I broke the crankcase return nipple on the intake manifold...

[ace996]

Yup, super stupid move today...I really amaze myself just how much I can screw up just doing the simplest things...

I was going to change the tubing I have from my homemade-oil-catchcan first thing this morning with some tubing that was a better length. I grab the tube and pull...no go, so I rock it back and forth to start it off, and it snaps...Ever get that sick feeling in your stomach when you over-torque a bolt and the head twists off? It was the same feeling. So now I'm looking at a busted nipple, and no way to have the crankcase-breather-filter return into the intake manifold...and worse...no way to plug the hole.

I use a bodywork push-pin and a rubber washer to seal the hole until I go to the auto-supply store for some ideas. I find some rubber plugs that fit so I'm done with that side. I then get more 3/8ID tubing and a fitting to return the crankcase tube to the airbox.

So I go home and plug the manifold. Then I drill a hole into the front of the air-box, the lower-pre-filter part and plumb the return line into the box. So now, my crankcase vents into my catch-filter then travels across the radiator and enters the airbox via a 90degree elbow. I've lost the "vacuum pump" feature of our manifold, but at least the oil vapor isn't going into the engine anymore. **Next time you take your intake tube off the throttle body, open the throttle and take a peek into the manifold with a flashlight...you may be surprised to see how much oil is present in there).

So now my quick fix to my stupidity is done, but I'd like to re-plumb my return line back into the manifold. The speed shop guy told me to use JB weld to attach a tube nipple back onto the manifold, I'm not too excited to do that just yet but it may be what I need to do. Any ideas fellas? Short of taking the manifold off the engine and threading the hole to accept a screw-in tube fitting with a nut inside the manifold, I'm out of ideas.

Still stupid,
ace

[rand49er]

Originally Posted by ace996

...super stupid move...

Been there, done that...thank goodness not with my V, YET! Hope all works out.

[CVP33]

Sorry to hear about that Ace. And yes, you described that feeling perfectly.

[Rey]

JB Weld is pretty good stuff, particularly the longer-setting version. I once knocked the corner off a cast aluminum auto tranny. "Glued" the broken piece back on with JB Weld, and then covered the outside with more JB Weld. It was still holding another 90K miles when I sold the car.

[ace996]

The system is back to the normal routine, I fixed her this evening. I ordered the JAZ Minibreather catch-can, as it is one pint...and larger than the air-compressor-filter I had previously. It's white, so I can see when its filling up.

When I opened the box, I saw that the tube fittings were mounted by using push-style poly-grommets..hmmmmm. I pulled one out and took a look under my hood to see if it would fit the manifold bung where I had placed the rubber plug. The poly-grom was a little big so I snuck a rag under my TB plate and lined my manifold from the inside, under the return bung. Out came the Dremel and I opened the hole. The passage is perfectly matched to the poly-bung. I went to Home Depot and bought a 3/8inch tube connector, the double sided-tube fitting, and jammed it into the poly-bung. With the pressure of the tube fitting inside the poly-bung, it won't move at all. Problem fixed! I plugged the air-box nipple, that I installed to return the vapor to the intake system.

I then modified my previous crankcase catch mount and mounted the Jaz can. I screwed in the 90degree tube fittings-to-1/2inch thread into the Jaz tank. I then removed the top filter, jammed the other poly-bushing with the 90deg (supplied) double tube fitting elbow into the top hole and left the cap on the tube fitting. I cut a new piece of tubing and ran lines from the crankcase to the Jaz, then to the intake manifold. I can't believe the poly-bung fit so nicely, I really didn't want to use JBWeld and crap-up my manifold.

So everything works as the factory intended now, except I have a one pint catch can to grab any oil that spurts out. It's a straight shot from one nipple to the other, so I may need to fit a blocking plate inside to disrupt the flow, this shold allow the oil vapor to settle some, but I'm not too worried.

I noticed that the passenger side valve cover runs a tube into the throttle-body. I could run the tube to the top-nipple on my tank and just cap the throttle body nipple. Any thoughts as to why this would be a bad thing?...other than me botching something else up? That way, I'd have both the crankcase and valve-cover venting into the catch tank and then being returned into the manifold, after the throttle-body. Perhaps I should just leave things alone and consider myself a little wiser, content that I saved myself from needing to buy another intake manifold.

-ace

[vegasVowner]

Originally Posted by ace996

The system is back to the normal routine, I fixed her this evening. I ordered the JAZ Minibreather catch-can, as it is one pint...and larger than the air-compressor-filter I had previously. It's white, so I can see when its filling up.

When I opened the box, I saw that the tube fittings were mounted by using push-style poly-grommets..hmmmmm. I pulled one out and took a look under my hood to see if it would fit the manifold bung where I had placed the rubber plug. The poly-grom was a little big so I snuck a rag under my TB plate and lined my manifold from the inside, under the return bung. Out came the Dremel and I opened the hole. The passage is perfectly matched to the poly-bung. I went to Home Depot and bought a 3/8inch tube connector, the double sided-tube fitting, and jammed it into the poly-bung. With the pressure of the tube fitting inside the poly-bung, it won't move at all. Problem fixed! I plugged the air-box nipple, that I installed to return the vapor to the intake system.

I then modified my previous crankcase catch mount and mounted the Jaz can. I screwed in the 90degree tube fittings-to-1/2inch thread into the Jaz tank. I then removed the top filter, jammed the other poly-bushing with the 90deg (supplied) double tube fitting elbow into the top hole and left the cap on the tube fitting. I cut a new piece of tubing and ran lines from the crankcase to the Jaz, then to the intake manifold. I can't believe the poly-bung fit so nicely, I really didn't want to use JBWeld and crap-up my manifold.

So everything works as the factory intended now, except I have a one pint catch can to grab any oil that spurts out. It's a straight shot from one nipple to the other, so I may need to fit a blocking plate inside to disrupt the flow, this shold allow the oil vapor to settle some, but I'm not too worried.

I noticed that the passenger side valve cover runs a tube into the throttle-body. I could run the tube to the top-nipple on my tank and just cap the throttle body nipple. Any thoughts as to why this would be a bad thing?...other than me botching something else up? That way, I'd have both the crankcase and valve-cover venting into the catch tank and then being returned into the manifold, after the throttle-body. Perhaps I should just leave things alone and consider myself a little wiser, content that I saved myself from needing to buy another intake manifold.

-ace

Hate to dredge up an old thread but I am wondering the same thing as ace was in his last paragraph. Can I double up the intake side of my catch can with the passenger side valve cover vent tube that goes into the TB and cap of the nipple on the TB itself? Or will the intake manifold return after the catch can create too much or a lack of vacuum or hopefully no issue at all? Thanks guys!

[Kmajecki]

No prob on the old thread. Just proves you searched first

[vegasVowner]

Speakin of the ole search feature, I read for hours tryin to get an answer for a question about the radiator cover plastic thing. Problem is, the tags "radiator" and "cover" didnt really filter much out