Decided to replace my flametrap today as I was fixing some other things on the car. I had a feeling that I might not even have a flametrap in as I had been getting oil deposited on my air filter since I bought the car a little over a month ago. It turns out that the car didn't have a flametrap in. Quite a bit of sludge had accumulated in the plastic flametrap housing, so I took it out and cleaned it. Two hoses connect to it--one between a quarter and a half inch in diameter and another that is much smaller. I cleaned all the crud out, but it seems as if the little hose doesn't pass through the plastic flametrap housing. It could be that some sludge stuff has just hardened in there to the point where I couldn't fully clear it out. Where exactly does this little hose go/what purpose does it serve? Should it flow through the flametrap?

As for the completely different hose that connects to the front part of the airbox, where does it go? Will correcting the lack of flametrap problem and cleaning the related hoses out cure the problem of oil on the air filter?


Jeremy

As mentioned, some people remove the FT rather than mess with it. The small hose goes to intake vacuum and the larger hose goes to an "oil trap" on the side of the block under the manifold. The syatem is desigined to route blowby crankcase gases back into the incoming air stream just in front of the throttle body to burn them and reduce emissions. Both hoses should be clear. If the system is plugged, you may blow main engine seals which is $$$$to fix.

bl.

Good to hear you cleaned out the flame trap. Some owners/dealerships are known to remove the plastic screen altogether. The logic is that the trap is less prone to get clogged. I personally would purchase the screen and put it back. It's there for a reason (eliminating potential backfire). All hoses leading into the trap should be clear of debris. Replace your air filter and you should see the last of oil getting into the airbox. I clean my trap twice a year, and I always find crap in there. Most folks clean the throttle body at the same time.

The stock 850 FT is made out of copper and is much more prone to clogging. There is a guy on ebay selling "850 flame trap kits" i bought one for 10 bucks, he provided 2 plastic FT's and the housing (even though i didn't really need the housing,i still replaced it). Plus an oil cap gasket (mine was hard as a brick). Check to make sure that small line isn't rotted, will cause vac leak (see bay 13 on volvospeed.com)