*Big* Smokey Moment... +?Blowby +?BHG... WTF?

[YelloRolla]

Ed, It won't be a BHG - yes, you are being paranoid. I would bet my last 10 cents that this engine will NEVER have a HG problem.

Definitely try running a vacuum check valve with the reed valve OR better yet, try placing a vacuum gauge on the line to the collector. The white smoke that you are talking about is almsot certainly oil smoke, I hade this problem once when I overfilled the oil in my 18R-C - 1 big rooster tail of white smoke.

Trying a return oil line from the catch can to the sump is a good idea, but of course this doesn't isolate why all that oil got up there in the first place. IF it is a blow by problem (and I saw no evidence of this when I was following you), then the oil should show signs of excessive combustion residue. like you have said though, it could be the breather picking up oil sloshed over the baffle?

I now want to have a closer look at the breather set up.

[ed]

hmmm....

i just went back through some pics and noticed where the dipstick actually extends to inside the sump. (custom dipstick!) its quite possible that the sump was overfilled, atleast to the point where some slosh could find its way into the breather pickup zone...

so... question to the crowd - how far over the sump pickup should the oil level be at a) running conditions, and or b) engine off/stationary oil change.

random question i know, and i think i know the answer, but just curious to see opinion

cheers
ed

[ed]

jase, the oil in the sump does not look abused, infact it still has a honey look to it its that fresh.

also, do you remember what kind of volume that sump had?

[YelloRolla]

ed - 5.0l or thee abouts from memory. I did measure it. The oil should be to the top of the pan at stationary, engine off, level and it should always be over the pick up shroud at engine running (duh). I think that this would keep the pan at no less that half way.

[MR 1JZ]

Compression Test
Teekay Test
Leakdown Test

look for the abnormality...

[BlueMeanie]

I had this problem with my 18rg, huge smokey moment on the highway....bricks were shat,
catch can was full of oil.

It could just be your sump level. but do you have a one-way valve (pcv) between the sump breather and catch can?

I found that the pcv valve was blocked with oil and the intake was sucking the oil from the sump, like a big straw as LeeRoy said.
I cleaned out the valve and placed it closer to the sump breather and made sure the vacuum line off the catch can had no restriction, problem was gone.

I found choice of pcv valve can make a difference too, as they open at different levels of vacuum.

Hope this helps,
Jason.

[JustenGT8]

My guess is your fancy pants crank case vent ain't working as expected. Could be because you haven't hooked the lines up the right way during install?

[ed]

i think ive convinced myself that its something to do with oil getting into the crank breather pickup zone, maybe even in the first few minutes of cranking, priming and running. i remember there was evidence around the catch can of reasonable oil leak (which i though was only a little, and due to mal tightened line fittings. but it could be that the can was already reasonably full at that time, and had begun to leak out the bottom drain plug (which turned out to be the real loose one that i found yesterday)

just that with the engine running normally in the garage, theres hardly any blowby coming out the lines. sure, could be related to load, but i dunno...

got a few things to try and ill report back!

[allencr]

I'm still trying to figure out how the oil level is OK, yet the puke can has well over 1L in it.
The oil level oughta be as high as possible AND also be as far away from the crank as possible, but really as long as the pickup is never sucking air, does it matter if it's a millimeter or a mile!?!?!?

If there's .5L of overfill getting whipped up, it seems to self propagate and will foam up 1 or 1.5L of the oil, from what's below getting splashed up & from what's getting drained/dripped down from everything up above.
Some oil really likes to foam, despite their BS advertising. Try whipping some up with your drill & a piece of coat hanger/wire.

[YelloRolla]

We arranged the sump with some swinging baffles which in turn closed the available area in around the pick up, if the oil cannot get into the baffled area (ie the levels) are too dissimilar, then it could easily act like an over-filled sump in running condition.

[ed]

if only it was easy to drop the sump belly off....

[YelloRolla]

A ball type check valve (like those used in a jiggle siphon) could be used to prevent the oil from going up the tube.

I think that you may just have to remove that sump belly and make some extra holes in the baffles to let oil into those areas.

[ed]

yeah, will have to see how easy it is to get to the bolts to drop the sump belly. not to mention where to get a paint stripper blade to knock the thing off! least of all to mention squeezing it out between the x-members!

[ed]

hmmm mscn 16AN not listed. 12AN biggest size and runs in at AU$259

[oldcorollas]

bit of bar stock and lathe?