Air Box Oil anyone tried this?

[Spyd3r]

Hope nobody minds the link, see this stuff over there, just wondering if anyone has input on this before I decide on what to do? 4500 mile trip coming up and will have spyder down to the bones before leaving.

http://www.spydertalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4870&hl=oil+airbox

 

[bjt]

That's been brought up here before and I'm sure that some of the folks here have tried it. I haven't heard any feedback on that "foam in the breather tube" fix in quite a while so I don't know how it's been working out for them. :dontknow:

 

[Twodog185]

I've had the "foam in the feeder tube" for about 8 months. No oil in the air cleaner yet. Howerver, I have the parts necessary to go to the "Lamonster oil capture / free breathing filter" assembly. $20....and worry free installation.

You just stay right here in Spyderlovers and Lamont will show you the way.
:2thumbs:

 

[Lamonster]

The problem I have with this mod is you have crankcase pressure and airbox vacuum wanting to push/suck that little piece of foam right into your throttle body. The foam will break down over time and then you'll have little pieces of foam on the wrong side of your filter. It may never happen but if it does it won't be pretty.

 

[Spyd3r]

DAMN good point. I was looking to not carry a bottle of oil on up coming 4500 mile trip, maybe I will look for a smaller 1/4 quart container. Seems to be all I ever add between changes.

 

[smokster]

DAMN good point. I was looking to not carry a bottle of oil on up coming 4500 mile trip, maybe I will look for a smaller 1/4 quart container. Seems to be all I ever add between changes.

I dont have my air box in anymore and dont miss this scenerio.
However, I add about 1/2-1/2 qt of oil every 2000 miles. So bringing a quart of oil for 4000 miles is not unreasonalble IMHO

 

[sabunim5]

I have done that mod and it works. I was worried about the foam deteriorating as Lamont mentioned so I used a porous, but more fibrous material. I did not use a piece of sponge. I have not had any more oil in my airbox since I did the mod. about 9K miles ago.

 

[vt228]

air box mod

I did the mod and works well for me as well best mod yet...Don
:agree::clap::agree:

 

[BLACK WIDOW]

Breather tube mod.

The problem I have with this mod is you have crankcase pressure and airbox vacuum wanting to push/suck that little piece of foam right into your throttle body. The foam will break down over time and then you'll have little pieces of foam on the wrong side of your filter. It may never happen but if it does it won't be pretty.

I like your mod MUCH better, we all know that it works and you can see that it does.:thumbup:

 

[gazey]

I did this mod three months ago and its working fine. No sign of oil in the air box since.
I am also a bit worried about the piece of foam breaking down over time so I have collected all the bits I need and I will change over to the catch can mod when I get a chance.

 

[Tom in NM]

Posted yesterday . . . . .

. . . . in case anyone on this thread missed it, NJERNIE posted yesterday that BRP advised the use of a foam plug to solve this issue.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12934

Tom

 

[BajaRon]

. . . . in case anyone on this thread missed it, NJERNIE posted yesterday that BRP advised the use of a foam plug to solve this issue.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12934

Tom

BRP really has very little choice as a catch can is illegal. EPA requires that engine vapors be routed into the combustion cycle to be burned. The idea is to get the vapors out while leaving the oil in.

So the object is to;

1-vent the engine crank case - has to be done or you start losing gaskets
2-meet EPA requirements by routing vented gasses into combustion chamber.
3-Keep the oil in the crankcase and out of the air box

Obviously, BRP succeeded at #1 & #2 though failing to accomplish #3. So, it is really goal #3 that we are shooting for.

The catch can solves problem #1, & #3 but does not address requirement #2 as the vapors are vented to the outside. Is this really a big issue? No, not unless you have a very worn engine creating a lot of blowby vapors. It obviously does not concern me as I am using Lamont's catch can now.

The foam plug, if it works well, addresses all 3 issues. It was frankly my 1st thougth when we started seeing a lot of oil in our air box.

It is definitely the easiest and least expensive fix. The reason I did not try it is that Lamont's catch can was working very well and we weren't sure if the foam plug would cause other issues like restricting the vent hose too much, or getting sucked into the intake.

Why find this out the hard way?

The issue of the foam breaking down is also of concern. But this is more an issue of using the correct foam than a universal worry.

There are several foams designed specifically for oil. They are designed to be coated in oil for air filter applications on all kinds of vehicles (mostly off road). These foams will not break down or deteriorate in an oil environment.

It seems that those who have tried the foam plug approach (including BRP) have found that it does not restrict the venting process too much, nor does the foam plug get sucked into the intake.

Overall, if done properly, which is always important, it looks like the foam plug is a good fix. I may give it a try just to see for myself.

I would probably change it (or at least pull it out and check it) every time I changed or cleaned the air filter just to be sure all was well.

 

[NancysToy]

BRP really has very little choice as a catch can is illegal. EPA requires that engine vapors be routed into the comustion cycle to be burned. The idea is to get the vapors out while leaving the oil in.

So the object is to;

1-vent the engine crank case - has to be done or you start losing gaskets
2-meet EPA requirements by routing vented gasses into combustion chamber.
3-Keep the oil in the crankcase and out of the air box

Obviously, BRP succeeded at #1 & #2 though failing to accomplish #3. So, it is really goal #3 that we are shooting for.

The catch can solves problem #1, & #3 but does not address requirement #2 as the vapors are vented to the outside. Is this really a big issue? No, not unless you have a very worn engine creating a lot of blowby vapors. It obviously does not concern me as I am using Lamont's catch can now.

The foam plug, if it works well, addresses all 3 issues. It was frankly my 1st thougth when we started seeing a lot of oil in our air box.

It is definitely the easiest and least expensive fix. The reason I did not try it is that Lamont's catch can was working very well and we weren't sure if the foam plug would cause other issues like restricting the vent hose too much, or getting sucked into the intake.

Why find this out the hard way?

The issue of the foam breaking down is also of concern. But this is more an issue of using the correct foam than a universal worry.

There are several foams designed specifically for oil. They are designed to be coated in oil for air filter applications on all kinds of vehicles (mostly off road). These foams will not break down or deteriorate in an oil environment.

It seems that those who have tried the foam plug approach (including BRP) have found that it does not restrict the venting process too much, nor does the foam plug get sucked into the intake.

Overall, if done properly, which is always important, it looks like the foam plug is a good fix. I may give it a try just to see for myself.

I would probably change it (or at least pull it out and check it) every time I changed or cleaned the air filter just to be sure all was well.

Well stated, Ron. :thumbup:

 

[Latemarch]

BRP really has very little choice as a catch can is illegal. EPA requires that engine vapors be routed into the comustion cycle to be burned. The idea is to get the vapors out while leaving the oil in.

So the object is to;

1-vent the engine crank case - has to be done or you start losing gaskets
2-meet EPA requirements by routing vented gasses into combustion chamber.
3-Keep the oil in the crankcase and out of the air box

Obviously, BRP succeeded at #1 & #2 though failing to accomplish #3. So, it is really goal #3 that we are shooting for.

The catch can solves problem #1, & #3 but does not address requirement #2 as the vapors are vented to the outside. Is this really a big issue? No, not unless you have a very worn engine creating a lot of blowby vapors. It obviously does not concern me as I am using Lamont's catch can now.

The foam plug, if it works well, addresses all 3 issues. It was frankly my 1st thougth when we started seeing a lot of oil in our air box.
{snip}

What's to stop you from connecting the "out" side of the catch can to the air box instead of venting to atmosphere? This would be a legal solution to #1 thru #3.

 

[gazey]

So the object is to;

1-vent the engine crank case - has to be done or you start losing gaskets
2-meet EPA requirements by routing vented gasses into combustion chamber.
3-Keep the oil in the crankcase and out of the air box

Obviously, BRP succeeded at #1 & #2 though failing to accomplish #3. So, it is really goal #3 that we are shooting for.

So if you were to reattach the hose where Lamont has the air filter on the catch can back on to the air box, that would cover #2. This would mean the catch can stops the oil going into the air box, and any vapors would go into the air box instead of the environment. Would that cover all three problems :dontknow:

 

[bjt]

What's to stop you from connecting the "out" side of the catch can to the air box instead of venting to atmosphere? This would be a legal solution to #1 thru #3.

So if you were to reattach the hose where Lamont has the air filter on the catch can back on to the air box, that would cover #2. This would mean the catch can stops the oil going into the air box, and any vapors would go into the air box instead of the environment. Would that cover all three problems :dontknow:

I asked this before and the answer was that you risk going back to the "oil in the airbox" problem if the intake is drawing so hard that it pulls the oil from the catch can back into the airbox.

 

[ptoemmes]

I do this and located my catch can low using about two feet of hose from the crankcase down to the catch can - "attaches" to the oil resevoir - and then back up to the air box. I actually thought to mount it there for ease of observation with just one panel removal (no screws).

2009 SM5. Recently added Evoluzione's high flow air filter and no oil in the air box.

My gut feeling is I may accumulate more oil in the catch can then other configurations, but so far so good.

Sorry - no pics.

Pete

 

[krb1945]

Take a look at this thread...

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=121194#post121194

The foam has to be replaced frequently according to some on this site.

The only real fix is the one Lamonster has shown on the above thread. It is a proven cure.

 

[Lamonster]

I do this and located my catch can low using about two feet of hose from the crankcase down to the catch can - "attaches" to the oil resevoir - and then back up to the air box. I actually thought to mount it there for ease of observation with just one panel removal (no screws).

2009 SM5. Recently added Evoluzione's high flow air filter and no oil in the air box.

My gut feeling is I may accumulate more oil in the catch can then other configurations, but so far so good.

Sorry - no pics.

Pete

I like that idea :agree:

 

[Tom in NM]

I agree with Ron . . . . (again) . . . .

BRP really has very little choice as a catch can is illegal. EPA requires that engine vapors be routed into the comustion cycle to be burned. The idea is to get the vapors out while leaving the oil in.

So the object is to;

1-vent the engine crank case - has to be done or you start losing gaskets
2-meet EPA requirements by routing vented gasses into combustion chamber.
3-Keep the oil in the crankcase and out of the air box

Obviously, BRP succeeded at #1 & #2 though failing to accomplish #3. So, it is really goal #3 that we are shooting for.

. . . . . I think BRP did a solution that was pretty elegant, it works in most cases, but obviously there are conditions and variables where it does not work and some people end up with oil in the airbox.

Both solutions being talked about work and are used in similar situations for other engines. Personally, I like the idea of keeping the oil where it belongs, doing what oil is supposed to do (Ron's #3). Basically, the problem of oil in the air box is a case of oil going where oil does not belong.

To me, using an air filter that restricts the oil to the oil system seems to be the simplest solution. I have not run into the problem, but incase I ever hit those conditions that cause oil to get into the air box, I will put in the filter. Only BRP knows if this is going to become a part of the Standard Operating Procedures in an Oil Change or Air Filter Change. Until then, I will get some of the Breather Air Filter foam and do it myself.

I was thinking that one thing that the Catch Can Solution does address that the Breather Air Filter does not, is when there is too much oil in the lubrication system. In effect, the Catch Can would siphon off and remove excess oil. If I was having that problem, I would be installing the Catch Can.

Tom