Crankcase Breather Cleaning - T1N Sprinter (2004-2006)

[@brittandthatsall]

PJ1 Super Cleaner. 1,1,1 trichlorethane, has so many open molecular bonds it takes the crud in the filter away. Only thing I use for final prep for head gaskets, it does what brake cleaner cannot- which is pretty caustic and designed to loosen the binding molecules from brake pads, which is what accumulates the "brake dust". PJ1 was a military subcontractor and developed many specialty products, some of which became available on the open market. They make a great Header Kote, as well. Thanks for the videos you do, you help so many people I just wanted to help too! Super Cleaner will make those filters ready again without risk of damage

[@batteryeveryday6248]

this is exactly the video I needed. my t1n 118 has been leaking ever since I bought the van 3 years ago.

[@busterevergreen9673]

Just got an 06 runs like new with 372,000 miles on it and I willing to bet this hasn’t been done. But, it has a new turbo exhaust and E.G.R zero leaks gonna go over it fully. Thanks Bud

[@petervanmeurs5788]

You are my sole source indicating motor oil can gush out the dipstick riser. Everybody else would say catastrophic piston or ring loss. My ‘05 gushed a lot of oil after climbing a rise on the highway and I’m hoping a clogged breather valve on turbo intake is why! I’ll post again once I know … and send a tip if you are correct!

[@FloridaVanMan]

I can confirm, a clogged breather can and will cause Texas style oil gushes erupting from the dipstick holder. This would be cause by a fairly sudden clogging of the breather so we want to look at what caused that. Was the oil overfilled, saturating the crankcase breather filter? Was the breather filter replaced with cheap replacement? Here is a test* to try. With the engine running, turn the oil fill cap loose and see the Cap-dance. We have a video showing what a cap dance should look like. If the van starts gushing oil immediately when started, your problem is bigger than a clogged filter. If the van runs fine and takes a few minutes or a few miles to start gushing oil, that will be pressure building in the crankcase until it pushes out the dipstick.

[@vanlifebiker]

Awesome I see a bit of oil coming from that area & it wasn't there before I changed my oil. In all my years of driving diesels ususually full is to full & it blows off & finds its happy spot on the dipstick & stays. My guess is the blow off fills this filter so slightly lower than full is better than full spot on dipstick or your particular happy spot. Thanks for the video & keep them a comin. 😎👍

[@steviesb7480]

I did the same thing on my Vito om646, except I removed the filter, ran it for a few years. Purchased a new pcv unit eventually, it came with a funnel setup rather than the filter..... Now have catch can and egr delete to keep manifold clean.

[@AncapistanVan]

Thank you, Florida Van Man

[@mikejohnson7768]

Hey Bill I have an 03 sprinter with a top end that's making a clack, clack, noise. I've removed serp belt and noise is still there which confirms the noise is coming from inside the engine. I put a piece of hose to my ear and it seems to be coming from the area of the hp/ lp fuel pumps. The motor has 5 new injectors and a rebuilt high pressure pump ( thanks to your video!) The motor runs but it is a bit rough. I did take it briefly for a drive around my apartment complex, it seems (compared to my 05) a little slow on pickup. The sound is about 3 clacks a second and increases with rpm. I did notice air bubbles in my fuel lines and I recently read about injector clack from fuel in the fuel lines.I searched on KZbin for air in lines/ injector clack and the noise is very similar to what they are showing. Prior to me discovering the clack phenomenon online I made a decision to remove the cam cover as well as the 2 fuel pumps and vacuum pump to inspect for damage. The only thing I saw were a few nicks in the HP fuel pump hole at the aluminum area around where the keyway slots into the drive. All teeth on the sprockets are good,no sign of wear and turned crank clock wise to check timing marks were lined up on top sprocket and cam bearing caps as well as right cam gear alignment hole. Any help would be appreciated. I have pics and video .

[@FloridaVanMan]

My first thought was injector clack, just before you mentioned it. Testing the injectors is cheap but a fair bit of work to take them all out and clean up for putting them back. William's Diesel is where I send them for testing. Ocaladiesel.com

[@gabemartino5634]

You probably already know but Europarts SD (San Diego) has quality parts for a lot cheaper than the dealer.

[@FloridaVanMan]

It pays to shop around. There are some parts we find for less at the dealership, as surprising as that is. But when the dealer is higher price, it is often a LOT higher! We buy trusted* parts from Euro-SD and MillionMileSprinter.

[@grantdubridge7995]

Every time I look at your channel you explain what just happened to my T1N. Where did all this oil come shooting from? Oh, now I know.

[@FloridaVanMan]

You make an Excellent argument for joining our Patreon! Get the videos weeks early so you know what is ABOUT to happen to your van. LOL I wish life worked this way.

[@Steve-yu6pq]

Just to clarify…. Sounds like the best approach would be to go straight to using brake cleaner instead of diesel fuel to clean the breather, right?

[@FloridaVanMan]

No, diesel did the heavy lifting of removing oil. Skip the acetone and use brake cleaner to wash out the diesel.

[@TaylorThoughts]

Landing was great

[@Luke-nj4bj]

Great vid! Just did this service on my van. I used simple green to clean the filter (which worked, but took forever) instead of brake cleaner, cause I was worried it would harm the plastic. I really wish they would just sell the oem filter and gasket, rather than the whole unit.

[@jayjaynella4539]

MB is an "environmentally sustainable" company. Why sell just the parts you need when you can sell a whole unit at a vastly inflated price?

[@myszek2008]

hello great videos. is the cleaning procedure work for you? no more problems or leaking oil? thx

[@FloridaVanMan]

It helped relieve block pressure and the expectation is less oil in the turbo charge pipes over time. I won't say it helped with oil leaks, specifically, other than the breather gasket which was definitely seeping oil before the cleaning. But I also added gasket sealer to that gasket to stop the seeping.

[@robertnisbet5590]

Hi from Scotland. Another great video. My van doesn't have that filter or housing. All it has is the wee round crank case breather that then connects via a hose into the intercooler. Is it possible to fit a oil catch can to deal with the oil vapours.😆

[@michaelcarman4875]

what to do on 2003 thanks for suggestions. i understand a big help on oil useage.

[@FloridaVanMan]

The replacement part is a reasonable $90 for your van. www.millionmilesprinter.com/product-page/oil-seperator The ones I show how to clean are $700 for new parts. There are cheap ones available but they clog quickly and cause an oil fountain under the hood when that happens.

[@jeffmaxwell7041]

Great video! Are replacement filters and o rings available ?

[@FloridaVanMan]

I've seen some posts from folks who found them but I can't remember where they got them and I looked hard a few weeks ago.

[@dlogox2746]

did this procedure. It was not the answer to the leak.. it looks like the leak is actually the head gasket, which is the gasket that runs along the ledge that you were talking about where the oil seems to be travelling. I have rigged up some thin aluminum sheet wired up under the resonator to just redirect the drips away from the alternator. not going to be messing with the head gasket.

[@FloridaVanMan]

If you are leaking oil it is not coming from the head gasket. Our head gasket holds massive pressure from the combustion chamber and if it leaks, that is what leaks out* of its chamber and into another. It can leak combustion pressure into the crankcase but 99% of the time our engines leak combustion gas into the water chamber. The very hot gas flash boils the coolant it touches and causes high pressure in the radiator expelling fluid from the overflow.

[@dlogox2746]

Should have called it the valve cover not the head gasket.

[@FloridaVanMan]

@@dlogox2746 That'll leak and bummer to repair. All the injectors should* come out to service that valve cover gasket. I have a theory about lifting the cover enough to replace the gasket after removing all the hold-down bolts but NOT the injectors. I've not tried this and only think I about it when I cannot sleep.

[@dlogox2746]

@@FloridaVanMan yes, a possible gasket fix would be to loosen the valve cover enough to either make a cut in the gasket, and remove.. and then make the same cut in the new gasket and slide it in and silicon the cut , .. or leave the original gasket, dry the contact area, and squish in silicone along the gasket, set the valve cover in place, but let the silicone set up before tightening the bolts...I might try it when I get back from my cross continent "looks like some guy living in a van" tour.

[@joelflora2252]

Anyone have good things to say about the bapmic aftermarket part from EUROPARTS? I’m installing that today, heard older version had the wrong filter resistance but they fixed the issue

[@bryangannon7868]

Maybe seafoam as cleaner since it is safe if contaminated into crankcase

[@smcsumo]

Great job! On the OM 612 that has only the rubber membrane and spring,is there no dissasamble and cleaning to do? Or should it be changed after a certain interval? Thanks

[@FloridaVanMan]

I have not read of anyone replacing or needing to replace that on an OM612. I don't know what is different about them. maybe I'll open one up one day.

[@GlassRestoration]

Why would such a simple part cost that much? Thanks for the video.

[@Simonofcalifornia]

Welcome to the sprinter community

[@wanderingzythophile9083]

So there's no finding *just* the filter that goes inside, without buying the whole thing?

[@FloridaVanMan]

If you can find it please let us know where. I have not found it though we have found cheap imitation filter assemblies that clog quickly & completely, causing bigger leaks and other issues.

[@acemobile9806]

Go figure, my 612 actually has 1 over on you 647 guys. That's not something I have to deal with. Interesting nonetheless. That coalescing material almost looks like it could be duplicated with steel wool 🤔 Your neighbor is cool as hell, you must have a body of water close by. We've had some bigger than that come across the street from the artificial pond that was dug out decades ago for fill dirt & drainage. I've put little cages over some of the shallow holes they've dug for their eggs to help keep the birds at bay (as instructed by FWC)

[@mikejohnson7768]

Good morning sir I'm going to have an 05 power plant swap from a rusted out 144 work van to a practically rust free high top 170. The bigun has bad blowby on cylinder 1, which parts would you recommend salvaging off the the rust bucket and the 170 motor before my mechanic has the 144 towed ( keeping in mind that I don't have storage space for large units like transmissions etc. I'm an older guy hoping to go full-time van life in about a year.thank you.

[@FloridaVanMan]

Where are you? I'm not aware of an 05 144 or 170 anywhere. Those wheel base sizes were not available here until 2007. If you are talking about 2005 American import vans they will be 140 & 158 wheel base. I don't think there is a clear answer for this regardless of year and size. Every part kept is a compromise of space and assurance you'll never need it. Murphy's Law prevails and you will only need the parts you don't keep. Still, it would be a shame to see good accessory items get crushed so I would keep alternator, turbo, fuel pump and probably injectors.

[@mikejohnson7768]

@@FloridaVanMan Sorry, 158, thanks man I will do that!

[@alaingillot4718]

Using gasoline to clean , or petroleum based solvent , like safety clean ????

[@FloridaVanMan]

Diesel fuel then brake cleaner to remove the oily fuel and evaporate quickly.

[@mannyst1nvan]

It's crazy that you can't find that stupid filter. There has to be someone in Germany or Poland that can figure out the source.

[@whochecksthis]

What is the point in using a torque wrench if you are going to keep turning after it clicks?

[@FloridaVanMan]

Not sure why you are asking. When the wrench clicks I move on to the next bolt. When they were all in I pulled the wrench on each one to make sure I didn't miss one but that didn't turn the bolts again, just tensioned the wrench enough to click it. Torque wrenches aren't precise and can often vary by more than 6%. They are good "estimators".

[@whochecksthis]

@@FloridaVanMan I was taught the click is where you stop turning, but in your video you keep turning after the click on nearly every bolt. Your partner does the same thing.

[@FloridaVanMan]

@@whochecksthis I think you are seeing the release of the wrench. When it clicks the handle moves without the socket for about 10 degrees with almost no resistance. That does build a bit of momentum that puts a final push on the bolt, even when I'm being gentle.

[@ahatton8553]

I see oil on my crankcase breather cap and around. Is that likely the same issue as this, or something else?

[@FloridaVanMan]

yes

[@joelflora2252]

What are the torque specifications?

[@FloridaVanMan]

11 N·m (97 in.lbs.)

[@boppin_bennie]

MB should be ashamed charging that kind of money ! PS you were in a big hurry in the mid section cleaning the inside of the plastic housing, I had a hard time understand what you were saying ...😉

[@corkydavis5688]

Thank you so much for this & all your videos. Gives me confidence to tackle these jobs.😊

[@kennethoros4043]

I wonder if you could buy the aftermarket version and use the filter only and place it in the oem part. Also have you had any trouble loading the Facebook group , it seem like I have been ban. Not sure why.

[@FloridaVanMan]

The aftermarket filters might clog quickly. Looks like an admin blocked you Friday. I got blocked from the admin group so I can't even ask* why you got blocked.

[@kennethoros4043]

@@FloridaVanMan thanks you

[@FloridaVanMan]

You should be unblocked now. Look for a message from me in FB.

[@MatthewBlaine]

Did I just waste money buy buying mms new breather?

[@FloridaVanMan]

No, this cleaning is far from perfect. A new breather is a much better but when we made this video new breathers were over $700. There are less expensive options that came available days after this video released. Cleaning is still a good option, but new part from a trusted source is the best option. New parts from Wish dot bomb might be the worst option. lol

[@monsieurbojangles2336]

Could this possibly cause the 2359-1 charge pressure faulty / too low error on a 2006? I was going to start looking at the turbo resonator but discovered a lot of oil higher and around the areas you pointed out.

[@FloridaVanMan]

No, that code is for the boost system and more likely the resonator. If yo have a black plastic resonator I suggest replacing with the aluminum one. We have a link for it on our products page. floridavanman.com/links

[@monsieurbojangles2336]

@@FloridaVanMan Thank you sir. I did buy that on your recommendation but the oil up top threw me off. I’ll put it on and see if it takes care of the boost.