rather than remove the oil separator/breather box below the flame trap, i remember someone posting thier method of pouring somthing thru the oil separator and let it drain thru to the oil pan..

can someone tell me if they have tried this and what did you use? kerosene?
some type of engine degreaser?

I believe Don Foster did that on a car at least once with good success. I think he said the operation was successful and the car finally died many thousands of miles later of a failed pressure regulator, or something like that. He poured something through the breather box and applied some air pressure I think. Don't quote me on the details though. Maybe you can find his post. I saw the post a few months ago when I was attacking the oil separator on my 1981.

On mine, which was totally clogged, I decided to replace it, and I've been happy with the decision, although on a K-Jet it was quite a chore. I learned a lot in the process though, and cleaned the injectors, the manifold inside and out, and the throttle body, etc., etc. Now the car vents crankcase pressure like new, and I feel good because I learned so much in the process. And I didn't break anything!

I did pour some Valve Medic through the oil return line that goes from the breather box to the oil pan after I honed some crud out of the oil return line with a small bottle brush. I had the drain plug out and poured the same bottle of Valve Medic through about six times, through a cone filter in a funnel each time. Then I chased it with a couple quarts of oil. The Valve Medic can be run with the oil anyway so I wasn't worried that a little might stay in the crankcase. I don't think any did though because I chased it with the oil. This procedure involved a relatively small amount of crud, nothing compared to what would be inside a clogged separator. Good luck.
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Thanks to everyone for the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick On Blocks, stock; 86 240, 129K

Remove it and soak it in a gallon of kerosene. Cheapest fix there is.
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1989 740Ti 1986 240DL 1984 244GL

I've heard that you can use a motor flush product. But I would not do it, the flame oil trap has a divider in it. Some of the fluid may remain inside. Also there's usually a lot of crud in it, that may remain in the oil pan.

MiracleMan,
I have found that when I utilize a liquid engine flush chemical every 3-4 oil changes my flame trap & breather box simply stay clean. But, this is not to say the maintainence of these areas is unnecessary though...I just find that when I do dig-in to these areas there is very little, if any, build-up. Too, I tend to change my oil more frequently than average: once a month no matter the milage. So, in my opinion, that helps w/ the breather box's cleansliness. Peace.