Oil coming out of valve cover fill cap

[pctghost]

I have oil coming out of the oil fill breather on the driver's side of the engine. I have done a compression test on all my cylinders and I have one that is only about 60psi and all the others are between 120-140psi. So with those numbers I know I have some blow-by. I don't have the money or time to fix this right now, but I was wondering if:
1. A breather is need on the driver's side valve cover or just a cap.
2. I was thinking of putting a catch can setup in place of the breather cap. I'm have seen these setups with a breather and without. I was wondering what the pros vs cons were to doing this.
Any help with this or any other options would appreciated.

 

[Dirtman]

60psi is a dead cylinder. Wont even fire. So either the numbers are wrong or you got bigger issues than fixing the breather system.

 

[RonD]

You need to clean and may be replace the PCV Valve and hose

The PCV Valve is connected to intake manifold, below throttle plate, so it uses engine's intake vacuum to suck Blow-by and oil vapor out of the crank case and valve cover areas of the engine

The breather hose makes sure the PCV Valve doesn't suck in too much air and allows fresh filtered air to be sucked in as needed, so breather hose should have air flowing INTO the valve cover, not air coming out

If oil vapor(and blow-by) is coming OUT the breather, that means PCV Valve may not be sucking IN enough blow-by and oil vapor
Catch can should go between PCV valve and its intake connection


When an engine gets older and rings do not seal as well then Blow-by, and the oil vapor it makes, goes up and........
Vacuum goes down
So less suction

 

[AndyB.]

I’d do a leak down test, but as mentioned you probably have big issues.

 

[MadMax_636]

Yeah, I had oil spitting out of my oil check tube after I stupidly closed off all of the ways for the internals to breathe.

Id do a leak down test if you have like a flow of oil coming out but Id get your PCV valve cleaned or replaced. Make sure you get a good sturdy hose so it doesn't collapse when its pulling. I made that mistake and it acted like it wasn't pulling a vacuum.

I think your probably got bigger issues since you've got a 60psi so your motor needs a rebuilt IMO. The all-mighty @Dirtman knows what he's talking about.

If you wanna limp it (I wouldn't) use better spark plugs and let the internals breathe freely.

If I were you. Id do a full rebuild. Since you'll be spending a lot of money upfront instead of overtime by band-aiding something that cant be fixed.

 

[franklin2]

We all can't stop and do a full engine rebuild sometimes. Life can get in the way. If your oil breather cab has a hose connection, I would put a old heater hose on it, run it down to the frame, and tie a catch can with a piece of wire down there and let the hose puke into that till you get time to fix the engine or get another engine.

If you don't have a hose connection on your oil filler, you should have a hose somewhere that was part of the crankcase breathing system. I would keep the PCV valve working as good as you can, and find this other breather port and do the catch can thing on it.

 

[MadMax_636]

We all can't stop and do a full engine rebuild sometimes. Life can get in the way. If your oil breather cab has a hose connection, I would put a old heater hose on it, run it down to the frame, and tie a catch can with a piece of wire down there and let the hose puke into that till you get time to fix the engine or get another engine.

If you don't have a hose connection on your oil filler, you should have a hose somewhere that was part of the crankcase breathing system. I would keep the PCV valve working as good as you can, and find this other breather port and do the catch can thing on it.

Yeah, what this guy said!

 

[Dirtman]

How far do you think its gonna keep going with 5 cylinders? Doesn't matter what you have time or money for, engines don't run on sheer will power...

 

[MadMax_636]

Yeah, Running a motor on 5 cylinders will cause another to fail sooner. Since that piston/cylinder is moving without spark. Causing harm to the crank and all of the other cylinders. A dumb ass woman drove her car for 4 months knowing it was failing. It was a I4 motor. You could hear it driving and it sounded more and more like a Subaru until one day it blew a hole in the block all over the road in front my house. This woman was dumb and tried to crank it back up....

The road was closed for hours for the cleanup. Oil, motor bits, coolant, the works.

Like Dirtman said, Engines don't run on sheer will power.

 

[pctghost]

I appreciate all the comments. I realize that running on 5 cylinders is not good for the engine. I was going to do a full rebuild about a year ago, but I couldn't source the internal parts that were needed. If anyone has any leads on parts for a full rebuild I would appreciate the leads. I would like to keep it as original as possible except for maybe a duraspark conversion at a later date. I also have access to a newer 4.0 out of a 1997 ranger, but it will have to be rebuilt also. Just not sure what to put the money into. It is not a daily driver just a project so having it sit while I get the funds is not a problem.

 

[AndyB.]

What parts couldn’t you find?

 

[Dirtman]

You'll need a machine shop so depends how much you wanna spend, the shop should be able to source all the parts. A used 2.8 is kinda rare and probably high miles so thats not a great option...

 

[franklin2]

I had a neighbor that had no money, and someone gave him a old Ford pickup with 300 six and a miss to it. Found out it had a hole in the block, rod had gone right through the side of it. But it was still running. He ran that thing for close to a year like that before he got another engine for it.

I had a old 305 chevy v8 that had tons of blowby. I was moving, it was in a truck, I needed the truck desperately. It wouldn't idle because of all the blowby going into the aircleaner. I did the catch can trick, and was able to run it like that till I got another engine for it later. I pulled the 305 engine down and found two of the cylinders had cracked rings. But it kept going and got me through the move and a little more after that. It was still running when I pulled it.

 

[MadMax_636]

Here is where Ill be getting my engine rebuild kit. https://www.cleggengine.com/engine-rebuild-kits/ford-v-6-171-2-8l-master-engine-rebuild-kit-1983-1986.html