2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission crank case vent =no more drips ever!

[CumminsPower98]

I couldn't agree more. Why didn't they build a good filter system right into the tappet cover for crying out loud?

I don't about the rest of you guys, but the whole crankcase vent thing ticks me off.



ALLOT



Why didn't the engine just come with one of these things in the first place.



What do the 3rd gens use?



Jim

 

[rotohead]

I don't about the rest of you guys, but the whole crankcase vent thing ticks me off.



ALLOT



Why didn't the engine just come with one of these things in the first place.



What do the 3rd gens use?



Jim

I couldn't agree more also but the question is where do you go from stock if you want to eliminate the mess, and for some people the hazard oil on a garage floor presents. I'm in a wheelchair or walking with a cane and leg braces and tired of going down b/c I stepped in a slick or tracking oil into the house with the wheelchair wheels. Just running a heater hose further to the rear doesn't address all the drawbacks. Eric has a good cheap fix but I went with this kit, willing to pay somewhat of a premium for a good product and I think it is... if I could only get the plug out (and the hard line in place which I haven't dealt with that problem yet)!! Having a auto trans doesn't help either b/c cooler lines run along the oil pan restricting room even more. Now I think dropping the pan is going to be the only way to pop the plug out the top from the bottom and assure no crap gets into the oil system (anybody dropped the pan and what do I need to anticipate?). I got this kit for $295 from Cummins Reno but they told me it was retail at over $500!!!!!! Unreal...

 

[NoSeeUm]

Yeah... .



I am certainly not disaggreeing with any one fixing this problem. I just order a Jaz vented bottle myself. Up to now I simply had a hose running down below the radiator. My truck only drips occasionally, but the underside is getting a good layer of rust preventative that I dislike.



Jim

 

[moparguy]

I think the real value of this kit is for trucks that have excess blow-by due to ring wear. If you're loosing a quart of oil in a few hundred miles, then the Enviroguard could be great. Oil consumption and traffic light smoke from under the truck would go way down.



If it's just a few drops of oil on the driveway, whynot just use the bottle or a old sock or two.



On condensation freezing, how would insulation the hose work. Some armorflex or comp insulation?



RJR

 

[Tomscreek]

Holy cow, $250. ??? I have 90,000 miles on my truck and I've never even looked at the bottle and it's never dripped a drop either.

 

[CRohwedder]

Would there be anything wrong with hanging a bottle from the hose to catch the blow by? I am not worried about my 06 but what do you think of doin this to my 12v? Thanks

 

[Thomas]

Would there be anything wrong with hanging a bottle from the hose to catch the blow by? I am not worried about my 06 but what do you think of doin this to my 12v? Thanks

Shouldn't be a problem.

Actually the bottle doesn't catch the blowby. The blowby will continue to coat the underside of your truck. What the bottle does is catch the oil and aerosol particles that have coalesced on the inside of the vent hose that typically drip after the engine is shut off.

 

[rotohead]

FYI, my 98. 5 doesn't have the vent bottle on the front cover but is vented from the rear side of the case. I first looked into getting the bottle setup but Cummins Reno told me they don't carry that anymore and if they did it probably would've cost about as much as the EnviroGuard setup. Had a friend of mine look at a couple junk yards but most bottle setups are destroyed in accidents due to their location up front. I put a little bottle on my stock vent tube but b/c of it's location it doesn't work very effectively. I change my oil every 6K and add about a half quart during that time on a 110k mile truck so not much gets to the garage floor but enough to make me crave a clean floor.

 

[NoSeeUm]

I went with the Jaz -12AN quart size. I hope it works.



Jim

 

[MVieira]

A trick that worked for me to get the little hat plug/soft plug out, was to take an 8mm bottom tap and cut some light threads in the plug and then take an 8mm bolt about 1. 5" long and thread it down into the plug. I then took a long 18" chisel and caught the head of the bolt from under the truck and hammered upwards with a 3 lb. hammer. The chisel put a slight side load on the bolt which caused it to bind in the hat plug and it came out easily at that point. The hat plug was loc-tited with red loc-tite and I tried to get under the flange of the plug with a cape chisel first, but all I did was peal the soft metal of the plug and wasn't even close to pulling it out, the bolt thing worked great for me. I've had the Enviroguard on for several years and it has worked great.

Regards, Mike.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Shouldn't be a problem.



Actually the bottle doesn't catch the blowby. The blowby will continue to coat the underside of your truck. What the bottle does is catch the oil and aerosol particles that have coalesced on the inside of the vent hose that typically drip after the engine is shut off.

UNLESS you do something like THIS:



#ad




Drill more holes in the bottle for improved venting, then use an old sock to catch/absorb the vapors, and just change it when you change oil and are under the truck anyway...

 

[rotohead]

The good and the bad...

I got the plug out and the hard line in but it didn't go the normal way. This plug didn't have any flange coming over the top of the hole and was fairly deep set in the hole. Got a good look down there with a good magnified mirror setup from below and there was no sign of any loctite material around the rim of the plug so I tried many different taps, bolts, etc trying to get purchase into the sidewalls of the plug and after many attempts doing it somewhat gently just getting a size right I started putting some force into it... all of a sudden pop out it came... down into the oil pan!! All the pics on the installation instructions sheet and the shop manual showed a graphic of the plug that made it look like it was tapered to not make it possible to go down but it did, surprisingly easy... not that much pressure. The now cleared hole looked very clean... no sign of any loctite anywhere. I was happy and nervous all at the same time for obvious reasons. I was close to needing an oil change so I immediately drained the oil (within two minutes) and filtered it as it came out with panty hose material. Didn't see anything unusual but no plug either or any sign of loctite material of an size. I took my rubber mallet and taped on the bottom of the oil pan from front to rear and stuck my finger up in the pan hole but no joy. Tomorrow I'm going to cut a big magnet off an old speaker I have and run that down the pan. Does anyone else have any suggestions for me? I'm really not that nervous about the plug b/c I think it's big enough to not get sucked up in the pickup tube (partial blockage maybe). I have the feeling that there wasn't much loctite material used but there could have been enough to cause problems. I'm also thinking of running this new oil just a couple hundred miles and sacrificing it and changing again just for precaustionary measures). Other than dropping the pan (which I definitely DO NOT want to do), are there any other suggestions from anyone? What about buying some sort of engine 'flush' solution and dump that in and drain immediately? I have no idea. Does that plug have any chance of getting up to the pickup tube and causing problems? Please help me ease my mind... I know for some time I will have one eye on the road and the other on my oil pressure gauge.

Chuck

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Make a "wand" out of baling wire with a loop or "L" on the end, and work it around the pan - might be able to work it out the drain plug hole...

 

[rotohead]

Make a "wand" out of baling wire with a loop or "L" on the end, and work it around the pan - might be able to work it out the drain plug hole...

thanks Gary I'll try that again but I did that with hanger wire and the way the oil pan is stepped up below the plug hole to a shallower depth makes it much harder... plus a couple times I felt like I was getting the wire stuck up into the crank, etc and had to pull more than I wanted to to free the wire... made me real uncomfortable about doing unseen damage to components. I will try to use some lighter weight safety wire and see if I can fish it up to that shallower portion of the oil pan above the crossmember. I've never seen the pickup tube end to know wheter there is a screen of a sufficient size to keep pea sized metal chunks from getting up in the oil system or block oil flow. I'm probably over reacting but before I poor new oil in I want to do everything now to see if I can fish this thing out.

I appreciate all suggestions. Thanks to all.

Chuck

P. S. Is'nt there some sort of crankcase flush solution that could be dumped into the engine in a hurry to maybe float it down to the drain plug without causing damage to the engine after I refill it with regular oil? I'd buy a ton of that and dump it in there as fast as it could drain... there is a lip on the inter side of the oil drain hole that would prevent any object from just flowing out with the oil. It would end up stopping around the raised edge but you could feel it with your finger inside around the rim. Sorry for the bloviation but I want to do all I can to get this right now. Thanks again for any and all help. I'm going to try to go to bed now.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I wouldn't worry too much about it if you can't get it out - it will most likely slide harmlessly around on the bottom of the pan and not create problems - may come out in a future oil drain. It certainly can't get past the oil pump pickup screen - maybe keep trying the wire bit in future drains if you can't get it this time, it may work it's way to a spot where you can get at it later. If you install a drain plug with a magnet in it, good chance it will eventually grab it...

 

[MVieira]

Rotohead, I agree with Gary and just keep watching for it in your oil changes. The oil pick-up has a screen in it and it won't pass thru it. If it was dropped from above and stuck near the cam or followers I'd worry alittle more. I've worked as a mechanic for 14 years for the CAT heavy equip. dealer here and there has been countless times I have pulled an oil pan and found loose bolts, small tools, washes, cotter pins, and many other things in the bottom of the pan from a previous, loose fingered, mechanic. I tried a magnet on several small freeze plugs I had in the garage and none of them were magnetic. But you might try one of the HD magnetic drain plugs from Geno's, there may be enough ferris material in it to get picked up. I liked the idea of working a small curved piece of wire to pull the plug into the drain plug hole when you drop the oil. I've never seen any kind of flush except trying to poor in a bunch of a lighter grade of cheap engine oil thru it. I still think you will be better served waiting for it to work into your oil drain. I know it is probably bugging you but you shouldn't loose sleep over it. Sorry my tip for the bolt thing to get the plug out didn't work for you. My truck and my friends truck were both 2002's and they both had a top hat shaped freeze plug in the front oil pan dipstick hole. The hole was also stepped and had red loctite on the freeze plug. The 8mm bolt grabbed them perfectly and when you drove the bolt up from the bottom, with a chisel on one side of the head, the plug came out stuck on the bolt. I guess different year models or places the engines were built they used different plugs. Sorry if my idea got you in trouble it wasn't my intent and I was hopping to save you some time.

Regards, Mike.

 

[rotohead]

Thanks Mike and Gary... I tried fishing safety wire up there for quite awhile this a. m. but no luck. I went ahead and filled it with oil... not going to loose any more sleep over this one. I appreciate your guys tips and advice.

Chuck