posibilities of modifying walker airseps

[MarioG]

I friend of mine just bought a nice 46'C. engines are 8V92's. engines have walker airseps. Looking over the engines we noticed the intercoolers were seeping oil. We removed the hose coming out of the turbo and noticed the intercooler is fairly black with oil residue. We removed the airfilter which were black with soot/ oil vapor and noticed the turbo inlet is also black with oil residue. Clearly the turbos are pulling the oil vapor from the airsep pluming across the turbo and into the intercooler as I assume is supposed to happen with this airsep system. My question is that for sake of turbo/ intercooler life and cleanliness can the airsep hose entering the turbo air filter housing be rerouted to a "crap can"? On my boat with 871tis, I have the simple "can" style air filters with engine venting routed to a crap can. my engine rooms and engines are fairly clean. I figured he could to something similar? what am I missing?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I had the original can air filters and when I removed them I noticed oil residue on the turbo blades. I replaced the filters with K&N's and installed the Racor CCV's. That has stopped the oil vapor problem. Take a look at your turbos. They may have oil residue as well even though you don't see any other symtoms. I think the CCV is the way to go.

 

[REBrueckner]

You should search for prior discussions here on Walker Air Seps..the consensus is that they are more trouble than they are worth...several participants have removed them and replaced with RACOR CCV's. RACOR CCV's in the posts I have seen get all positive marks. I installed my own on 8V71TI's, posted about it, and was happy with them. Much less expensive than Walkers as well..

 

[REBrueckner]

I also should have mentioned: You can use the walker air filters, the one's you have, and just add RACOR CCV cannisters at modest cost per engine..maybe $400 each...just a guess but the cannisters and hoses without four air filters are NOT prohibitively expnsive.
You can see RACOR components at Mid Atlantic Supply, online, MAESCO.

 

[Brian Degulis]

I friend of mine just bought a nice 46'C. engines are 8V92's. engines have walker airseps. Looking over the engines we noticed the intercoolers were seeping oil. We removed the hose coming out of the turbo and noticed the intercooler is fairly black with oil residue. We removed the airfilter which were black with soot/ oil vapor and noticed the turbo inlet is also black with oil residue. Clearly the turbos are pulling the oil vapor from the airsep pluming across the turbo and into the intercooler as I assume is supposed to happen with this airsep system. My question is that for sake of turbo/ intercooler life and cleanliness can the airsep hose entering the turbo air filter housing be rerouted to a "crap can"? On my boat with 871tis, I have the simple "can" style air filters with engine venting routed to a crap can. my engine rooms and engines are fairly clean. I figured he could to something similar? what am I missing?

That's not supposed to happen. The purpose of the airsep is to seperate the oil out so it doesn't get sucked into the turbos. Routing them into a crap can is not going to work because they require an air stream to work. So either fix the problem or eliminate the system completly and go back to the original DD set up. I know these thing are popular but I've never seen the point to them. A healthy DD in a well ventilated engine space should not require them.

Brian

 

[captddis]

Most of the time the Airsep problems are related to a poor installation. The drains have to be routed so they do not hold oil and the valves have to be oriented near verticle with enough distance below the filter. Likewise the inlet hoses can't be allowed to hold oil.

 

[Passages]

AirSeps are supposed to reduce engine/ER oil contamination by creating a slight vaccuum in the crankcase. Sounds good in theory but in practical use it does not always work. If the rings are getting loose, crankcase overpressure may exceed the Airsep vaccuum defeating the concept. Further, oily crankcase vapours are introduced between the air filter and the primary turbo blades without benefit of coalesing. Over time, oil will redeposit along the entire air intake path affecting functionality of the turbo and the intercooler.

Cleaning turbo blades in-place is not fun. I first tried this with the engine running and spraying Dawn cleanser on the blade. (Nearly lost my hand in the process as I underestimated the air draw leading into those intakes) Then tried Q=tips and brake cleaner. (With engine off - Duh -Got a good buzz followed by a bad headache)

Anyway, I recommend the following activities:

1) Purchase the Raccor Canisters to drop out oil leading to the Air Seps.
2) Clean the turbo internals & intake passages as best you can
3) Remove the intercoolers and clean air side with brake cleaner (do this outside) and clean the water side with 25% muratic acid. (phosphoric or oxalic acid work too)

 

[REBrueckner]

Brake cleaner fumes are BAD<BAD<BAD....headaches,etc as noted. But the brands that do not require a water rinse are outstanding for a fast removal of engine oil prior to spray painting....open all windows, use a fan or two to bring in fresh air and exhaust fumes promptly as possible.....