Oil Breather Cleaning?

[mmranch]

I've got a CAT 3024CT engine in my tractor with approx 2400hrs on it. I've never done anything with the oil breather system.

Does it need to be cleaned periodically? The breather... the hose... both?

The hose that comes off the oil breather on the top of the cover is pretty oily and crusty on the lower end. If I was to remove the oil breather on the cover, it has a gasket(s). Will this gasket come off in one piece and be re-usable?

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[Stimw]

A place that I used to work had an old POS forklift that we were not allowed to use because it smoked and leaked bad.
It would have made my job easier if it worked.
One day when no one was looking I cleaned the stopped up crankcase breather (washed it out with mineral spirits) and like magic it stopped leaking AND smoking!
So I started using it again.
A couple weeks later the owner sold it because it was running so good.

 

[mmranch]

Thanks for this info! I think I need to clean my breather as it's never been done.

The breather is a box-like shape sitting atop the valve cover with the hose coming off it. There are 4 screws that hold the box to the top of the valve cover.

What I'm a little unsure about is... if I unscrew the screws and go to remove the box, I don't want some part inside the valve cover to fall down inside. Any idea if it's safe to unscrew these screws to clean the breather or does the entire valve cover have to be removed. I currently don't have any gaskets so I'm hoping to re-use whatever gaskets are there.

Thanks again.

 

[Stimw]

I would google search for a blow up pic of parts.

 

[MHarryE]

If I remember right your engine has a plastic cover with either self threading screws or molded in metal inserts. You are supposed to be able to remove it without removing the cover.

 

[mmranch]

Thanks for the tips, I have found an exploded view that shows the parts.

Now I'm just looking for the info for the gaskets of the oil breather should I need one. Don't want to buy an entire engine gasket set just to get the oil breather gasket.

Thanks again.

 

[mmranch]

Just an update on this.

I cleaned off the top of the valve cover and then removed the 4 screws that hold the oil breather in place. I removed the top of the breather, diaphragm and spring. (I could have removed the whole breather at this point but it was stuck in place and would have trashed the gasket if I had pried it off... so I left it in place). The inside of the breather was basically spotlessly clean. I blew compressed air through the breather hose and it was clean too. Re-assembled everything and called it good.

Thanks again.