Having just changed my oil cooler, I decided to clean the engine bay from the associated build up of crud...2 hours with my compressor, wash gun and a hose I can now see whats there. I then took the car for a drive to get the oil cooler hot to test connections (hint...spray white paint down the side before you fit it...then you can see leaking oil really easy) it takes AGES for the cooler to come in...like 30+ miles of 'enthusiastic' driving....(hint. if you have an oil usage issue that only manefests itself on long runs check your cooler it really does take ages to come in and I have seen 2 of 91 cars that are corroded to hell and back - neither looked bad on the cars its an electralitic reaction between the allow and the steel mounts (clips) that eats (pitts) the alloy)

anyways now i have a clean engine bay I can see the slight leak on the front of the block (knew that was there) and a mist from the filler cap...(didnt know about that one...) so Im going to pull the flame trap/seperator box tommorow...which got me looking at the FAQ and thinking..

1. much mention of not pulling the pipe into the sump when removing the seperator box...any tips for how you avoid doing this..

2. diagram shows a blanking plug for the smaller hose feed from the trap to the manafold 9on turbo cars)...but my turbo HAS this hoze...any feedback?

3. Section makes much of how important the flame trap itself is, but then says the turbo doesnt have one ???

4. When I got to thinking about this I got really confused. Essentially the 'flametrap' mechanism connects the crank case to the inlet manafold (ok I know slightly before the manafold with the bigger pipe) so that the vacume at the inlet manafold draws the gasses out of the crank case and re-breathes them thru the engine. This has 2 uses...(a) it cuts emissions and (b) it prevents a presure build up in the crank case. But on a TURBO surely there can be at least 8-10 lbs/sq inch PRESURISING those inlet tracts..and thus the crank case?

I see no mention of one way valves or such....anyone got any feedback on this...or am I just thinking screwy??

5. Any tips on this procedure or stuff I should also do/check greatfully recieved..

PS.. feel free to tell me I am being an idiot...the wife does every time I go out to 'work on that &^*E&& car again' - I think the reasurance that Im just catching up on maintenance the previous owner neglected is wearing thin...