You drove a lot of highway miles keeping the rpms above 2500.
You [leemanfor] drove a lot of highway miles keeping the rpms above 2500.
That was an exacerbating circumstance for me too; Those first ~30K miles before I had the PCV separator, I mostly commuted 2 miles to work and 2 miles back...
If someone sends me a new intake gasket I will take pics of mine, I walnut blasted valves until completely spotless. I have the latest version that taps into the intake that removes the pvc valve. My engines out right now so I could get some good pics. I put very hard miles on it so it would be a perfect test .
I've been pondering getting this. I just did my injector seals, cleaned the valves as best I could while I was in there, and my hot pipe had oil in it (FMIC kit done less than 1k miles ago), intake manifold was caked in sludge (almost looked like the chocolate milk you get when oil mixes with coolant) so I cleaned all that out.
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11-28-2016, 05:42 AM
