How do you hollow out a pcv valve?

[Coup D E'Tat]

This is only true on the 1g Intake manifold. On the 2g manifold, the nipple comes directly out of the manifold, not via a threaded fitting. That's why I suggested the Brake Booster fitting.

When is somebody going to write the definative "I hooked up an electric vacuum pump" tech article with part numbers so we can avoid all of this crankcase pressure issue...

I tried using an LS1 pump, but kept blowing 30A fuses. I never used a relay or anything, and I'm not the best person to call upon for custom wiring setup though.

 

[oldman]

I have a 1g JMF SMIM on my car right now and I'm not about to mess up the welds by adding another bung, Its been like this for over 2 years running low 11s I really don't see the need to change... Plus every time I take off the head The stock pistons are Clean they only have a slight amount of carbon on them which wipes off without effort. With recirulating Your Intake becomes very messy. Also If I was to hook up the valve cover vent back to the intake, Underboost that throws out some oil mist, slight but still some will eventually cake up in your turbo and then run into your intercooler... You make solid points but I would have to change alot of my setup to for something so small... If you know of an easier way that I could relieve some crankcase pressure I'm all ears. Let me know.

The only issue in your case is welding a bung on the IM which is really no biggy, just line the new fitting up with the rest of the fittings. You can also send it back to Jim, I'm sure he will be more than happy to help you out. As for keeping your intake tract clean, you will need two internal/sealed catch cans. The breather side is self explanatory but the pcv side is a little tricky, the pcv needs to be threaded into the catch can and VC replaced with a straight fitting so the catch will never sees boost. There is usually a price to pay for anything you gain, I too would like to keep my SMIM clean but I would rather pay through taking the time and effort to do it right the first time than to constantly worrying about how thin my oil is. Just like running an undampered crank pulley, the effects of running contaminated oil is often hard to detect and a long term process yet it isn't that hard to find threads with bearing failures pointing to the a UDP. My point is, why take the chance when you can help it? The two catch can setup really isn't that complicated.

When is somebody going to write the definative "I hooked up an electric vacuum pump" tech article with part numbers so we can avoid all of this crankcase pressure issue...

External vacuum pumps will work but make sure to leave the breather open to supply fresh air. In Crankcase ventilation, pressure relief is only half of the picture, equally important is removing fuel vapor/blow by and replace with fresh air quickly enough to minmize settlement, hence VENTILATION/BREATHER. Hooking up both fitting to an external vacuum pump, which most people do, will certainly relief pressure but not nearly as efficient in ventilation as it should be, we all know what happens when trying to pour gas out of a closed container without removing the little plug on top. Running a vacuum only system will also result in higher level of oil consumption, something else to think about.

 

[oldman]

Since I have no place to re route the pcv hose, would putting a T in the break booster (with a catch can between the two) work since that line gets vacume?

I almost missed the catch can part, the catch can needs to be between the pcv and the crankcase, I don't even want to imagine what happens to a half full catch can under 20psi.

 

[AL92]

The factory system also has some flaws.If your pcv malfuctions it makes a big mess forcing oil thru the turbo and thru the whole intake tract,intercooler,etc. Also recircing thru the intake can easily cause knock from lowering the effect octane.

I think this seems to be another pro and con and grey area. I am not a big fan of the catch cans though as it seems you do get oil misting out of the breather filters.
Not sure though if a newer healthier engine would still do this. I have only had the catch can and no pcv on my older engines so far with like 150,000 miles and obviously they have some blowby.

That brake fitting is the same exactly thats what I used on my cars.
So now not sure what I want to do.I prefer keeping the pcv but maybe not recircing the valve cover breather. i think that would still work ok. Also not many high end companies have recirc in the intake tubes..forced performance tube has venting option but not breather nipple.

That recircing into intake makes a huge mess!!!

 

[oldman]

That recircing into intake makes a huge mess!!!

Not if you install an inline, sealed, internal catch can.

 

[DarthBulk]

I was just doing this modification to my PCV valve, when I came across this thread. I thought I would take a few pictures and document what I did, for future reference. The first picture shows the PCV Valve after I initially cut it apart. Even cutting this thing apart is not so easy. When you cut through one side, your hacksaw blade will hit the plunger inside, which rotates with the hacksaw stroke...making it impossible to cut any farther. So, you rotate the PCV valve and cut in from another side until you hit the plunger, rotate it again, and repeat this until you have the entire casing cut through. IF you look at the first picture, this should explain why you have so much trouble trying to drill it out. As you can see, there is a fairly long plunger rod in there, running down the length of the PCV valve. If you try to drill that thing out, you will be trying to drill down the the length of an approximately 1 inch long rod, which happens to spin freely. That just doesn't work. The second picture shows all the pieces from inside the PCV valve laid out in line. The third picture shows the rod that you would have to drill through, if you attempt to drill it out. Don't bother. You will not be able to drill that thing out.
After removing all the internal pieces, I put the two halves of the PCV valve together in my vise with a small gap for welding back together. You can see this in the fourth picture. The fifth picture shows the two halves welded back together. Don't laugh at my welds. The sixth picture shows how I ground the welds down for aesthetic reasons. I pressure tested it for leaks, and there were none. Now I installed this hollowed out PCV valve in my valve cover.
The next two photos just show how I solved the problem of putting a sealed, inline oil catch can in between my PCV valve and the intake manifold port. I ran a hose from the hollowed out PCV valve in the valve cover, to one port on one of my catch cans. The other port I connected to a short length of hose, into which I inserted one end of a PCV valve that I bought from Autozone. I just selected a random PCV valve that had ends that looked like they would be easy to connect hoses to, on both sides. I assembled this PCV valve into an "inline PCV Valve" configuration, as can be seen in the last picture. It is inline between the second port of me sealed oil catch can, and the port on the intake manifold.