oil from breather hose, how much is normal?

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berg450

Well-Known Member
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Location
Hungary
yesterday while I made a quick check around the engine (looking for leaks, loose bolts...) I found oil on the bottom of the air hose (see photo) connecting the intercooler to the EGR "delete pipe". I removed it and found oil inside, also the flange where the EGR delete pipe connects to the inlet manifold was oily.
I have removed the breather valve and the pipe connecting the MAF to the turbo and found that the oil probably comes from the breather pipe. I know that it is normal until a certain amount, but how should I know when it is too much and what can I do to stop or minimize it?
The other thing which strange how the oil can be outside of the air hose? I have pressure tested the system a few months ago (hoses from turbo-intercooler-hose after intercooler) and seemed to be holding pressure well!
 

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Was there a lot in the breather from the rocker cover? If you remove the depression control valve (mushroom valve thing that breather pipe connects to) give it a good clean you can test by blocking the pipe the breather hose goes onto and gently sucking the pipe on the bottom. You should feel it click or something at least move inside it with very little pressure needed. Mind you don't get a gob full of oil though. A lot of people seem to think the valve isnt needed but it is. @KISSMYAURA has a link to it's function I think.

Might be worth checking for signs of oil coming from turbo as well.

If it's pooling in pipes it's excessive imo and you'd want to check your intercooler as well
 
Was there a lot in the breather from the rocker cover? If you remove the depression control valve (mushroom valve thing that breather pipe connects to) give it a good clean you can test by blocking the pipe the breather hose goes onto and gently sucking the pipe on the bottom. You should feel it click or something at least move inside it with very little pressure needed. Mind you don't get a gob full of oil though. A lot of people seem to think the valve isnt needed but it is. @KISSMYAURA has a link to it's function I think.

Might be worth checking for signs of oil coming from turbo as well.

If it's pooling in pipes it's excessive imo and you'd want to check your intercooler as well
I changed the valve to a genuine one a month ago and the turbo was also removed and checked by specialist and found ok (internal part has changed to new). The intercooler was removed and cleaned about a year ago.
 
I changed the valve to a genuine one a month ago and the turbo was also removed and checked by specialist and found ok (internal part has changed to new). The intercooler was removed and cleaned about a year ago.

All changed due to the same symptoms you've got now or a different problem?

Any oil leaks from elsewhere to explain outside of pipes being wet?

Hard to tell if it's excessive in the pipes in pics, doesn't seem to be a great deal. More of a problem if you tip the pipe up and it pours out i think lol
 
The turbo was checked and the valve was changed due to low turbo pressure (i had no power on low rpm but genuine MAF has solved the problem) and the intercooler has cleaned when egr has removed and i wanted to clean all the system. To be honest i have no any problem with the performance of my engine now but i worry a bit about this oil in the place where it should not be. Maybe it is a kind of tuning done by previus owner like in formula 1 as the engine uses oil as extra fuel.......;-)
 
Just monitor it for a bit then see if it gets worse. You don't want the engine self fuelling with oil as I'm sure you already know the possible outcome ;)
 
yesterday night the breather pipe and the air hose were taken off and placed vertical to see how much oil are in them. Surely there was some, see on the paper placed under.
So the safe solution is to install Provent?
 

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As I said don't bother you don't need it, plenty of owners writes ups on the web, some love it, but most remove it due to performance and poor starting then again this is across several different cars.

I dont think your oil amounts are that abnormal, oil vapours will condense in pipe etc

But if you decided to get one maybe down side of master cylinder RHS?
needs to be vertical and keep away from heat. Might solve your concerns etc cjeck fleabaay they are cheaper on there.
 
yesterday night the breather pipe and the air hose were taken off and placed vertical to see how much oil are in them. Surely there was some, see on the paper placed under.
So the safe solution is to install Provent?

@KISSMYAURA Do you think this amount is excessive?

@berg450 I'd be looking at why you're getting the oil you're seeing before doing anything else.

Have you checked oil level isn't increasing and for diesel in sump?
 
The thing is the pipes cool after engine stop and vapours condense and trickle down, remove the pipe from the mushroom and run engine with a bit of kitchen roll held on the end. holding pipe upright, if you get loads of oil spatters then fair enough but my guess is you just get a bit o smoke!
This is why the EGR's clog up, and why the intake Manifold clogs the MAP sensor, all that gunk going through rocker case ventilation etc
 
@berg450 does it smell like diesel?
Thank you mate for your quick replies! I think i have missunderstood your link about provent.
So, the oil level in the engine is not changing and i do not smell diesel in the oil.
A freind of mine, a good car mechanic, also told me that such oil condensation is not abnormal, so maybe i worry a bit too much?
 
maybe! we all suffer from that, and a few of us a learnt the harsh lesson of its its working dont mess with it, me included!
I guess the main benefit of the pro vent is that it stops all that gunk form going back into the turbo and intercooler etc.
but it is a diesel and it all burns!
 
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