Now i'm sure most if not all of you are aware of the issue attaining to the N14 engine, which has the issue of excessive carbon build up on the inlet valves ? The usual method is to fit an oil catch can or use a cleaning additive such as Seafoam, BG K44 etc etc or maybe both, there has been discussions and I have mentioned this too, about the fitment of water/meth injection to help remove and control the excessive carbon build up. For a while now I have been testing another solution, and this is to completely remove the rear PCV hose, which feeds the crankcase gas oil mist residue directly into the base of the inlet manifold, which in turn is pulled up into the incoming air flow and finds itself being burnt onto the inlet valves. So the following photo's show what I have done as another alternative to combat this issue. And all is well and good.
The crankcase pressure still vents through the front forward facing PCV, which feeds direct into the air intake pre turbo.
Which then condenses inside the intercooler on it's way to the intake valves via the intake manifold..... Unless there is an effective OCC in the air path.
I must admit, this seems intriguing. Keep us updated on how the car performs over time. You are a braver soul than I.
If that is the simple fix, don't you think the engineers at BMW would have done it. Just saying, but this could lead to problems you have not thought of. Keep us posted. Jim
BMW did not do that because venting those fumes to the atmosphere is adding to air pollution. Cars are getting cleaner & cleaner for a reason & that is government regulations keep getting more stringent.
Wonder where the crank case gases are vented to now on the 2011? They sure do not vent those to the atmosphere. I think BMW does see a problem with their direct injection. Other makers are seeing similar problems with their direct injection engines.
No.... BMW would never vent the PCV gases directly to the atmosphere without first cooking off the fumes by running them through the engine followed by the catalytic converter along with all the other pollutants. With the 2011, two vents have been reduced to one. The path eliminated is the hose leading from the valve cover directly to the intake manifold. The other one remains in place and the fumes on the 2011 are drawn into the cold air side of the turbo, flowing through the inter-cooler and into the intake manifold, kissing the intake valves and into the engine. Just a longer route. Always being drawn into the engine to be "cooked" off. The problem remains, it just will take longer to show up as carbon buildup. And of course, the Dinosaur snot will cake the inside of the IC as well. Maybe the IC should be called a OCC that doesn't have a drain???
I asked the shop foreman at North West MINI about the missing PCV hose on the 2011 cars. He told me that the head is different on the 2011 engines, there are now passages in the head that run from the space under the head cover to the intake ports. He said that they changed the design because there was a problem with oil collecting in the throttle body on the engines with the PCV hose. I also asked about the BSH Oil Catch Can and dual boost port, he was concerned that it is a modification to the PCV system, which is against EPA regulations. But he also said that a number of cars have been through the shop have them and that they haven't caused any problems on the engines he has seen. Dave
Interesting...... So they eliminated the long hose going to the IM because on the N-18 it's not needed since the PCV vapors will be drawn directly into the runners over the intake valves and into the cylinder all in an effort to eliminate the oil pooling (PCV vapors) at the throttle body. So from the outside it looks like they eliminated the carbon buildup possibility (the missing hose), but in reality the issue of carbon buildup may still be there??? Hmmmmmm:confused5: So these new "Block off" caps being discussed may be a MINI retrofit solution to oil pooling at the throttle body. Since the N-14 head doesn't have these "special" oil channels in the head like the N-18, the PCV fumes will be routed through the second valve cover opening into the cold side of the turbo, if the block off caps are used w/o a OCC on the N-14 engine. Hmmmm..... N-18 owners won't be able to filter the PCV fumes with a OCC because the routing is all in the head.
From a basic physics perspective I just don't see how these so called "passages" would work or could even exist unless each passage had its own little associated PCV valve that was only open under vacuum. Under boost conditions, you would be continuously losing pressure into the crankcase and back through the valve cover vent into the turbo inlet pipe. Worse yet, under boost your turbo would be effectively pressurizing the crankcase along with the intake manifold--death to gaskets and seals. If such passages exist, there has got to be more to the story.
You must first let go and feel the Force, as only then will passages reveal themselves to you Luke. Jim