Weber progressive carb, breather hose

[Rich]

I was adding retard vacuum to my Weber manifold when I realized that the hose that goes from the crankcase breather box to the underside of the air filter assembly falls inside of the filter element. In other words, the carb seems to be sucking air directly from the crankcase w/o filtering. This can't be OK, or is it? I have three of these filters and they're all the same.

Thanks

Rich
1972 Westy

[westy73]

my weber does the same thing so i guess that it cant be all bad, or maybe it can? i dont know.

[Rich]

I am thinking of putting a small filter in line somehow, maybe right at the fitting, but I have to be careful not to restrict the crankcase ventilation.
Rich

[NeverHadaBeetle]

The hose is designed to suck crankcase oil fumes out of the crankcase and burn them along with the fuel/air mixture created by the carb. There is no need for a filter because there are no dust particles or dirt being sucked from inside the case. If you try to install some type of filter then you may restrict this air flow which means you may lose some of the negative air pressure inside the case. This would probably result in oil leaks. Good luck with your bus.
_________________
"Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus."

[bajorek]

NeverHadaBeetle-

My hose from the oil breather is not long enough to reach to underneath my air filter (Weber carb), so I bought a little filter (crank case filter) and stuck it on the end of the hose. Is this going to cause problems????
I've driven it since I've done it, and everything feels ok.

[NeverHadaBeetle]

If it does not constrict air flow then it shouldn't cause a problem. Crankcase filters usually allow for just the fumes to escape while keeping oil droplets from exiting the case and getting all over the engine. They are not designed to actually filter the air like a breather element so they are not usually very restricive. Sounds like you shouldn't have a problem. Good luck with your bus.
_________________
"Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin' trucks
An' eleven long-haired friends a' Jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus."

[nothereanymore]

So Rich...how's the Weber progressive? Yay? Nay? Your thoughts please.

[JamesT]

I noticed this too. It should be alright because the air inside the crankcase has all it's dust removed by the engine and there would be no debris. Sucking in the oil fumes may even be better for your motor, since it lubricates the carbs, valve stems (intake anyways) and the combustion chamber. This is fine.. I wanted to see how hot the fumes are when i saw this.. It turns out that they are actually cooler than the crankcase. I have no idea how this works.
-James T

[JamesT]

Bob... If you have a later van and are fed up with the carbs, the webber is probably the way to go. Or FI, but then you gotta deal with the problems of that. Definatly a yay, but i seem to get a dead spod with my vaccum advance just where the second barrel opens. Its not a problem really, but i don't drive it too hard anyways. So far i've gotten batter gas mileage and more power when i need it (passing people and such). You want my advice, go for it.
-James T

[bajorek]

I have a dead spot on mine too. Luggish at take off, but once it reaches 2000-2500 rpm- it takes right off.

[Amskeptic]

[Rich]

Bob,

I Like it...now!

I have used three different Weber/Holly progressives, nothing else for about 25,000 miles. They will cause hesitation and bogging in anything but warm weather, and even then there is some hesitation. I don't understand the physics of the phenomenon known as "icing", which apparently can happen when the air is warm outside, but it is easy to see that the fuel/air mixture has allot longer to travel to the combustion chambers than if one was using the stock carbs. I would prefer stock carbs, and I do have a good pair with good manifolds, but there is more to this setup than just the carbs (linkage, air filter, balance tubes, electronic choke stuff, cut off selenoids and more). I hope someday to assemble a suitable setup where all the parts are for my 1700cc engine, no more hybrid stuff. If I had all the right parts in working order, I would prefer stock. I gotta say, though, the stock setup is damned ugly! All those hoses, wires tubes, and that monsterous crablike air cleaner...YuK!

The reason I say "now" is that I finally put the correct dual vacuum advance distributor on the bus and hooked up both the advance and retard vacuum hoses. It became a different bus the minute I made the change from the 050 mechanical distributor I was using. (Its basically the same as the 009). It's still warm out, and alot remains to be seen when it gets cold, but there is now zero hesitation. I no longer have to "rev, clutch, rev" to get away from a red light or move up a hill, or, worse still, get away from a red light that is situated on a hill!

I still have a problem in that I hit total advance way too soon, like at 2000 rpms, but then again, I had the bright idea of slackening off the tension on the mechanical advance springs! I'll get it right soon. If anyone has one of these progressives, I would recommend the stock distributor or any of the dual vacuum advance distributors from the late bays. If you can't get one, "rev, clutch, rev" and enjoy the ride once you hit 30-40 MPH. I did! And I will again when the diaphrams go out on my advace/retard mechanism!


Regarding the breather hose, It was really a relief to get the info that there are no particles of dust to be concerned with. The only thing I would add to the discussion is that if you are venting into the engine compartment, I think your heat will have crankcase gasses in it.