I finished up the valve cover this weekend. Put some course steel wool in all 3 chambers like so.



The crank case venting should be substantially better now that I upgraded from the puny 3/8" lines to 5/8".



Weather is pretty **** today but I am still considering taking it out for a quick spin to see if I still get any oil from the turbo now that both the breathing and oil drain have had substantial capacity added. I would really like to start getting some full throttle pulls in this thing. I want to log wastegate spool, EBC at wastegate, and then eventually hook up my VVTuner box and see how the spool is effected by that as well. I am guessing the EBC will give me atleast 500 rpms and then the VVT will do another 500rpms. I also got some ID1000s so I can turn up the boost.

 

Get that steel wool out of there asap. Its going to come apart and end up in the engine, its also going to rust away to nothing too. You need to use the copper scrubbers that are self contained.

 

Serious question. How does steel wool rust when it's always oiled?

 

"oil" Remember, the stuff going into your catch can you want to leave the engine for a reason, its corrosive and full of water.

 

I get that some of it will be corrosive and there will be moisture but there is also actual oil getting into those chambers which then drains back into the engine. There would be a coat of oil on the steel wool the entire time.

 

How will you ensure that the steel wool won't break into pieces and wreak havoc on the engine?

Edit: I see leafy just asked the same thing.

 

How would this even happen unless it's corroding? There is nothing moving around it. Steel wool doesn't just break apart if no force is acting upon it. It is all enclosed in completely separate chambers. You are all freaking me out but I honestly can't logically get to anything actually going wrong when there is clearly oil getting into those ports that should stop the steel from corroding. Are there any documented cases of someone losing an engine to steel wool or is this all just speculation?

 

I don't think it's as dramatic as the two above make it seem, but to answer the "how" question: there is condensation going through there all the time, mostly when you cold start the car. It's oil and water combined, not just "coated in oil all the time" like you think.

 

So I understand that moisture and other substances pass through the chambers. However, there remains a coat of oil on everything in there which is apparent anytime you remove the valve cover and open the chambers. They are not bone dry. These is a film of oil on all surfaces. So I guess it comes down to weather the oil isn't enough to protect the steel wool from the moisture and other corrosive gasses. I'm not convinced the oil won't be enough and I have never seen someone have an issue with it. I know other people have used steel wool.

 

The inside of my valve cover vent chambers were completely corroded from the bare aluminum remaining in contact with the moisture much of the time. And so were the steel cover plates that screw onto the bottoms of the chambers. Even the little phillips screws rusted away to nothing.

Oh, wait. Nope. Everything was really oily and had to be degreased prior to getting anything done with them. And it had been parked for a couple of weeks.

How long had yours been parked, Ryan, when you pulled the valve cover off? How dried out was it? Corroded? Rusted? I'm curious.

 

I'm guessing this is much more of an issue in the cancer states where Leafy lives.

 

Yeah, now you have salty moisture condensing in there.

 

Haha, leafy and I are probably neighbors...

MA isn't THAT bad...

 

Not so sure it's worth the risk Ryan. Get the stainless and never worry about it again.

 

I assume you mean copper

 

They probably make stainless wool somewhere. Some oem's use plastic open cell foam as a breather filter but I wouldn't. VW uses a plastic windage tray in the oil pan of some Jettas, Beetles, and Golfs but they can deform if the engine runs hot. I've seen people use green scrubber pads somewhere but cannot recall where. I wouldn't do that either.

Do whatever you think is best. I'll support you!

 

Either one. I did a quick search and found both pretty easy. Personally I would use something with a heavier caliper strand to keep bits from showing up where they shouldn't.

 

If you notice, those steel plates are passivated and the screws plated. Plated screws are pretty normal, but they paid extra to passivate those baffles rather than just leave em raw.

 

I'd be worried about something so fine just straight up coming apart. Its not like the BP is the smoothest motor ever.

I believe Chore Boy brand makes a copper scrubber that is actually copper and not some sort of copper electroplated pot metal, I'd probably be more comfortable using that in a catch can before I'd use anything steel wool. Personally I'm not comfortable putting ANYTHING like that in an engine, but that's just me.

 

Yes it is, especially Worcester, it's the scariest of the bunch