Grubbster Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 My K has both cam cover breathers blanked off. I have a dry sump (bellhousing tank) and this vents into a catch tank. Is there any reason why the cam cover breathers are blanked off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I'm sure I read a MASSIVE thread on the old Blatchat with a lot of input from Peter Carmichael, DVA and several others about the pros and cons of running a sealed system. I'll be damned if I can find it though. Are you getting any problems? I do remember the smaller breather on the cam cover being a bit useless for the nature of our cars, so I've blanked that one off. Think there's something I read in the Pace FAQs about running the engine in a vacuum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium7 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I have the same Steve and have also read the long thread and not come to any conclusion whether it's best or not. The only thing that happens with mine is the clucking noise from the sump when warming up (CC DS system) otherwise it seems to be doing the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Yes it's the clucking noise I'm trying to understand, it has turned into a bit more of a squeal now rather than a cluck! If I loosen the oil filler cap it stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Green Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 ISTR Peter Carmichael saying he ran his with open breathers in the end, as he believed the air moving through the engine would help to shift any oil. Supposed to stop the clucking too. And it doesn't really run in a vacuum as it is sucking air in past the seals anyway.My (now 16 yo) DS K engine came from Caterham with open breathers. I asked Len Unwin (tech guy at Caterham at the time) if I should blank them off or leave them open. He replied he'd seen engines in both configurations and they all seemed to work all right. Left my engine's breathers open; so far so good.So I think the short answer is it doesn't really matter that much either way. Go with what feels right to you. Perhaps the squeal is due to a seal splitting or something so the air is being constantly drawn in, giving a reed instrument-type effect, rather than "gulping" the air in and causing the clucking sound ? Hope that doesn't sound too gloomy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titanium7 Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I thought the clucking noise was the mis match in oil flow between the CC gold pump and the existing original oil pump which the CC DS system still uses. This doesn't explain why it stops when the engine is up to temperature though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted August 23, 2015 Member Share Posted August 23, 2015 Is it this thread?Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Not sure if it is the thread Jonathan but there is certainly some comment on the breathing options in it, I think I'll open up a breather and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Good thinking Nick, hopefully nothing seriously wrong with mine. Where do your breather hoses go to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Green Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 All breathers go separately to the catch tank. Could block one of the cam cover breathers up to be honest. Don't think it would make much difference in my engine's case. Just what I did when I first installed the engine yonks ago. I have also seen 1 pipe linking ds tank swirl tower to one cam cover breather and another pipe linking the other cam cover breather to the catch tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 25, 2015 Author Share Posted August 25, 2015 So if the clucking noise is air being sucked in, where is it being sucked in through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted August 26, 2015 Support Team Share Posted August 26, 2015 I'm pretty sure that one of the cam cover breathers sucks and one blows (stop sniggering at the back ). On my old K I had the dry sump conning tower breather connected to the one that sucks and the one that blows connected to the catch tank. This worked well and no clucking sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Steve,With the engine sealed the Gold scavenge pump can pull a very slight vacuum at idle revs. The clucking noise is when most of the oil has been sucked out of the sump pan. Similar to sucking a milkshake out of a glass you get a similar sound when you try to suck out every drop from the bottom of the glass. I would leave the system sealed it is slightly more efficient at getting air bubbles out of the oil. I used to get some funny looks from other drivers at the traffic lights, I am assuming it was the clucking that prompted them. Some say that the clucking noise is air being pulled past the crank seals, this theory has been dispproved. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Cheers Rob. My clucking has turned into a bit of a squeal sound (I'll video it when I'm back home at the weekend), or something else is squealing a bit but I can't see what. If I remove the oil fills cap it stops, before I realised this I replaced the clutch in case it was release bearing but made no difference. The clutch was fubar'd though so was a good call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 A constant squeal dosent sound right. not belt slip by any chance? Titan do a pump overhaul service if you suspect that is make the noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 No, not belt slip and it doesn't sound like it's coming from the gold DS pump, seems to be bell housing area but hard to pinpoint. It also stops if I loosen the oil filler cap, odd! I'll video it at the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstice Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I was thinking about venting mine, I noticed a positive pressure in the rocker cover which didn't seem right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Here is a short video of the engine and the noise. Only happens once it has warmed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 And to make it more interesting I just opened the larger of the breathers and put a hose on it (vented to an open tank) then started the engine again. Within seconds the main catch tank (from the dry sump tower) filled with oil and overflowed. I did do an oil change last week, but it's been running since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Mopped up and restarted, ran up to temp ok, no squeal and no more oil in the catch tank so it must have been over filled - interesting that it didn't overflow before I oped the breather though. It seems to tick over a bit faster than before as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solstice Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 I noticed a change in tickover speed when I opened the vents on mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 wonders of the world Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 clucking noise is air being drawn primarily through the rear crank oil seal.the pumps in a DS system are designed to operated at different capacitiy to allow for the variation in oil volume as it absorbs heat from the engine as it passes through - scavenge pump usually has circa 25% addition capacity compared with the pressure pump.Running is a partial vacuum (sealed) reduces windage, and helps promote a positive scavenge amogst many other things too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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