Is it normal to get oil in a vacuum breather tank?

[lutzy]

I just bought a 1969 camaro and noticed it was dripping some oil down the passenger frame..after tracing it, i found that it was leaking out of the vacuum breather canister aluminum fitting. It was about 1/8 full of oil. I have a line from my valve cover to a vacuum pump to the breather canister. I dont have power brakes or steering so I assume its for the engine. The vacuum pump seems to be making a ticking noise..is that normal for them to make noise? thanks for any info...

[HRBS]

Noise:
Yes it is normal for the pump vanes to "tick".
Fluid:
Occasionally you are required to "clean-out" the canister. Oil and condinsation will get in there from normal use. Just like a breather on a valve cover, you will get blowbye and small amounts of fluid.

The fluid should resemble "chocolate milk" in color. Its a combination of water vapor (condinsation) and oil that got sucked up thru the pump.

We run a 4 vane pump on our SBC race engine and clean it out once a year after about 75-100 runs.

Hope this helps ! :thumbsup:

[lutzy]

yes it did look like "chocolate milk"..i drained it all out. I guess it accumulated and he never drained it.