Turbo Valve cover baffle question

[86tona]

Does anyone have an image or diagram of the turbo valve cover baffle? I would like to see if by chance I have a blocked drain path. I 'may' have an issue where oil could be coming up into the hose to the air cleaner too. I want to be sure that when I modified the location of the PCV valve that I sealed the baffle properly.

The car has run great for 5,000 miles or so since the engine and turbo were rebuilt. Then on the last oil chance I dumped 5 quarts in quickly and checked the fill once I had pressure and it looked like I needed a bit more. So I 'topped it off'. Then when I cranked it and it warmed up, I got a bunch of smoke. I called Mike Holler and we brainstormed the issue and decided that somehow oil got into the airbox. I drove it to a local cruisein and the smoke went away after about 5 miles. But each time I leave it for a week and then crank it again I get a some more smoke. It has gradually deminished or in other words there is less smoke each time and take far less time to disappear. So either there is still oil somewhere or it's getting into the 'fresh air' hose as I find a bit of oil in bottom of the air box and it then somehow gets into the air intake to the turbo.

I have since drained about half a quart from the pan and the level is now just shy of the 'full' mark so I call it full. It was over filled before I drained it.

I've checked the PCV valve and it's 'new' and working fine.
The engine is 'newly' rebuilt as was the turbo about 6000 miles on the clock
The drain back hose is from TU and is the silicone blue. The distance between the drain tube and return tube in the block is about 1/2 inch.
Compression is 125 psi across all four cylinders.
Car runs great before, during and after the smoke disappears.
Fuel economy is good, very good.
Performance is also good.


So, I'm going to pull the valve cover again and look at the baffle. I want to be sure that it's properly sealed. So if anyone has a picture of the baffle I'd appreciate comparing it with how I've sealed my baffle.

Thanks

[cordes]

I think JT's page is still the best source for info on this subject.

http://www.badassperformance.com/mtech/valvecover.html

[86tona]

Thank you very much for this link.

It's weird that it lasted so long but maybe there is still oil trapped in the baffle area and I need to clean that out.

[turbovanman²]

It shouldn't sit in there that long. Maybe do a leak down test, 125 psi is a bit low for a fairly new engine.

What set up are you running, log to blow thru? Do you have it setup like stock, the pcv that is?

[86tona]

125 psi is only four of five turns of the crank. It would have been higher had I cranked it a bit more. Also leaving it sit with compression it didn't leak down.

Per the FSM there is no 'standard' and the service limit is 100psi. There is no variance between cylinders and with the extra milling done to my head my compression ratio is a bit lower than normal. I don't think that in this case 125 is too low based on the test that I did.

The setup is not stock. I'm using an '88 intake with a roller cam. I basically did a log to T2 conversion without the intercoller.

I relocated the PCV valve because it didn't make any sense to me that the PCV valve and the fresh air intake go to the same port. I relocated the PCV behind the baffle but in the center of the VC in a similar way that the TBI engine is configured. I then used a hose to connect the fresh air nipple to the air box. this hose has a molded 90 degree bend at the nipple end.

Keep in mind that this car ran flawlessly for about 5000 before this oil change. Great performance, fuel economy and no smoke at all.

[turbovanman²]

125 psi is only four of five turns of the crank. It would have been higher had I cranked it a bit more. Also leaving it sit with compression it didn't leak down.

Per the FSM there is no 'standard' and the service limit is 100psi. There is no variance between cylinders and with the extra milling done to my head my compression ratio is a bit lower than normal. I don't think that in this case 125 is too low based on the test that I did.

The setup is not stock. I'm using an '88 intake with a roller cam. I basically did a log to T2 conversion without the intercoller.

I relocated the PCV valve because it didn't make any sense to me that the PCV valve and the fresh air intake go to the same port. I relocated the PCV behind the baffle but in the center of the VC in a similar way that the TBI engine is configured. I then used a hose to connect the fresh air nipple to the air box. this hose has a molded 90 degree bend at the nipple end.

Keep in mind that this car ran flawlessly for about 5000 before this oil change. Great performance, fuel economy and no smoke at all.

150 is usually the norm for new engines. You can't measure leak down with the proper tester, every turbo owner should have one, as you can still have decent compression but excessive blowby which a leakdown tester will show.

Milling the head RAISES the compression ratio, not lower.

Got pics of your setup?

Many strange things have popped up from simple oil changes,

[86tona]

150 is usually the norm for new engines. You can't measure leak down with the proper tester, every turbo owner should have one, as you can still have decent compression but excessive blowby which a leakdown tester will show.

Milling the head RAISES the compression ratio, not lower.

Got pics of your setup?

Many strange things have popped up from simple oil changes,

Sorry for the confusion. When I said milling the head I meant that the combustion chambers were 'edged' which increased the CC volume. This of course will provide a lower CR. While the head was surfaced to remove a good deal of material to try to bring the CR back up to stock with the amount that was removed from the chambers the CR is still lower than stock.

I do have pictures of my setup and I'm trying to get them to display however I'm not able to do so at this time. I can provide links to the gallery where they are if I am permitted to post it. They are in a gallery hosted on Allpar.com. The article of my engine build which has I wrote and published is also on Allpar.com as are all the articles that Mike Holler did which outline in detail the work done to the manifolds, turbo and heads.

I'll have the car at the Florida Mopar Association 24th annual show at Garlits in Ocala if anyone will be attending. I have a book of highlights outlining the build with me for folks to look at if they're interested.

[amx364]

On pictures, TM wants a yearly due to post pictures. It is only 10 dollars for 1 year.

[turbovanman²]

Sorry for the confusion. When I said milling the head I meant that the combustion chambers were 'edged' which increased the CC volume. This of course will provide a lower CR. While the head was surfaced to remove a good deal of material to try to bring the CR back up to stock with the amount that was removed from the chambers the CR is still lower than stock.

I do have pictures of my setup and I'm trying to get them to display however I'm not able to do so at this time. I can provide links to the gallery where they are if I am permitted to post it. They are in a gallery hosted on Allpar.com. The article of my engine build which has I wrote and published is also on Allpar.com as are all the articles that Mike Holler did which outline in detail the work done to the manifolds, turbo and heads.

I'll have the car at the Florida Mopar Association 24th annual show at Garlits in Ocala if anyone will be attending. I have a book of highlights outlining the build with me for folks to look at if they're interested.

Gotcha.

Use a hosting service like photobucket, then you can link here. I prefer PB over here, lol.

[86tona]

Attention mods.... the below links are to photos of my project car. If these links are not permitted please delete this post.

If it's permitted please look at these links. It will describe the goals I have for my Turbo Z and the progress/work done to accomplish those goals.

Photo album link to the restore project that I did on my '86 Turbo Z.

http://www.allpar.com/gallery3/index...ona/G1/album36

Article link to the engine build.
http://www.allpar.com/fix/rebuild-engine.html

Article by Mike Holler on the head work with links below the article to other articles about the turbo and other work done to my engine. Click on part two of the article to see the 'edging' of the combustion chambers and why we did it.
http://www.allpar.com/fix/holler/head-porting.html

[turbovanman²]

Have any actual pics of your pcv setup?

Nice build, car looks good.

[BadAssPerformance]

Have any actual pics of your pcv setup?

Nice build, car looks good.

+1, if the PCV is not sealing under boost, that could pressurize the crankcase.

---------- Post added at 12:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 PM ----------

I think JT's page is still the best source for info on this subject.

http://www.badassperformance.com/mtech/valvecover.html

Thanks, glad its still useful! and need to re-add it to the new KC.. it was there once, LOL!

[Mudman]

Amazing build, puts my current project to shame haha.

[86tona]

Have any actual pics of your pcv setup?

Nice build, car looks good.

Here's a link to the 'new' location of the PCV valve.

http://www.allpar.com/gallery3/index...lbum57/PCV_mod

BTW, the Turbo Z took first place at the FMA Mopars with Big Daddy at Garlits in Ocala this past weekend.

---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 AM ----------

Amazing build, puts my current project to shame haha.

Thanks for the kudos. It was a fun project. Once I solve this issue I can get back to tweaking.

[86tona]

Rather than starting another topic...

Today I removed the Valve Cover to 'reseal' the baffle. It was stuck on really good but I was able to clean everything and get it sealed. It was sealed well but I did it again anyway. I also noticed a few things that now help me make sense of what might have happened and thought I'd share and ask a few other questions.

When the VC was removed I looked at how the oil drains back to the block. It seems that the oil drains back in the 'front' of the head toward the plugs. So when I poured 5 quarts in really fast, and especially if I hadn't lowered the car yet it pooled behind the valves and may have gotten to the level which caused it to enter the nipple where the air comes from the air box. I know there was oil in this hose as I could see it in the air box. That little white square filter was soaked. Ever since that change (especially when the oil level was too high) I could see oil return to the air box even after I cleaned it out.

Today I washed the hose to clear all oil, I cleaned the filter and the air box. There is probably some oil still on the hose from the air box to the turbo but now the hose from the VC is clean and I replaced the PCV valve even though I still think the old one was fine. When I relocated the PCV valve using a grommet like used on the old V8 Chryslers, I put it between two baffles toward the middle of the valve cover.

Now for my question.

Is there anything I can use to flush out the turbo? I ask because I believe there may be some oil pooling in there. I can't believe it's much and it may not be any at all but once I flush/wash the turbo tubes/hoses to remove any trace of oil I would like to be sure there is nothing left in the turbo. Can I use throttle body cleaner?

Once the hoses are cleaned and reinstalled could I spray cleaner in the airbox hose while running the engine to flush out any other 'mess' that might be in the turbo?

[86tona]

I have some interesting news. I know that there may be some who may not believe but here's what happened, the long story.

My wife became very ill and the car sat for more than a few months. She died last Saturday. I needed to take the car for a run this Saturday to the local car event to discuss her passing with our local car club. I cranked the car and pulled it from the garage. About 20 seconds later I saw my usual smoke. But I shut it down and checked fluids etc. About 5 minutes later I got in the car and cranked it again to drive to the event. No smoke. None.

After the car sat for about an hour and a half at the event I cranked it again to go home and no smoke. Yesterday I had to do some cleaning out of the garage and I pulled the car out and once I got it out of the driveway I thought I'd run it 'hard' down the street. It was cold. Perhaps I should have waited to warm it up a bit. But no smoke until I returned to the driveway. Maybe 1/4 round trip. When I returned there was just a little smoke like the previous day. So, I took it for a trip around the block this time, no smoke.

Now before this car fixed itself it would smoke like a misquito fogger for about a mile or so and only after about 20 seconds or more of running. Now, nothing in comparison.

So, perhaps my wife looked down on the car and did something to it to solve the problem or it was just extra oil, somewhere. I noticed that the dip stick is now below 'normal' but only just. When I filled it last time I overfilled the crank case by as much as 1/2 quart or a bit more.

Note to self... fill the oil slowly and never over fill the crank case. Turbo cars don't like that at all.

I thought I'd share this good news with you. I've always had luck with my Daytonas fixing themselves. Let's see how long this fix lasts.

[Juggy]

it saddens me to hear about your loss

on a lighter note, it sounds like someone may be looking down on you and keeping things in your best interest, for you

[BadAssPerformance]

My condolences, sorry to hear about your wife passing.

Good to hear it's no longer smoking.

[86tona]

Thanks guys. I appreciate your thoughts.

And, smoking is bad for you so I'm glad my Turbo Z quit.

[dodgeman87]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I know your wife fixed your car from up above. Keep your chin up.


J.R.