Does the VTT Breather Work?Not according to this Company.

[Gavin]

So im not gonna link or give any more attention to this company unless you want me to but found a article about the VTT valvecover breather saying it doesnt work.
This was posted 8 days ago.
Quote From MisFire Race
"We get a lot of questions asking: . Can’t I just delete the Flapper and cap it, then run the VTT VC Breather for high side? . Must I even run a flapper if I have the VTT Breather? . Well... see for yourselves. In our experience the VTT breathers don’t work for crankcase pressure relief at all. In fact, after numerous attempts to “oil or lube” the check ball” to prevent the valve sticking in the ball seat we’ve found after a few miles it’s stuck again and not working at all. In this case, if you’ve plugged the Flapper port, you’re going to seriously damage your engine under boost w/no where to vent the crankcase. This will absolutely lead to blown VC gaskets, turbo seals, etc. . In short, while the VTT Breather is a unique innovation and in theory would work very well as a vent option, they are unreliable and we recommend you either remove the check ball completely, or install a gasket under the ball that prevents it getting stuck. . We sell the gaskets here for $5.00 shipped. . Lastly, we recommend a secondary vent system be in place as a backup and utilize the Flapper port as intended by BMW engineers. PLEASE!! Check yer’

. - MISFIRE RACE "

I myself run the VTT breather and of course worry if this holds up true.

 

[Panzerfaust]

Aside from Misfire Race being kind of an idiot and very dramatic to the point where you should triple check anything he says, I'll still comment. The first batch of VTT breathers would have the ball get stuck frequently due to too tight of a clearance, yes. But the "second batch" functions just fine. I bought the breather the day it came out and experienced the sticking ball but Tony was happy to take care of me and swap it out since everything I tried didn't fix mine.

Some say the second batch can still get caught sometimes due to heat cycling (I think I've experienced this once so far), and it requires a quick cupped-slap of the bottom of the cap to release the ball. But think about how little pressure you're applying to unstick the ball with a cupped hand - the ball is designed to vent at .5 or 1 psi (I just forget which) which is not much at all, and if your cupped hand can unstick the ball then I wouldnt worry about enough pressure ever building up to damage gaskets or seals even if the ball is temporarily "stuck" instead of free-floating but sealed. I think this post by Misfire Race is almost certainly due to Tony probably having said that MR copied the VTT dual and single OCC setup, when they/he learned about the PCV system from talking to VTT and others in the first place. Tony likely called a Spade a Spade and that probably made Jake (the owner/possibly sole person at MR) butthurt - more N54 internet drama. FWIW Jake also doesnt think highly of @Rob@RBTurbo 's PCV setups, and for a while pushed a PCV setup that used an exhaust evac venturi for the high side (which is a no-no unless you like exhaust gases providing your vacuum) and once pushed a spring-loaded fuel system style check valve as a better alternative to a PCV valve or 0/.5 psi cracking ball check valve for the low side. He also re-sells eBay cooling kits at a markup as "custom made" once he puts his stickers on them. In short, the dude is one of the duller blades in the kitchen and copies ideas or train-hops them.

All that shit aside, the VTT oil cap breather isn't made to be a replacement for the flapper even if they both vent positive pressure, and Jake would know that if he understood the PCV system better - or maybe he does and is just slinging mud - because the flapper allows vacuum to be pulled while the oil cap breather is sealed under idle/decel.

 

[iminhell1]

The ball in mine seems to be stuck all the time.
The filter is oozing oil. Enough so that it drips down and makes a puddle on the fill neck. I can clean it and less than a week later, same thing. So even though the ball seems stuck it must be venting.

 

[Zeezul]

Mine works absolutely as intended. No stuck ball or oil leaking.

 

[gmagnus7]

I'm using an upgraded PCV valve and stock flapper valve, just installed the breather as a backup just in case of any crankcase pressure buildup for whatever reason. Hopefully I dont get oil oozing out lol.

 

[langsbr]

This is the same guy that was gonna run pod filters on stock turbos that would barely flow 100cfm each. Just keep that in mind.

 

[Jeffman]

I got mine very recently after it was announced so it’s probably a first one. I run 22psi on stock turbos. My ball seems stuck all of the time. No ball clicking if I were to shake it back and forth. I was told by VTT that it could be oil adhering the ball to the metal housing. So I took mine apart and wiped the parts clean. Never saw a drop or mist of oil on the metal filter screen so I cannot be sure it actually ever worked.

 

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

Please keep in mind, I would be happy to post multiple emails from Jake (the owner of misfire racing) where he asked me or Tony to explain how a PCV system functions. Not advance function. Think extreme basics. Even after multiple explanations he could not manage to wrap his head around it. At that point he ordered a few of our kits as a "dealer" and proceeded to knock them off as he could not figure out how to build his own. We don't begrudge a person for hot having complex understanding of some of these systems -I help new guys all the time- but it's a different story when you announce yourself as someone who is knowledgeable and out there trying to "help" others.

For someone to say a check ball breather doesn't work, shows they literally have no idea what is going on with basic vacuum/pressure function. All the breather does is simply hold vacuum in the crankcase when it's present, and vent when pressure is present. They have been, and still are, run on just about every domestic platform on earth.

We told Jake he was no longer eligible for any dealer discount after he was caught knocking our products off, the same as he did many others. It wasn't long after he started his anti VTT campaign, funny how that works...

 

[fredcase]

I had 2 of these installed, one in each car. Both always stuck. Complete garbage, and a waste of money.

It was the only item from VTT I would ever run, because they are the only ones making them. I'm looking forward to the cheaper, more reliable, vrsf version.

 

[Torgus]

I had 2 of these installed, one in each car. Both always stuck. Complete garbage, and a waste of money.

It was the only item from VTT I would ever run, because they are the only ones making them. I'm looking forward to the cheaper, more reliable, vrsf version.

Link or release date? A breather should be dead simple to manufacture. Obviously neither company actually manufactures the products but but a small amount of QC is all you need.

 

[fredcase]

Bought from ecs, about 5 months ago, because vtt rapes in shipping to Canada. I asked if these were the "newest revision" they said they were, but ecs is clueless also.

 

[Terry@BMS]

We have it on our 135i race gas and not had an issue. If it's sticking maybe just sand out the area where the ball seats so it's larger?

 

[iminhell1]

We have it on our 135i race gas and not had an issue. If it's sticking maybe just sand out the area where the ball seats so it's larger?

I think the seat for the ball is too wide. If it where cut in half might work out better? It's a surface friction issue IMO. Reduce friction and reduce problem.

 

[BOosted 335i]

Heres the fix if theres a issue with breather(s)

 

[BOosted 335i]

would like to know the difference between the V1 & V2 breathers.

 

[Jeffman]

Heres the fix if theres a issue with breather(s)

I’ll have to try this. Thanks for posting.

 

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

would like to know the difference between the V1 & V2 breathers.

Very simple, V1 the cup that seals the ball was machined with a tight tolerance, when the ball was sucked down tight it could stick. V2 simply modified the drawing slightly to eliminate the issue. Problem solved these never stick after the drawing was changed, period. If you have an earlier one that sticks. The video above fixes it as well. The guy above complaining about V1 obviously did not watch the video or bother to contact us or ECS about a return, we would have been happy to help. But it's better to go online and complain then contact the company and discuss a replacement. 2019 FTW

 

[fredcase]

Very simple, V1 the cup that seals the ball was machined with a tight tolerance, when the ball was sucked down tight it could stick. V2 simply modified the drawing slightly to eliminate the issue. Problem solved these never stick after the drawing was changed, period. If you have an earlier one that sticks. The video above fixes it as well. The guy above complaining about V1 obviously did not watch the video or bother to contact us or ECS about a return, we would have been happy to help. But it's better to go online and complain then contact the company and discuss a replacement. 2019 FTW

Contacted ecs, I was assured these were the latest version.

Never stick after the revision “period” reminds me of that comment “our turbos don’t fail, period” how are those GC’s working for ya.

Trash product. Period.

 

[Chris@VargasTurboTech]

Contacted ecs, I was assured these were the latest version.

Never stick after the revision “period” reminds me of that comment “our turbos don’t fail, period” how are those GC’s working for ya.

Trash product. Period.

There is your problem. ECS while great a reselling things, the right hand rarely knows what the left hand is doing. They buy LARGE batches of things, and when orders are placed they are packed by people packing hundreds of different brands of parts. We had let them know when V1 was having issues to pull them from stock and use the V2's instead. Possibly the notice did not make it all the way down the chain. Not sure, but one email to myself, Sales, or Tony would have landed you a V2 to your door in a few days time. Instead, you are here, we can't help if we are not contacted.

 

[The Convert]

Why attack the customer?!? You could simply say that you are sorry for the issues they’ve been having and will promptly ship them a replacement if they send you their shipping address. Period.