oil separator

[FTE Ken]

Well... one thing to consider....

Seems that pretty much all superchargers, OEM and aftermarket, on Fords and other makes... don't separate the oil or otherwise by-pass this, so I've got to wonder the reasoning behind it.

[FTE Ken]

Hello folks. I've picked up the parts for doing this with a Roushcharger on a 2004-2008 F-150. I'll document the install and will do an article about it and the results, including boost numbers.

[FTE Ken]

Okay gang, its taken 2 weeks to do this simple mod for my truck. None of the online instructions apply to the Roush and I had to hunt for parts that are a little harder to find than the parts used for the Lightning modification.

Notes:

1. The 2004+ F150 doesn't have a PCV valve. That really isn't a problem as far as the mod goes, just remember that instead of a hole in the valve cover where a PCV valve goes there is a metal tube sticking out of the cover. You'll need a 90 degree elbow (1/2" inner diameter) to connect to this. A straight connection won't work because the power steering reservoir is over this.

2. Instead of 3/8" rubber hoses you'll need to use 1/2". I used Goodyear hose I purchased in a 6 foot bag, it has a reinforced layer in the middle with some kind of synthetic fabric and it takes a lot of pressure to collapse it.

3. Note that the 1/2" hose barbs which go into the oil/water separator are hard to find. 3/8" is easy and can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and Northern Tool. 1/2" wasn't available at any of them. The local Ace Hardware had them as well as all the other 1/2" pieces needed.

4. Where the stock pipe has a tee connection the rubber piece that connects to the tee is 5/8", not 1/2". So you'll need to get a 1/2" to 5/8" splice barb while at Ace Hardware.

5. Hose clamps. Get a bunch. Trust me, by the time you're done it'll take lot more than you think.

6. Mounting... now this was tough to figure out. I wanted it to look like it belonged there --- not like something cobbled together. I purchased a universal ignition coil mounting bracket at Autozone. It fits the old style coil cylinders and is chrome plated so it looks nice. I mounted mine where there are two bolt holes on the driver's side of the big Roush metal that holds all the pulleys on the front of the engine. Its nowhere near the belts (those are primarily on the passenger side). I have e-fans. If you have a stock fan there may be space issues but I'm not certain of that.

7. The connection on the Roush blower is on the driver's side, not the passenger side.

Results:

I drove for about 2 hours today testing. Normal driving, WOT driving, etc. All different types of driving. After two hours there is a very slight coating of oil on the glass in the separator. Not enough to pool on the bottom yet, but it shows me that its doing its job and eventually there will be enough in it to drain.

Boost: no change in boost.

WOT driving: my Roush is very finicky when it comes to weather and temperature. More so than Lightnings (I've driven and tuned enough of them to know). I tried several WOT runs consecutively with a light throttle cool-down zero boost drive before each to get intercooler temps low for each run. Switching them is very easy because I did not clamp the connector on the blower or the valve cover (very tight fit and doesn't need a clamp but I plan to install them after full tests).

The WOT drives, according to my performance gauge, were slightly better with the separator. I don't have enough tests to know for certain because it was within the natural margin of change between runs. I don't trust butt-dynos and will use the performance meter to measure results over a variety of testing situations. If it does increase performance I can attribute it to three things:

1. Removal of oil from the air.

2. Instead of 18 inches of tubes there is now about 3 feet plus the air/oil separator. Judging by the heat of the seperator after a run the air going through the hose is not just warm, but hot! The extra hose length and the separator are bound to absorb and dissipate heat more effectively than the stock hose.

3. The additional hose and separator likely causes more resistance to air-flow than the stock hose, meaning less hot air travels into the blower.

Future plans:

1. I'm going to get some heat sinks to place around the chrome housing that holds the separator, to provide more cooling benefits.

2. I'm going to find a way to install the device over the oil filler cap, along with a check valve. When there is vacuum present the valve will stay closed. When there isn't the valve will open and allow any accumulated oil to drain into the engine.

I plan to put up an article with a full parts list, photos and install instructions in a couple of weeks.

[Fosters]

Originally Posted by ace555

Ok well why didn't they just change this small flaw along with the upgraded 2 or 3 rows in the intercooler on the 01 L's, and then again they could have in the 03-04s with the extra threads in the heads? My point is there have been many chances for Ford to do something about this problem. Don't get me wrong, i've been through a lot with my truck (just ask Stewart) and I understand what everyone is saying here, but my large question at hand is- would this oil separator pro-long or shorten our s/c's life? I Don't want anymore problems or bills coming out of my truck. Gas is already a B as it is.....

ford put that there because the vapors of oil inside the valve covers can cause the gaskets to blow off and leak if they are not vented. If they are vented, they're not allowed to vent those into the athmosphere, so they have to put them somewhere in the engine. They couldn't put it after the blower as the pressure would blow inside the valve covers, and so they have to put it before the blower. the reason they don't put a filter on it is the amount of oil sucked in during normal operation (aka no wot) is very very small. any car that moves stock amounts of air also, will not suck oil that bad through it. My car, a few revs to 7k rpm and you can see oil in the separator (I have a transparent one). it's a very good investment if you see how much oil it's pulling in.

the reason they didn't fix it is, it costs them money to fix a problem that would affect a small number of people and wouldn't actually damage anything, other than rob you of power and mpg. The point that it gets clogged up enoug to do that at, is faaaar after warranty has expired. so basically, they don't care.

Originally Posted by FTE Ken

Well... one thing to consider....



Seems that pretty much all superchargers, OEM and aftermarket, on Fords and other makes... don't separate the oil or otherwise by-pass this, so I've got to wonder the reasoning behind it.

Ford doesn't do it on any car. most people don't run their cars hard enough to make a huge fuss about it. it's only when the car sucks in a lot of air that it will have enough power to suck through some oil too. under normal, non WOT driving, gravity will overcome that and you won't notice it.

On the dyno, my car starts sucking oil through around 6k rpm all the way to 7k. not much, but w/o the separator, you can see some blue smoke when hitting the higher rpms and letting off... as soon as I put that thing on there, the blue smoke was gone. And it will get a visible amount during a dyno session of 3-20 pulls (depends how many it takes lol), or a trip to the track. more than enough to wish it would have been the first mod I did, and kept the intake/valves/etc clean...

[Stewart_H]

Crud, I was gettin' all ready to post this smiley up...

But then at the very end, you hadda post this...

Originally Posted by FTE Ken

I plan to put up an article with a full parts list, photos and install instructions in a couple of weeks.

Give us a teaser, Ken. Just post up a couple pictures of the finished product and how it looks mounted!

Stewart