You definitely want to re-located the crankcase breather and get it far away from the front of the engine. How many miles on your truck? Have you removed the radiator yet for external cleaning on the front side which collects oil soaked debris that is caused by the oily mist coming from the crankcase vent?
I have tried several re-configurations of the crankcase ventilation system. My most recent one I believe will work well. I copied the idea from someone else and did some slight modifications.
I used three pieces of one-inch PVC pipe, one 90 degreed fitting, and one 45 degree fitting.. I ran the first pipe right along the driver's side of the valve cover for the full length of the valve cover. Standing at the front of the vehicle and facing the engine, I added a 90 degree fitting with a second short pipe to the end of the first pipe and pointed the second pipe downward at an angle (4:30 o'clock position). I then added a 45 degree fitting and a third pipe to the end of the second pipe and pointed it straight down. The bottom of the last pipe is just above the front drive shaft front u-joint. At this point I have only friction fitted the parts together and used a cable tie to secure it to the bell housing by means of an added bolted on bracket. I cut the crankcase ventilation hose to the proper length and pushed it inside of the first pipe - just a friction fit.
I purposely did not glue anything because I wanted to see if it will work. I have accrued 2,500 miles (50% towing) since the installment and so far it is working well and the parts are holding together well, too.
I had a big oily mess on the left side of the engine on my truck at 200,000 miles, similar to what you described. But, I found that the crankcase breather was only a small part of that oily mess. The majority of the mess was caused by a leaking shaft seal on the vacuum pump and an oil leak where the vacuum pump mounts to the timing cover.
Of more concern with the crankcase breather location is that the radiator fan re-directs the oily mist to the area between the charge air cooler and the front of the radiator (a difficult place to inspect). This oily mist attaches dust and other airborne debris to the fins on the radiator. Eventually the reduced air flow will cause overheating.
Something else to keep in mind - if you have vacuum leaks, then the vacuum pump will pump a flow of air into the crankcase that is equal to the sum of all of the vacuum leaks. That flow of air will be added to the normal engine blow-by flow and the combined flow will exit out the crankcase breather. You must check all vacuum circuits for leaks and repair as necessary.
I will try to send some pictures of the re-located crankcase plumbing tomorrow.
- John
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