PCV help?
 

Since getting my 67 camaro on the road, i've had some serious engine pressure issues resulting in valve cover gasket failure and oil leaking out all over the place.

Symptoms:

-doesn't leak a drop of oil at idle.

-Drive down the road at highway speeds (60 mph) 3500ish rpm get back home, open the hood, the dipstick is pushed out about 2 inches and oil spray is all over the hood above the dipstick opening

-I'm pretty sure the drivers side head gasket leaks, but again only after i drive at highway speeds.

-Oil used to pool up in the depressions in the intanke manifold from the valve covers, however, i repaced the valve cover gaskets and it no longer leaks there.

I did alot of research and bought all the stuff to install a PCV system on the engine which brings me to my current issue...

I have a holley 4160 oem# LIST-3310-2 3368. There is no large PCV fitting. there is the vacuum fitting for power assist brakes at the back of the carb...which, for whatever reason (please tell me if you know) is hooked up to a breather on the TH350 trans in the car atm. the other vacuum ports are capped but from my research are the timed spark vacuum source for vacuum advance (mine appears larger than the one on the holley instruction manual i downloaded from holley.com) and the EGR port. The entire choke system has been removed.

Is there any good place for me to hook up the PCV system?

The car runs great except for the loss of oil. I'd rather not spend the money on a new carb if possible.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

-Matt-
SGT USMC

Hi!

The PCV should be hocked up between the carburettor and the intake if you do not have a breather installed. (Breather is like an air filter but it's installed where the oil cap normally resides)

I did the same mistake myself a few years back and after it was rerouted correctly it stop spilling it's life blood... (personally do not like the breathers so I never went in that direction)

I tried to set it up with a breather on the passenger side valve cover, the pcv valve in the drivers side valve cover, and the hose from the pcv valve to a port on the bottom of my air cleaner, but it does the same thing (still leaks and pushes dipstick out.)

Should i try using one of the other vacuum hookups on the carb, even though they aren't specifically for pcv?

-Matt-
SGT USMC

Hi!

Not that I'm an expert but I'd say no... it's better to install a T connection to the power brake assistant port on the carb and install the PCV connection to that I'd say. (It's not optimal but it's better than a breather I've heard)

Or you could install a vacuum pump for the power brake assistant and only have the PCV/tranny install in the carb. (More work though)

Have you cheched that the PCV valve is operational? (At least on a Pontiac engines it requires a set amount of pressure before opening up, assuming you have a PCV valve)

PCV to the air cleaner was dead wrong on my Pontiac Engine but I'm not 100% sure how it is on your engine. (I'm guessing that if you have a PCV valve you will require a set amount of vacuum to get it to open so if you only have it on the air cleaner it will never open up)

I've seen spacers with added vacuum ports. (Factory original spacers)

The cheapest way is to get a T piece or two and hock them all up to the same larg vacuum port on the carb. (Looks ugly but at least you will find out if it will work)

I'll try the T junction with the brake power assist. Thank's for the suggestion, not sure why I didn't think about it myself. :)

-Matt-
SGT USMC

No power brake vacuum should ever have a T junction. It's one of the only accessories that needs full manifold vacuum.

If it's connected to breather and vacuum from the trans, then you need to use a single vacuum port for the power brakes and another separate vac. port for the trans. You don't need a breather on the trans vacuum either. If you've ran out of ports on the carb, install a fitting in one of the air/vacuum ports of your intake manifold

The 4160 has a few different designs, but yours sounds like it has two large ports and a smaller vac. advance port. If that's the case, the larger port at the front next to the smaller dist. vac. port is the PCV vacuum. The larger port at the back is the power brake booster.

Some 4160 models (for cars w/out power brakes) have two ports - one at the back for PCV and one smaller one at the front for vac. advance or accessories

PCV rids fumes from the crankcase, EGR does the same for exhaust. You don't need any emissions regulation on that car... but DO need PCV or your engine will be building pressure like mad. A few problems you listed sound directly related to not having a PCV valve

It sucks that 10$ could've been saving you headache for a while

EGR does not "rid fumes". It reduces combustion temps to reduce the emission of oxides of nitrogen, aka NOx.

Yes it does, it recycles gases or fumes, what word you give it matters less.

I have a 427 cubic inch small block -- and only a breather in one valve cover... I've run the living crap out of it - including 6000 rpm redline run in overdrive... and only ever get just a drop or two out of the breather from the hot oil fumes... but NEVER a dipstick blown out of the tube...

Sounds to me like something else is going on... I'd be doing a leak down test on that motor...

While I totally agree that it should have a PCV installed into the base of the carb or directly to the intake manifold ----- that sounds to me like really excessive crankcase pressure.

ah, bliss.... you just have to love it.