I think my oil drain back hose is causing problems.

I used the front valve cover ventilation hose for the SC oil drain back hose as suggested by Matty. I cut the hose, but the only way I could really get it to fit left the hose with 2 TIGHT 90 degree bends in it. One at the SC nipple and the other at the drain back plate nipple.

I thought that it would be fine but I was WRONG as the SC is not draining enough oil. I'm getting a slight oil leak out of the SC and build up in the outlet and inlet. I think that the oil is building up and going into areas that it is not supposed to.

The car runs perfectly fine. Idle is smooth as can be and the car pulls some serious @ss. No burning oil blue clouds out the tail pipe and the spark plugs and MAF have NOT been fouled either. Oil level has remained constant as well. So I just want to resolve this before anything worse happens.

There is the possibility that the internal seals have already been damaged in which case a $370 rebuild is needed, but I'll deal with that later if that is the case. For now I just need to get the drain line on there with out any bends.

I guess I'm wonerding how in HELL you guys got the oil return line in there with out any bends?? I looked at this long and hard before installing it, and I decided to take my chances.

 

There SHOULDNT be any bends...very specific directions from Vortech. You could have already damaged the seal since there is alot of pressure build up and vortech requires a certain size drain hose to sufficiently get rid of the oil.

I just did an install on a maxima in my area and was able to use his used vent hose with no problem. Cut a bit off, test fit it, was kinked, took it off, cut a bit more off and wound up being perfect. You may have cut from the wrong end of the hose. Its gotta be perfect. If there is TOO much hose, it will kink.

 

I might be having the same problem with my car. Do they make any SS oil lines for that????

 

NO point for a SS return line...its only going about 4-6"

-matt

 

That's right, forgot about that......

 

That's the approach I took too, even using the "specifically designed" tube provided in the SC kit from Stillen. I probably spent an hour on that part alone to get it just right. Taking the SC on and off for test fitting wasn't fun, but I'm glad I did, because initially it was kinked to hell.

If you still can't get the kinks out, you could always add some worm clamps where the kinks are to prohibit the hose from kinking. This should be plan Z though.

 

Yeah I read that with the literature for the SC. I thought I would be fine, but I guess I under estimated the amount of oil flow... I took a gamble and lost.

My plan is to fix the hose and try again. If it is still leaking because the seal has already been damaged then I guess I'll take it back out and send it off to vortech for the $370 rebuild... sucks cause the blower is brand new but oh well, I past the point of no return ALONG time ago.

I don't even remember which side of the hose I started from.



The thing that I don't understand is that the valve cover hose does not have any of the bends that are need. Its like I need a 90 bend at the SC nipple and another 90 bend at the drain plate nipple. Basically smooth preformed bends where I have kinks.

I believe you about getting it to work I just have a hard time envisioning it. One of the main problems is there is almost NO room between the bottom of the SC nipple and the frame of the car.

Getting the drain nipple all the way screwed into the SC would help but there is no way to do it. It comes loose from the factory and I got it in there as tight as I could, but you can only use the open end of a wrench. Even then its a tight fit. In fact I even took the wrench to my bench grinder to take one of the sides down a bit so i could get the tool in there better and get some more turns in. Its in there tight, but there is still a decent number of treads on the on the nipple so it could in theory screw in more. Is your guys SC nipples screwed in ALL the way?

 

My Drain Plug on my blower ISNT screwed in all the way. It tightens before it bottoms out on itself.

You take a little bit off one side of the hose, then use that first bend for the body of the car and then the second bend will bring it to the Drain plate. You may need to take a bit off the other side but you may not have to. I just get it on the drain plate, and take a long screw driver and push it on manually. I also used two "screw type" clamps on the drain back plate side.

-matt

 

What tube did Stillen send with their kit? Was it the front valve cover hose? I was talking to abci30 about this and he said that the hose he got with his kit was perfect. Basically, he said that the hose had 2 smooth 90 degree preformed bends in it. One at the SC nipple and the other at the drain plate nipple... right where my kinks are.

I'm already VERY skeptical about getting that hose on there with out any kinks... there just not enough room. So, I have started thinking of alternate plans.

The frist plan would be to install a couple of 90 elbows where my kinks are this would creat an @ss load of clamps down there which always increases the chances for leaks.

The other option would be have my welder/machine shop man create a solid metal piece that would do the exact same thing. A 90 at the SC nipple which would turn into a straight piece that goes over to the drain plate nipple which would turn into another 90. THis would cut down on the amount of possible leaks, but it is less flexible.

Last resort is to torch a small section out of the frame of the car so there is ample clearance with the SC nipple...

 

THats good to hear. I guess I don't need to worry about the SC drain nipple then. When you talk about taking a little bit off one side of the hose and the 'first' bend are you taking about the to left or the right in reference to my pic?

 

An alternative to this is using the larger of the two power steering hoses going into the fluid reservoir. I had a few problems using the crankcase vent hose too so I ended up buying the power steering hose and it worked great. It's a Z-shaped hose perfect for it (two 90 degree bends).

 

Here's what Stillen provided......

 

See pic above. IIRC, I put the end of the rubber hose with the longer straight to the drainback plate and the other end to the blower's outlet drain. I secured the rubber hose securely to the blower drain nipple using the supplied worm clamp, then lowered the whole SC assembly down slowly. Ptatohed was underneath the car for the assist. He was able to reach up and pull the rubber drain hose over the drainback plates tube, then down. Then, we slid the worm clamp (previously placed on the drainback plate tube and let it rest) up over the rubber drain hose and secured it. All of this was done from below. It's a little bit of a reach, but very doable.

That's what I thought at first too. But with patience, trimming..test fitting..trimming..test fitting....it's totally doable.

Nah, I'd resort to those methods as Plan B. I'd go to Autozone or any parts store and ask to look at their selection of hoses and find one that is similiar to the picture I posted. Then go from there. You'll have plenty of time to find the perfect hose while your blower is getting rebuilt.

 

Cool. I'll look into it! Thanks.

 

Yeah that is most definately NOT the front valve cover hose... this hose looks like with some trimming it would work perfect.

 

Yeah definately plan B. You're right... I'll have plenty of time to shop for a hose while my blower is getting rebuilt.

I'll just head down to CarQuest... There is a real helpful guy down there who is always willing to spend time looking through his several phone book sized parts catalogs... that was how I found that vacuum t piece with two 5/8 ends and a 5/32 for the IACV... not an easy part to find!

 

Impossible to find !!! I had to go to a few different places and finally found a place that ordered it for me...what a pain

-matt

 

If you all thought it was a pain for you car, imagine what it was for me where my blower sits 1/2" closer to the body/frame because of my lowered engine . In my case, all the Stillen oil return hose needed was a bit of trimming and plenty of patience to get it right. No kinks on mine.

 

Its the same up here in Canada.

 

The larger hose (green circle) looks way too long. The smaller hose that goes to the reservoir (red circle) is the perfect shape but that hose is only 3/8 ID which is too small.

 

1/2'' closer... good God I couldn't imagine the hell that must have been.

 

The diagram I had wasn't the same as that one. The diagram I was looking at had two S-hoses running parallel next to each other and I chose to use the one that looked like it would work best. I'm pretty sure it was power steering, but from your diagram it sure doesn't look like it...

 

Yeah, for some reason the diagram does not show the second 'S' hose, but it does show one of them... which is the hose in the red circle. Only one of those 'S' hoses actually goes to the resevoir... the other passes under it.

How were you able to get that hose on the nipple of the SC or the drain plate for that matter?

 

Drain plate was easy, supercharger nipple required a little muscle.

 

For any guys looking for a hose, I had a different but still unique need for a hose with non-standard bends in it, and my friendly NAPA counterman escorted me to the back room where they store all of these wierd-shaped hoses. After about :10 minutes of looking we found one exactly the right ID and curves. Worth taking a look.

 

Cool. Did you run into any flow problems due to the smaller 3/8 ID size?

 

My NAPA counterman is not friendly... he's a *****.

 

Nope, worked perfect for the year I was supercharged.

 

Excellent... I ordered it along with some other hoses that might work. how come you aint boosted no more?

 

I thought I was going to do a VQ35 so I sold off the supercharger. But then I read about the problems some people were having and eventually I spent the money on other stuff (stillen rears, front lip repair, hid retro, ...etc).

 

What is the trick to installing that hose? You clamp it down on the SCer then slide the blower at angle pushing that hose onto the return plate. Then from the bottome of the car you tighten the clamp down. You are suppose to have bends on the hose. If you dont then it might rub on the belt and get cut up. You can use a 3/8 long ratchet extension to massage the bends out. The SCer install is all patience.

Jaime

 

One more thing take your return plate to NAPA or the Charger. You just get a hose with that diameter and ensure it has that S curl to it so you can cut it trim it down and make it fit. I have done it on alot of SCer installs.

 

ANy plans to re-boost?

 

Yeah, getting the hose on was not a problem... just getting the hose not to kink up was. The hose that I used will always have kinks in it... no matter how much I trim it. So, I just have to get a different hose.

 

Yes they do....


The point being, It's decently flexible, and when it bends, it doesnt kink. Works great.....

 

Well I sent the blower off to vortech on Monday... They said I was still under the 1 year warranty so I should be good.

 

Good to hear. What did they tell you for turn around time? Everyone's seems different.

 

5-7 business days but I won't be suprised if it takes MUCH longer than that.

 

I got a new front valve cover hose a couple of days ago... the interesting thing is that its shaped differently than the old one I used.

I can now see how this hose would work with some trimming... in fact, it looks exactly like the hose in the pic that wizard provided.

 

NEW one from Nissan ?? The one I used when I installed my blower was a NEW Hose from Nissan. The kit I just installed on a car locally, was his original off of his car and had no problem with either one.

-matt