I should be so lucky. My boot is somewhere around I90. By the time I slowed down, I didn't see it and had to limp to a truck repair shop with night service on a Weekend night towing an RV.

IDK. I know that the heater hose wasn't as rigid as it was. Kinda mushy. Does that affect the boots that way? IDK.

 

The composition of the CAC boots is entirely different from the heater hose. The CAC boots handle the CCV vapors and oil just fine. Even the 350k+ mile boots in my 1st 7.3 were in surprisingly good shape.

 

^^^^This^^^^
Soot goes through the intake side! What more proof do people need? It will then stick to the intake valves and wherever else it can. May not be as bad as other motors but still its preventable so why not do it? this is exactly why people should fit a catch can.
but dont be lazy and do it right. Fit a good catch can , not some eBay piece of crap. Venting to atmosphere is lazy.

Soot gets into oil sitting in your sump doesnt it? Its a byproduct of the combustion process. So oil goes up the CCV , what's in the oil? Soot! Pretty easy to work out
You ask about how do we know if its in any significant concentration? Ummm check the photos above.
btw if it wasnt in significant amounts why do we need to change oil?

 

Yes.
Yes.
Oil vapor not oil the liquid which traps the soot. So what you are saying is the vapor (a gas), carries soot (diesel particulate matter)?
I did. I don't see a number that tells me how much other than the presence of something dark.
Because the additives that the base oil stock has deteriorates? Regardless, it doesn't explain how the soot suspended in the oil became carried by the vapor which is a gas.

DPM: DPM is a component of diesel exhaust (DE) that includes soot particles madeup primarily of carbon, ash, metallic abrasion particles, sulfates and silicates. How did those items, which I agree could hurt the engine's lifespan, get into a gaseous form?

 

Think of it this way. The soot is in the oil , the vapour shouldnt really be called that . It is more of an aerosol of sort. By definition a vapor is different from an aerosol. An aerosol is a suspension of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or both within a gas.​​​​​​
It can and will carry the soot wherever it goes no matter what cos it is in the oil.

Now as for oil changes. The oil gets contaminated with all sorts of crap. Be it from fuel , soot, metals or anything else we have going on in the motor. That is why we change oil. The additives are mostly still there but the contaminants go up. Again its part of the combustion process as well as wear and tear on the motor itself. The best way to get rid of them is to change the oil.
Ever got your oil tested by Blackstone labs ? Have a look at their recommendationsthey write back and what they look for. You will see that the additives dont break down nearly as fast as you think.
The additives and base oils should outlast the life of the oil change by a lot. If they dont , it shouldn't be used. Its that simple..

 

After seeing Y2kW57's CCV filter and this info.
Would a bypass oil filter be secret to a engine lasting much much longer.
I wonder if Y2KW57 has a bypass filter too?

Thanks for the info.
Bob

 

What model Racor unit do you use & how long has it been on you engine?

 

Great discussion!!!

After tearing down lots of 7.3’s after the end of their lives, I have only RARELY seen engines with a coking/carbon build up on valves - and those were exclusively engines with a lot of idle time. All stock CCV.

From a forensic perspective, I see no justification for changing CCV from stock.

Ive worked on lots of ALL STOCK trucks with 300, 400 and over 500k miles. I’m gonna need a more convincing argument that stock CCV hurts engine or component longevity.

Including a BUNCH that have been burning straight vegetable oil in a properly converted truck. The engine oil has dispersants, etc in it to deal with contamination from combustion gasses FROM DIESEL. This is why we don’t do extended oil change intervals (based on what we’ve learned from UOA’s).

 

The “soot” yall speak of is nothing compared to the soot 6.0, 6.4 and 6.7 powerstrokes deal with with egr, and they still use ccv into turbo. Now that is a dirty combination with egr

 

The TDi’s are bad too. Intake gets NASTY and it jams up the vanes in the turbo.

 

Yes I'm glad we arent dealing with EGR's . Would make things so so much worse.

I'm not saying that the CCV is really bad. No where near as bad as EGR . What I am trying to say is there is a better way to do it. CCV is no where near as bad as the newer "technology" dealing with emissions and coking up motors til they blow.
the 7.3 also has some breathing room as its not running on the cutting edge of technology either. Tolerances are no where near as close as today's motors and that also helps
.

 

Y2KW57 uses a Racor filter that looks as if it could be causing a restriction in air flow to vent the crankcase.
I wonder if anyone has seen a comparison of crankcase pressure between.
1). Stock CCV
2). Vent to atmosphere.
3). Racor or others with filtering ability.

Jason's arguments to stay stock are very convincing.

The info on the abrasive properties of the soot makes me want to investigate using a bypass oil filter system & it's possible benefit.

 

I once had a 4.9 with a stuck ring it had so much blowby the pcv couldnt keep up so i rigged the smog pump to vacuum the crankcase and it dumped into exhaust.

we are beating dead horse here.
road motors that see alot of highway will get decent vacuum from draft tube is positioned correctly. However id still lean to the intake since we dont have egr. The doghouse just has steel wool in it in an effort to catch some of the oil and return to crankcase correct?

its really splitting hairs

 

I was one of those people that blew a boot off when boosting at 35+ psi trying to get my fat *** 5th wheel up a long hill in the low country of SC when we were headed to the beach. The picture below is me on the side of I-26 eastbound attempting to get the boot to stay on...



I made the mistake of using Simple Green as a degreaser trying to get the boot to stay. I ended up taking the CAC pipe off and scratching the surface with a screwdriver in order to create enough of a friction point to get us to the next exit. I parked the trailer and we used the Subaru to run and gather some supplies in order to continue on.

Since then, I have learned a few things...

1. Brake cleaner is the only thing I will use to clean the boot and pipe before the clamp is reinstalled. I now keep a fresh bottle in the truck.
2. I bought a 1.5 ft 3/8" extension that stays in the truck for gaining access to the IC boots when the engine is hot.
3. I no longer boost that high in order to maintain speed or keep EGT's down due to a more modern and freer flowing turbo.
4. The boots will stick fine if properly installed and using the OEM routed CCV through the intake/CAC system.

So, I don't have anything to add to this great discussion other than the CCV in the OEM configuration can work very well for long term and when opening the CAC system, the boots and surfaces must be prepped properly before being put back into service.

 

I went with the draft tube when I put the new turbo on, not wanting to gunk it up. Intercooler hot side piping stays clean now but I still get a little bit of grungy buildup on the cold side boots from whatever was left in the intercooler. Not enough to bother with but it still annoys me. The draft tube does not "drip" per se, but it does get an oily buildup on the bottom 1" or so of it that easily wipes off when I'm under there changing the oil. At 200k there is not much blowby. Not any worse than it was 60k ago when I bought it. I don't usually smell it unless it catches the wind just right. It smells like new T6 for awhile (not unpleasant) after the oil is changed before getting a little nastier smelling as the oil get dirty.