7 replies to this topic

[croc7]

What is the purpose of the steel wool inside the breather canisters? What would be be the harm in removing it?

[imack]

It's an oil separator. It traps the oil mist in the air to to minimise what is going back into the intake system or to atmosphere/down the outside of the engine.
Don't remove it

[Benoit_Dupont]

Yeah, basically, it's a condenser: the oil mist cools down while passing through the wool and falls back inside the engine. Only light vapor will go up the breather.

If you remove it:
If you have just open air, You'll spray oily stuff everywhere
If you have a breather filter, it will become oily, the car will smell.
If you have the standard system in place you will burn oil through the carb and that's not good.

If you really want to remove it, look into catch cans. I've been going back ans forth on whether i Should install one instead of the wool but i can't see an advantage until now.

[nicklouse]

to add to the above.

 

the can is a rather clever design. as you will see the diameter of the can changes rather rapidly this makes the oil drop out of suspension and the wire wool gives it somewhere to collect on and then it can return to the engine and not get burnt off on the combustion chamber.

[croc7]

For some unknown reason, the flywheel canister accumulated a lot of ‘mayo’. Thought it might be due to poor air flow through the steel wool. Troubling.

[nicklouse]

For some unknown reason, the flywheel canister accumulated a lot of ‘mayo’. Thought it might be due to poor air flow through the steel wool. Troubling.

more likely engine not getting warm enough and the weather is getting colder.

[Midas Mk1]

Yeah, basically, it's a condenser: the oil mist cools down while passing through the wool and falls back inside the engine. Only light vapor will go up the breather.

If you remove it:
If you have just open air, You'll spray oily stuff everywhere
If you have a breather filter, it will become oily, the car will smell.
If you have the standard system in place you will burn oil through the carb and that's not good.

If you really want to remove it, look into catch cans. I've been going back ans forth on whether i Should install one instead of the wool but i can't see an advantage until now.

 

Catch can inline with the CCV, its what i've done, removes any oil, can has a bronze filter in, yet the vacuum helps suck out any fumes/.

[r.tec]

My first Mini, a 1968 Morris Mini 1000, did not have this. It only had a U-schaped tube coming out of one of the tappet covers facing down right into the atmosphere. Environmental consciousness was an unkown phrase then.

Edited by r.tec, 17 October 2019 - 11:55 AM.