Are K&N style valve cover breathers CARB Exempt?

[Taffy]

While I was checking the CARB (www.arb.ca.gov) website for legal front mount intercoolers (ATR and Kenne Bell are the only CARB legal FMICs for the 86-87 TRs BTW)(The Spearco kit for the 84-85s is also CARB legal) for the MKIV Supra, I came upon CARB EO: D-99-2 that Turbonetics was granted on 12/27/1991 (Merry Christmas I guess!). Click here and do a search for D-99-2.

Here is what it says:

Model_Specification:1986-1987 model-year Buick Regal Grand National/T-Type and the Pontiac Turbo Trans Am with 3.8L V-6 turbocharged, intercooled, and fuel injected engines.

Modification_Allowed: Relocate PCV breather connection on passenger-side valve cover to a self-contained breather assembly installed in place of the original valve cover connecting line.

So do you guys think this means that the small K&N air filter in the passenger side valve cover is legal??


__________________

 

[Ormand]

Yes??

I would certainly read that as a "yes, it's legal", and I'm surprised. The stock arrangement assures that the air going through the engine, including that through the PCV system, has been metered by the MAF. I don't know what good it does with the stock chip, since once you get to closed loop the O2 sensor will control the mixture, but still, I would have expected California to take the negative, conservative approach. I'm not sure what NC would do with that vent, I've never tried to get it through, always put it back to "stock" when I go for my emissions/inspection sticker.

 

[gofstbuick]

Originally posted by Taffy


So do you guys think this means that the small K&N air filter in the passenger side valve cover is legal??


__________________

No

 

[The Radius Kid]

Good work!I wonder why I didn't think of that.
Turbonetics stage 3-5 turbos are covered under Carb EO 99-2/3.
They don't utilize the "spigot" that the factory uses at the turbo inlet.
Therefore they require another type of inlet to the PCV breather system.
That would be the K&N style breather.
Turbonetics also supplies K&N filters in their catalogues.
Kinda hard to argue the facts as they're written in black and white by CARB themselves.
There's going to be a few guys up here that are due some fines back for removing their passenger side breathers[$375],as long as it was ONLY their passenger side breathers.

 

[Taffy]

Gofstbuick is right about the K&N Style filters on the valve cover. They are not legal because you can not vent any engine gasses to atmosphere. You still have to route them back into the engine. I have a feeling that the Turbonetics EO# has you route the valve cover gasses through a PCV valve and get the suction from the intake PCV connection. I called Turbonetics, but have not gotten a response. I will call again to clarify what their EO # means.

 

[Ormand]

??

Taffy, did you read the EO? I don't see how anybody can read that, and get any answer other than "Yes, it's legal". It does NOT say you can eliminate the PCV valve, but it DOES say you can use the "self contained breather" in place of the OEM tube. I agree that this WILL vent gassed to the outside of the engine, at least under boost, but at idle and cruise, the PCV system will "inhale" through the breather. Many of the EPA regulations don't really apply at wide open throttle.. that makes "open loop" at WOT legal, as used by most manufacturers. Maybe that was the logic here?

 

[The Radius Kid]

Exactly.I called T-Netics yesterday and talked to a tech[forget his name] about the same thing for Canada[Ont. specifically].
He wouldn't comment on the Canadian side of things,but as far as you guys go,it's "50" guys.
As far as up here,we go by EPA[according to a published article in the Toronto Star;Tues. June 17,Section B,Page 1.---Title:The costs of modifying a car;Neco Cockburn author].
If it's cool with Carb,it's cool with the EPA.
The problem is that guys have gotten tickets for those breathers up here when they were legal[pass. side only].
The trick is that it was T-Netics that certified this.
Are all the turbos T-Netics?

 

[Matt Weiser]

Seems to me the key works in that EO ruling are "self contained." What does that mean? Does it mean an open-element K&N breather, or does it mean a sealed device that traps and holds whatever comes out of that valve cover? Seems to me it's more likely to mean the latter. I have a hard time believing CARB would allow any device that vents crankcase gases to atmosphere. That's why the PCV was developed 30 years ago, right?

Did Turbonetics get approval for a specific device, and if so, what does it look like?

 

[The Radius Kid]

Re: ??

Originally posted by Ormand
I agree that this WILL vent gassed to the outside of the engine, at least under boost, but at idle and cruise, the PCV system will "inhale" through the breather. Many of the EPA regulations don't really apply at wide open throttle.. that makes "open loop" at WOT legal, as used by most manufacturers. Maybe that was the logic here?

Exactly.