1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Crank case venting

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Old Sep 20, 2015 | 05:53 PM
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Crank case venting

Hello great source of knowledge!
I have been trying to figure out an elegant way of dealing with crank case ventilation. My understanding so far is that it is ideal to vent with a vacuum since that will pull the most gunk out as possible, however it is also acceptable to vent to atm pressure. This is because any gasses stuck in the sump will still be able to escape fine, they just wont be pulled out. Considering rotaries don't have nearly as much blow by as piston engine I dont see that being a huge problem. So my question is does the nipple on the oil filling stack and the nipple on the center housing vent the same area? If so can I run both of the nipples to a good catch can and ditch the charcoal can?
As far as I can tell the charcoal can is hooked up to the gas tank and the sump system of the engine?
So is it possible to connect all the hoses up to a singe catch can that can get rid of all the yucky bits?
Thanks guys and gals!
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Old Sep 20, 2015 | 07:20 PM
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The car is a 1985 GSL btw (12a)
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Old Sep 20, 2015 | 07:42 PM
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They both vent the same volume, but as one is slightly higher up it is better used as the vent, and the lower as an inlet. Or you can put a filter on one and vacuum the other, via a PCV valve.

The stock vapor recovery system (usually tossed whole or in part by people anxious to rip out their "rats nest") is actually rather complex. It uses the engine sump as a repository for tank vapors as well as rotor blow-by fumes, switching vent paths depending on whether the engine is running or not.
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Old Sep 20, 2015 | 07:52 PM
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figured it was used for that. The this is I would rather not use a vacuum system for complexity reasons so could I just run all the inlets to a common catch and vent to atm? or is a vacuum realllly necessary? In which case could I run them all to a common catch can and then run the catch can to the carb for a vacuum source? (with a pcv valve of course)
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 02:05 AM
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Venting using vacuum has the benefit of helping to eliminate the water vapor from your oil system. When the oil warms up, that vapor is free to get sucked out vs. creating 'lung butter' in the oil filler tube. This normally occurs when your PCV system gets gunked up or bypassed which prevents the removal of water vapor under vacuum.

I think it's still worth having for that reason alone, as the water vapor has to go somewhere and better to get vacuumed out than to collect in places that can rust over time. A lot of people ditch the PCV system, but it has a purpose or Mazda wouldn't have put it there - aside from emissions law.
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 06:15 AM
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Originally Posted by LongDuck
Venting using vacuum has the benefit of helping to eliminate the water vapor from your oil system. When the oil warms up, that vapor is free to get sucked out vs. creating 'lung butter' in the oil filler tube. This normally occurs when your PCV system gets gunked up or bypassed which prevents the removal of water vapor under vacuum.

I think it's still worth having for that reason alone, as the water vapor has to go somewhere and better to get vacuumed out than to collect in places that can rust over time. A lot of people ditch the PCV system, but it has a purpose or Mazda wouldn't have put it there - aside from emissions law.
Alright cool. Thanks guys I'm thinking I'm gonna use a single catch can that is attached to the intake to provide a vacuum. The inputs to the catch can will be both venting nipples from the filler tube and the gas tank vent from the tank. The output will have an inline PCs and be connected back to the intake. This seems like a reasonable way to keep things clean and eliminate the charcoal can? Thanks
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 07:49 AM
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I have my tank venting into the lower nipple as DD suggests and then I run a PCV valve on a connection
to the upper nipple and have no issues with lung butter.
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 03:03 PM
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cool so I will be running the system under a vacuum. However since I am NA my intake pressure will always be lower than my crankcase pressure so I don't think I need a check valve, I should just be able to direct connect the out of my catch can to my intake?
Thanks again
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 05:06 PM
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Crank case venting-catch-can-scheme.png
This is the type of system i'm thinking.
Let me know what you guys think
Thanks
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Old Sep 21, 2015 | 07:07 PM
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Seems complex. See TG Farrell and DD. a wise man once said " perfection is achieved not by adorning a thing, but by removing from it all that can be removed without altering its essential character."
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 09:42 AM
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Not sure why the use a catch can unless you think you will be sucking a lot of oil out. Racers do this
usually due to rules to prevent oil on the track. I think you are over engineering the solution a bit.
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 12:16 PM
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Oh okay. I just wasn't sure if it would be good protective measure or not. Can I just run a line from the oil filling stack to the carb with no check valve since I'm na? Also do you keep your charcoal can or just run the line from your tank straight to the centre housing?
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 01:58 PM
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Crank case venting-image-3249574274.jpg

I don't know the plus or minus of eliminating the charcoal can. Mine vents to the lower nipple. The upper vents to the mani with a pcv valve, per Glazedham. It works very well.
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Cookboy
Attachment 566214

I don't know the plus or minus of eliminating the charcoal can. Mine vents to the lower nipple. The upper vents to the mani with a pcv valve, per Glazedham. It works very well.
Ditto for me.
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 03:43 PM
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The charcoal canister is 100% an emissions-control device - - it stores fuel vapors (mainly from the fuel inside the carb bowls) when the engine is not running, which are then drawn into the manifold when there's vacuum. No performance impact one way or the other, though they can cause flooding when they get plugged up as the bowls can no longer vent.

On older designs of the Nikki (and most other carbs) the bowl vents just exit over the carb throat up where pressure = atmospheric. If you look at older carbs, you'll see the diagonal-cut vent tubes exiting over the throat openings. This worked great, but it let bowl and tank vapors vent out from the air cleaner to the atmosphere when the engine was off, which in the late 70's was disallowed under CARB (and later, EPA) rules. And lo, charcoal canisters and the EVAP system were born.

The stock routing of the tank vent is through a vacuum-operated check-control valve, which allows the tank to draw air when the engine/pump is running (so you don't vacuum-lock) & which routes vapors from the tank into the crankcase (& from there to the canister) when the engine is off. The one vent line back to the tank does both jobs.

If your tank vent line is under vacuum when the engine is running, the vacuum works against fuel flowing out of the tank into the pump.

Last edited by DivinDriver; Sep 22, 2015 at 03:52 PM.
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Old Sep 22, 2015 | 08:46 PM
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Originally Posted by DivinDriver
The charcoal canister is 100% an emissions-control device - - it stores fuel vapors (mainly from the fuel inside the carb bowls) when the engine is not running, which are then drawn into the manifold when there's vacuum. No performance impact one way or the other, though they can cause flooding when they get plugged up as the bowls can no longer vent.

On older designs of the Nikki (and most other carbs) the bowl vents just exit over the carb throat up where pressure = atmospheric. If you look at older carbs, you'll see the diagonal-cut vent tubes exiting over the throat openings. This worked great, but it let bowl and tank vapors vent out from the air cleaner to the atmosphere when the engine was off, which in the late 70's was disallowed under CARB (and later, EPA) rules. And lo, charcoal canisters and the EVAP system were born.

The stock routing of the tank vent is through a vacuum-operated check-control valve, which allows the tank to draw air when the engine/pump is running (so you don't vacuum-lock) & which routes vapors from the tank into the crankcase (& from there to the canister) when the engine is off. The one vent line back to the tank does both jobs.

If your tank vent line is under vacuum when the engine is running, the vacuum works against fuel flowing out of the tank into the pump.
Ah very good info here. so putting the tank vent line under vacuum is a nono! my only final question is weather i really need to run a PVC valve from the crank case to my vacuum source (the intake). cause the way I see it it will always be under vacuum since i am running NA and therefore I don't need to worry about significant back-flow.
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Old Sep 23, 2015 | 08:16 AM
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PCV is a good idea because of backfires that sometimes get back to the intake.
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Old Sep 23, 2015 | 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by t_g_farrell
PCV is a good idea because of backfires that sometimes get back to the intake.
Okay! Thanks all for indulging my questions! Hose will be run with a valve from upper oil filler nipple to carb. Nice and simple

Last edited by NotMrButts; Sep 23, 2015 at 11:47 AM.
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Old Sep 23, 2015 | 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Cookboy
Attachment 566214

I don't know the plus or minus of eliminating the charcoal can. Mine vents to the lower nipple. The upper vents to the mani with a pcv valve, per Glazedham. It works very well.
What PCV valve is that, and what direction do you have it? I like it a lot better than the one on my project.
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Old Sep 23, 2015 | 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by wankel=awesome
What PCV valve is that, and what direction do you have it? I like it a lot better than the one on my project.
It flows from engine to mani. I have no idea what it is. I took the hoses to the parts store and picked thru the bin til I found one that fit. If I recall correctly the oil tube nipple is larger than the one on the mani.
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Old Sep 23, 2015 | 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Cookboy
It flows from engine to mani. I have no idea what it is. I took the hoses to the parts store and picked thru the bin til I found one that fit. If I recall correctly the oil tube nipple is larger than the one on the mani.
If by mani you mean the lower carb section then yeh it's about half the diameter I think :/
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Old Feb 23, 2016 | 07:57 PM
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What about a setup like this? I need somewhere to put crank case lower tube line.. Right now it's going to atmosphere with a simple filter on it.

I'm getting water vapors in the oil fill neck. Even with a hole drilled in the top of the fill cap (90 degree fitting installed).
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Old Feb 24, 2016 | 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by kirkosaki
What about a setup like this? I need somewhere to put crank case lower tube line.. Right now it's going to atmosphere with a simple filter on it.

I'm getting water vapors in the oil fill neck. Even with a hole drilled in the top of the fill cap (90 degree fitting installed).
You need to have vacuum applied somewhere so when the engine runs it can suck
the moist air out. I described my setup a few posts back.
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Old Feb 10, 2018 | 03:34 PM
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Yes!

Stack rotors is VERY easy if you know how.
Bring motors to Itsukushima Shinto shrine at low tide near Hiroshima where rotary motor is born. Position all motors to be stacked front to back- this step very important to get right. Locate shrine Miko (lady wearing old time clothes). This lady knows ritual to stack rotaries into multirotor. Have ready your Hitobashira- this is person to exhange for life of your multirotor. Never let one drop of oil or coolant seep into the shrine grounds or all your motors turn into individual renesis motors instead of multirotor at completion of ceremony.

If motors are not running condition additional sacrifices will occur during ceremony.
example-
1 life each apex seal
1 future each coolant seal
1 past each side seal
1 body part each bearing
1 pet each rotor
1 love each rotor housing
1 sense each side housing
1 memory each seal spring
etc

You do not choose or supply these, it is just result of ceremony- but each will befall someone you know.
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Old Feb 10, 2018 | 06:10 PM
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Smoking the good stuff lately?? lol
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