Air/Oil Separator

[am1985uk]

Does anyone know (I mean really know) how the air/oil separator works? I read various explanations about swirl to separate the air and oil on the cyclone principle (as per Dyson vacuum cleaner). If that is so then it would have no moving parts to wear and the only problem would be build up of solid deposits. So, taking the logic one step further, you should be able to flush it out and restore it to original performance.
I've never heard of people doing this - they always seem to replace the unit. So, is there something more complex in the unit which wears out or is it just that it's such a b****r to replace that they think the cost of a brand new unit is cheap insurance against having to repeat the job?

I don't have a problem with my car, I'm just curious.

Alan

 

[Ray]

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/09-ENGINE-Air_Oil_Separator/09-ENGINE-Air_Oil_Separator.htm

Sounds like the old crank case breather to me??

Ray

 

[Ray]

Just a little Wiki piece.

Cayman is an alternative spelling of caiman, a reptile in the same family as the alligator, the car is not named after the Cayman Islands; rather the islands also derive their name from the caiman. When the first Caymans arrived at dealerships for sale, the automaker adopted four caimans at Stuttgart's Wilhelma Zoo.[5][/sup]

Porsche brought an infringement lawsuit in 2009 against Crocs, the maker of the popular rubber shoes, at issue was the footwear company's clog name also called Cayman. An injunction was granted against Crocs Europe, a division of the Longmont, Colorado-based shoe company preventing their use in Germany of the Cayman name.

Ray

 

[Motorhead]

Alan,

The Pelican Parts description says it all. I believe that it contains a diaphragm of some sort, the failure of which causes the problem, and I doubt that flushing out the device will help under those circumstances or indeed improve its performance at any stage.

It's just a relatively cheap throw-away component when it fails.

Jeff

 

[Peter_Bull]

I had an AO fail on my 996 some years ago.

Luckily it was just coming off the lift at PC Bolton when it failed and filled the whole garage with smoke! 5 minutes later and I would have been on they motorway and looking at a new engine.!

They showed me the plastic AO separator and it was clear that the flimsy rubber diaphragm had failed.

It amazed me that such a flimsy plastic item would have such a critical roil to play.

 

[AndrewT]

I had the AOS replaced on my 2.9 Cayman in an attempt to stop it's random smoke cloud on startup. The new AOS improved matters but didn't cure them. I thought I'd have a look inside the old one, it appeared not to be built for dismantling so I cut it open with a hacksaw. As was stated by another poster it contains a neoprene rubber type diaphragm which was not damaged in my case however the internals were very oily on both the crankcase and inlet manifold sides. I guess it might be possible to clean one in a solvent bath but probably not worth the effort when the new one's are under £100 (as I recall).