So, this still confuses me. When I originally cleaned the EGR cooler and intake, there was oil in it. That makes sense. The PCV location is stupid. However, it was just oil. No water. Three weeks later, there are tablespoons of milky crap. 3 weeks. It doesn't make sense. What path, exactly, did the water follow to end up there. The engine oil is clean (no water). Even the valve ports were water free. Do I have a crack in the throttle body water passages? Do I have a crack in the EGR cooler? Please, explain to me how so much water ended up in the intake (beneath the throttle body) in JUST 3 WEEKS??? Other than cooler and throttle body, what path could have shot so much water directly into the intake? BTW, my new engine arrived today.
Whenever the EGR valve opens, there is exhaust flowing into the manifold. Exhaust features carbon dioxide and water prominently. I was able to pour some water out of my EGR pipe when I took it off. Of course up there in the EGR pipe it's pretty much clean water, freshly condensed from vapor. To make the milky crap, it has to end up down in the lower manifold and mix with the other stuff.
I've noticed that in my oil catch can, especially during the colder months, that I trap a lot more fluid and it is milkier. I've assumed that this is due to the vapors that are pulled from the crankcase being more likely to condense in the catch can and hose due to them being colder. So I wouldn't be too worried about this, especially if this is seasonal. Another source of water can be gas containing ethanol. From what I understand, ethanol tends to absorb water so it creates more water vapor in the exhaust and blow-by gasses.
You don't need to look very hard to explain water in exhaust. The whole business of running an engine is combining hydrocarbons (gasoline) with oxygen, so the H and C separate, they both combine with O, and you get CO₂ and H₂O. The engine is a water factory. Other amounts that might absorb into ethanol, etc., are icing on the cake.
I have 2 OCC in series. The first catches mostly oil, the second mostly water. I drain them both, spring and fall, in conjunction with six monthly oil changes. Fall drain I get maybe 1/4 cup from first can, hardly anything from second. Spring drain is about the same from first can, second can can have have more than first can. Again, mostly water.
What useful purpose do you feel the second one serves? As long as it doesn't get cool enough to condense, water vapor going into the manifold from normal PCV flow does no great harm that we hear about.
Mendel, did you leave the PCV in its original location? What series OCC did you use? As for the crud in my intake, I have deduced that the large amount in such a short time is likely due to the amount of coolant the car had been eating. I took a look tonight in the exhaust ports, and #1 was squeaky clean. Things really went south after cleaning the EGR circuit. It was after that where I started using a good amount of coolant. Not sure how cleaning the EGR circuit could have led to what I saw, but there was no water in the intake before the cleaning, only oil.
PCV valve left as is, PCV hose cut at middle and twin Moroso 85474 spliced in. They are pricey though. The second one I “had”, so what the heck.
