how to change the oil seperator

well i am not done with the project but have enough photos to show everyone what it is all about, and it is a pain in the BUTT!!! i can see why it is recommended to drop the engine, as it is very difficult to do while in the car Step 1 - remove air box, throttle body and plenum's - no pics of this as it is pretty self explanatory....be careful with the vacuum lines especially if the car is older as the plastic lines become very frail, i am replacing a lot of them because they cracked so easily, which is kind of a good thing as i wont have vacuum leaks later on step 2 - once you remove the plenums you can reach back and feel the oil separator with your hand, fee around and get a good bearing of where everything is by feel, look at your new unit and get a visual of where the 2 bolts are on the oil separator. once you locate them jack up the car and relocate the 2 bolts from underneath the car, you should be able to remove the 2 bolts with a 10mm deep socket and wrench. step 3 - now that the 2 bolts have been remove the oil separator can be wiggled, which is important because now you can wiggle it out far enough to get a socket to the last bolt on the driver side intake, you can now remove the drivers side intake, a pic is below so you can see the bolt hoes, there are 6 of them one on each side of the runner Step 4 - once you have removed the passenger side upper intake you can have a clear sight of the oil separator, pic is below, you can now remove the 2 water lines, the vacuum line that ran to the throttle body, you are only left with 2 hoses connected at this point in time and a pressed in fitting Step 5 - this step you need to preform very carefully so not to damage anything else or cut the wrong thing - take a knife and cut the rubber belows, this is a ton easier than trying to take off the clamps, but there is some risk here, after that is separated you should be able to bring the unit up just enough to remove the last hose. and the bellow and clamp that is left on the engine step 6 - mount all the hoses in the new unit and press the unit into the pressed fitting on the engine, it is recommended to use screw type hose clamps to make install easier step 7 reinstall intake Step8 - bolt the 2 bolts in the oil separator from the wheel well step 9 - mount plenums and throttle body and air box and you should be done!

Year: 2004 Make: Lotus Model: Exige Price: $59000 Mileage: 18600 Color: Grey Private or Dealer Listing: Private Listing Location (State): VA Transmission: Manual Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive So its come time for me to part with my 2004 Noble M12 GTO 3R. There is no "Noble" option in the drop down when making this ad, which is why you see it listed as a Lotus Exige. The car is titled and registered in Northern Virginia, and will pass an emissions/inspection test. For those of you that may not know, here is some history of the car: There was about 220 Nobles that were brought over to the United States, I believe around 75-80 M12 GTO 3R’s, the rest were M400’s. It’s a British car designed and engineered by Lee Noble, with the chassis/body built in South Africa at a factory called Hi-Tech. These cars were then shipped to the USA to 1G racing Ohio, where there was the option to purchase the car and install the drivetrain yourself, or just purchase the car turn-key. They have a garret twin turbo’d Ford Duratec 3.0L, weigh approximately 2380 pounds, and have a 0-60mph of 3.3s. These cars are truly a drivers car, no ABS, no traction control, no airbags, its as close to a street legal race car you get. I can confidently say this is one of the most reliable Nobles out there, it’s has gone through a tremendous amount of fine tuning, modifying, and trial/error to get to where its at now. All that you need to do from here on out is continue basic maintenance as you would on any other car, and if you’re even a bit mechanically inclined, this thing is easy to work on. The car has been tuned and upgraded by Troy, one of the most renowned Noble tuners/specialist in the country. On to the details and work that has been done to the car, I have a nice stack of receipts/paperwork that will come with the car as well. Below is a non-detailed list of some of the items installed mods and maintenance done: Upgraded ECU/Tune (for reliability/power) Intercooler Upgrade Brand New Wiring Harness Baffled Track Oil Pan Front Mounted Oil Cooler Installed (Setrab) Rear Mounted Tial BOV All Belts Changed All Oil Lines Changed Heater valve upgraded All Coolant Lines Changed and upgraded to Silicone High Temp Lines Porsche Hub Nuts Installed Track Axles Installed HVAC Control Cable Fixed Heater Valve Replaced Heater Core Connections Fixed Accelerator Cable Replaced Fuel Pump Upgrade, Including: New Wiring Pressure Regulator Gauge New Fuel Filter New Vacuum Hoses Upgraded Heat Shielding throughout Fuel Pump Relay Installed New Alternator & Custom Alternator Heat Shield Fixed all electrical bugs that were present as well Replaced Upper Radiator Hose Replaced Power Steering Hose Tunnel Mod (prevents heat soak into the cabin) Back-Up Camera Upgraded speakers Bell RX75 Radar/ Laser Jammer (front/rear) Above are the things I can think off the top of my head, there is quite a bit that has gone into the car to make it as rock solid as possible, I didn’t list the basics such as Oil changes, coolant flush, brake flush, spark plugs, etc, as these are all done relatively often. I’ve owned the car since about 13k miles and have never had any issues with it, and don’t foresee any issues arising anytime soon. There is easily $32,000 of work that has gone into the car, proven with receipts, plus the tremendous amount of time put in by the previous owner to get everything fine tuned, he’s known to be the unofficial Noble guru in the states. This is your chance to own one of the most reliable Noble’s out there, with all the issues taken care of, ready to daily drive, or go to a track event, no trailer needed! 2004 Noble M12 GTO 3R 18,xxx Miles (still driving, miles may go up) 6 Speed Manual Chassis NUS 006 Priced at $59,000 More pics are coming, here are a few for now:

good job!! thanks for the writeup and pics. Since it was opened up like that i would have replaced the oil filler tube too.

Love the car! I think I saw this posted on the Richmond C&C facebook page if I'm not mistaken. GLWS!

Thank you sir! Finally a great write up!

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Quote: Thanks man! I havent been to the richmond C&C, I wonder if someone owns one of these down there, or possibly a Rossion, which looks very similar.

I think I might need mine replaced as well, been having some stubborn and repeat "white smoke" startups lately, and recently, a CEL. Reset that and it came back on after about 200 miles. Checked with my indy mechanic about the A/O separator and being a Tip, it's gonna be a 8-hr job, costing about $900. How long did it take you? Should be a little less time on a manual. I'm wondering if I should even attempt a DIY.....?

There is a dentist that has a lighter silver one here in Richmond.

it is hard to say how long i have been working on it, i guess around 12 hrs will be from start to finish, it is very difficult to work on and easy to get frustratd so i have been working in 30 minutes spurts...

That is the same exact color as the one I used to have. These are great cars guys - someone should pick it up. I bought mine from a 6speed member too.

Step one is alittle decieving, removing the plenum isnt so quick and easy that you wouldnt need to explain HOW to remove certain hard to get to bolts on the plenum. I've done this afew times already and from start to finish on a 996C2 Triptonic with all the right tools and a lift, Its about 8 hours, maybe 7 if the old AOS slips out and the new one slips in like a dream which it wont 90 percent of the time. There should be a disclaimer stating "Just cause you can change your Airfilter by yourself, doesnt mean you can tackle this job."

Seen this car at a couple of Kate's cars and coffee. Free bump and GLWS!

Hi: Is the vacuum hose that connects to throttle body connected to the AOS (you are holding it in your hand in the fourth picture)? If so, is that the one that injects oil into the intake when the AOS fails (there seems to be more than one vacuum line on the AOS)? Has anyone had any luck using a secondary catch can on the 996? These are popular with turbo and supercharged japan tuners but I've heard little about them in connection with Porsches. Thanks (

thanks for the kind words all! Got some serious interest but the car is still for sale!

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Quote: Yes, its connected to the aos, it pulls air from the crank case (oil swirls, bubbles... etc) Yes, it is the path oil takes when the AOS fails.... the restof the hoses are not vac lines, they are coolant lines (to cool the vent air before going back to the intake). There are a few SC'ed that just put a catch can with a filter and vent it to atmosphere.... I put the vent back to my intake inline with a catch can... Alot of people just dont fill oil all the way up to the full marker.... seems to do the trick.

Been out of state for a while, price drop $56,500 Live on ebay

Very helpful. Thanks

Because of past abuses members have asked that links to ads on sites like eBay not be permitted

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Quote: i'm changing my oil pan out for a baffled one, hopefully that will help with oil going into the intake.

Do you have pictures of the interior? Are you located in Richmond? I'm interested and might passing through late next week

the x51 pan is for the oil pickup.... it has nothing to do with the oil going into the intake...

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Quote: Apologies on that, will keep that in mind for future posts. Quote: Here's some pics of the interior on my CL ad. I'll be making a hi-res album soon http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/5266560606.html

Actually it does Red- The X51 pan aids in engine oil not sloshing into the intake manifold during hard cornering. You will notice cars that don't have it at the track, when they start the car up after a run, it will billow smoke from the exhaust from the oil that got into the intake.

Hi. You still have the Noble ? Please call [phone removed]

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Quote: No it doesn't. The oil pan does nothing to effect the AOS or the amount of smoke coming from the exhaust.

Is this still for sale?

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Quote: Oh, you're right....The Porsche tech that told me that must have been wrong with him and his 20+ years experience....

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Quote: Many Porsche Tech's are often wrong. You'll be better off going forward knowing that fact.

Check here: http://www.planetporsche.net/cayman-...ere-smoke.html Exactly what I'm talking about...Are we on the same page 1999?

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Quote: What does that link have to do with blowing smoke out the tailpipes? There is one purpose of the baffle and ONLY one. That is to reduce the possibility of the pickup tube sucking air. Just because some shop wrongly advertises the benefits of a product does not make it work.

Did you read this part from the link: "I've had the same problem but usually after the session is over and the cars been sitting with the engine off, when you restart you get a cloud of white smoke. Do a search on the forum, cos I know I've seen this before here, I even think there's a solution with some form of oil baffle system from Motordrive or something. Never happened to me on track and I was never blackflagged. Was it a road course or an Oval? I could see the sustained G's on an Oval causing this." All I know is, I can speak from personal experience on this. Check with C2MOJO, same thing happened with his car, same DE day, same common problem...look into it. I'm done.

x51 oil pan is under the car... keeping the sloshing oil down to a minimum so that the oil can be sucked in by the pickup... then it is fed to the engine via the oil pump. The pan and the oil it contains is outside the engine... all the oil issues you are talking about is inside the engine. The problem with the caymans is that it can pull serious G's around a corner...and the stock aos is short... oil can creep up the aos column and gets injected into the intake.... All of this oil is coming from the insides of the engine and not the pan... the motorsport aos is actually a 996 part that is way taller with less chance of oil creeping up the column of the seperator. The smoke at start-up is very common for a horizontal engine layout... the oil has nowhere to drip down... and gets stuck in cylinders and such... very common on the track to see this esp if the engine was shut down w/o letting it idle for a minute or so... With that said, the x51 oil pan is a great upgrade if you track your car... it holds more oil in the baffles than stock one...

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Quote: It's all a coincidence. Just think about what an oil pan is for. Without the pickup tube, unless you were driving your car on a 90 degree bank, no oil would ever get to any part of the engine....with or without a baffle.

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Quote: good point...

I have a 2008 carrera S 5,000km, blowning crazy white smoke from exhaust, how can you tell if the oil air separtor is failing and not the headgaskets.....coolant is low.... THANKS ALLOT !!

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Quote: 2008 c2s.... that's pretty new. Did you check your oil level, to high will cause smoke? crap... you dont have a dipstick. smoke and even a whistling noise is the symptoms of a bad seperator....

LOTS & LOTS OF SMOKE!!!!! haven't heard a whisling sound.....could be a headgasket you think, very odd if it is.... When the O/A failing does it leak coolant into the cylinders???,,,,, I fear the worst and that is the headgasket failing.....The smoke could be either the headgasket or O/A sep.....any other thoughts.. thanks

its a coolant white smoke not oil. and the coolant level is down low.... the engine does run smooth at cold idle, which if the HG was to go I would think it would run rough......right?????

you need to take that in.... hopefully it is the head gasket and not an intermix issue. Do you see coolant/oil (damn you dont have a dipstick) mixed together. Could be oil cooler, cracked head, or gasket.... bring it in... it should be covered under warranty.

rebuilt, no warranty.......it runs smooth still so I;m hoping its the air oil sep.

your step eight is impossible what car do you have i put the motorsports aos but that did not change things that much

I'm sure I need a new AOS soon. I just can't wait to see how much they want expecially being a tip.

Bump! Thanks for the write up. Plan on doing the AOS soon. I have a 99 C2. Any other parts you guys recommend replacing while doing this job?

Well, my guy finally got the AOS done. What a PITA. Being a TIP, he dropped the tranny. As soon as that was out, it didn't take too long. The only additional thing that was done was rerouting the wires. The cam sensor wires are right below the AOS. I've been getting the p1531 code on and off for 2-3 weeks. The coolant and oil from the AOS was dripping on the wires triggering P1531 in my case. Check the RMS also.

Thanks for all the info. I am about to replace mine on a 2000 C2 manual. I am going to drop the transmission and do it from there, it seems much easier than from above. I will also do a clutch job. I have a LN IMS so I am not touching that. My question is: how much coolant fluid comes out of the lines when you disconnect them? Since I'll be under the car should I be prepared to get soaked?

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Quote: As long as you're prepared to poke something in the end quick or kink the line with a zip tie or something it shouldn't be too bad. Just don't forget to undo it before you put it back together!

Great, thanks.