Reply to "PCV or via the exhaust pipes?"

Yes you need to evacuate your crankcase, otherwise it pressurizes and blows oil out the filters, and the crankcase fills with corrosive blow-by. A PCV system extends the life of a motor tremendously.

Those exhaust "aspirator" systems, like the one manufactured by Moroso, do not last very long. They're OK for a trailered race car, but not a street driven vehicle. If you used one you would be replacing it continuously.

They guys operating their race motors with the crankcases under a vacuum are utilizing a dry sump lubrication system. You do not want to create a high vacuum in the crankcase with a wet sump lubrication system, as the pump cannot draw oil from the oil pan if the crankcase is under vacuum. You must have one crankcase connection to a vacuum source to remove blow-by, and a second crankcase connection that allows filtered air to enter and replace the contaminated air removed by the vacuum source. The filtered air connection will prevent an excessive vacuum from building up.

Millions of people drive cars with engines equipped with a PCV system, without worry, without problems. If the oil is kept fresh, a simple, inexpensive PCV valve can easily last 100,000 miles without becoming sticky. Just make sure to connect the PCV system to a connection that feeds the air drawn from the crankcase to all 8 cylinders evenly, and not to a connection that favors only one or two cylinders (connections like that are intended for the power brake booster).

-G