Do I need a breather on my valve covers?
Yes you do need something to vent the crankcase pressure or you’ll start noticing stuff like blown out intake end seals, leaky rear main seal, dipstick blown out of the tube, etc… A hi-performance engine has more crankcase pressure so more “breather” is needed.
What is a breather on a valve cover for?
The prerequisite for proper operation of a valve cover breather is first to allow the release of internal pressure in the engine to be vented to the intake manifold. The plate is shimmed to allow pressure to escape around the plate but keeps the oil from escaping.
Do you need a PCV valve and a breather?
Whether it’s in the form of a simple breather, or a more effective PCV system, you need a way to vent blowby gases inherently generated by a running engine. It uses engine vacuum through a metered valve, the PCV valve, to draw crankcase vapors back into the intake manifold to be burned in the combustion process.
Why does oil come out of valve cover breather?
If the engine is producing blow-by gases faster than the PCV system can dispose of them, an increasing surplus becomes trapped in the crankcase, causing excess pressure and, inevitably, oil leaks. In addition, the low-level vacuum draws in fresh air to the crankcase from the crankcase breather.
Do valve covers add horsepower?
As the name implies, a valve cover is just a cover; its function is to protect the innards from the outside elements. It has no direct impact on engine performance unless the original valve cover was damaged or cracked to begin with.
Can you drive without a PCV valve?
If you need to drive a couple miles to get the parts needed then plug the vacuum side of PCV line and it may be okay to drive a short distance since running longer than this may cause the pressure to build up in the crankcase and cause oil leaks and engine will run lean or rich without a properly functioning PCV system …
Does valve cover leak affect performance?
Do valve covers matter?
When it comes to engine parts, they don’t get much more basic than the valve covers. But like anything, the more serious the engine gets, the more design changes may be needed in the valve covers. It’s hard to beat the clean, racy appearance of fabricated covers on an LS engine.