Oil catch cans

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Originally Posted By: ragtoplvr
Intake deposits on direct injected engines are a problem, and the causes are not well understood.

Some does come from the PVC. Some comes from reversion that happens and is made worse by variable cam timing. Under some conditions there is quite a bit of reversed flow in the intake. Small differences in engines and driving style make it worse.

We do know long oil change intervals can make it worse.

I see no harm in adding a catch can. It might help. Will not hurt.

Rod


It's not just PCV, but EGR too. The PCV vapour meets the dry soot from EGR and all of a sudden you have a nice viscous sticky black paste.

A catch can may slow the process but will not stop it entirely, and will also reduce the effective CC of the engine.

For a country built on cheap cars and cheap gas, it's a sha,e that your govt. makes you use cars in an unsympathetic fashion.

It's akin to re-breathing your own farts and drinking your own pee. Waste products are to be disposed of, not re-ingested.
 
I'm about to fit one. a Volvo 4 cylinder with a couple of hundred miles is starting to get a little blowby. Not enough to warrant a rebore, but enough to need to clean the throttle body, intake elbow and injector noses every service as they all get gummed up with PCV grunge. I'm hoping the catch can means I can get away with doing that every second or third service.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone, I'll probably install one in the near future. All the ones I've cost something like $300.
 
I use the $20 cans on ebay. I modify them with different hose, get rid of the sight tube level indicator and add a hose to the drain plug to easily drain them when changing oil.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas

The 'type' of engine or the usage of the car is immaterial. Cleaner is better. Deposits have weight and we want to be lighter. Deposits throttle airflow. Cleaner means less tear downs and more drive time.


LOL. If any of that were true then why has nobody posted dyno runs showing gains before and after? I (and others) specifically asked the vendor for that. And they also ran a speed shop so he had access to the cars, the dynos, and the data....

They also said deposit will kill MPGs and without a can you'd have horrible MPG's. Well, I've got 92k of data from my Ecoboost without a can showing steady MPG's.

Most will never keep a car to 200k+ so if the benefits are there they will not be realized.

Still not needed and I find it intriguing that you can't find data on the gains. I don't like K&N but at least they have dyno data to back up their claims.
 
What do you guys who live in cold climates do with the catch can during the winter when the condensation inside it can freeze and plug it up?
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
What do you guys who live in cold climates do with the catch can during the winter when the condensation inside it can freeze and plug it up?


best thing to do is get one big enough that that is not an issue. From my experience the temps below 20F are when it becomes an issue.

The cans I use have no baffles or media inside. I mount them outside the hot engine compartment to use the cold can to condensate the moisture. The turbo side is not an issue as that is pure oil.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
What do you guys who live in cold climates do with the catch can during the winter when the condensation inside it can freeze and plug it up?


best thing to do is get one big enough that that is not an issue. From my experience the temps below 20F are when it becomes an issue.

The cans I use have no baffles or media inside. I mount them outside the hot engine compartment to use the cold can to condensate the moisture. The turbo side is not an issue as that is pure oil.


Thanks! What about a non-turbo engine with just one can and a baffle?
 
Not as bad but if the can freezes and there is no PCV draw then all that stuff stays in the oil.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Not as bad but if the can freezes and there is no PCV draw then all that stuff stays in the oil.


Can the excess pressure damage a seal or cause a leak?
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Not as bad but if the can freezes and there is no PCV draw then all that stuff stays in the oil.


Can the excess pressure damage a seal or cause a leak?


If the can freezes and the flow is stopped on a turbo you will blow seals.

On a NA engine the excess pressure is vented from the valve cover to the air filter piping. Most turbos have a full stop check valve for a PCV valve.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Not as bad but if the can freezes and there is no PCV draw then all that stuff stays in the oil.


Can the excess pressure damage a seal or cause a leak?


If the can freezes and the flow is stopped on a turbo you will blow seals.

On a NA engine the excess pressure is vented from the valve cover to the air filter piping. Most turbos have a full stop check valve for a PCV valve.


Thanks! I had a feeling a turbo could have issues.
 
Catch cans have shown not to prevent intake valve deposits on DI engines. They catch junk, yes. They either don't catch enough or don't catch the right junk to prevent intake valve deposits.
 
The Ford Taurus V8 SHO only sprayed fuel on one of the two intake valves. Subsequently the dry valve developed a carbon build up. If it got bad enough it would stick and pop the head of the valve off resulting in a trashed head and piston.

3q3LJ.jpg


looking-into-head-dirty-and-clean.jpg
 
I don't think they are a waste of time on a modern car. A catch can stopped my fiancee's 07 Mustang GT from blowing blue smoke out the tail pipes when the car had about 12,000 miles on it.

For less than $200 for most catch cans, it is a cheap mod to keep oil out of the intake and combustion chamber. People spend $1,000's of dollars on worthless mods all of the time.

Here is a couple of pictures of where I now have my catch can mounted on my 2014 Mustang GT. The can gets warm but not hot enough to not be able to keep your hand on it.



Wayne
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Swift101
Hey Everyone,

I'm considering installing a oil catch can on my Sonata 2.0T (DI). Is this something worth even looking into? I hear they are useful on turbo engines but I don't want to waste money on something I don't need.

I don't have an crazy modifications done to my car, just a short ram air intake form Injen.

-Thanks


What are you trying to achieve with the catch can? If it's to prevent carbon deposits on the intake valves of your DI engine, there's no proof that it will. I'd just save the money for the probability of having your intake valves cleaned later on. If you want to just catch oil from being recirculated back into the engine, then yes that would help.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You guys using them for performance note the ET in my signature. It is at least 3 tenths better than you'll see from most any stock 6.1 SRT vehicle. It is also likely a couple tenths lower now since a converter swap and better tires.

Will a catch can under the hood and a couple anvils in the trunk upset your ETA?
wink.gif


Originally Posted By: demarpaint
What do you guys who live in cold climates do with the catch can during the winter when the condensation inside it can freeze and plug it up?

If I ever felt the need to install one in my G37, underhood cold temperatures would be the least of my worries. That thing heats up hard and fast.
 
It seems there is quite a lot of disagreement around catch cans, and perhaps one side is misunderstanding the other..

They DO NOT eliminate buildup, they only slow it down.

PCV and EGR mixed together DOES form a sticky paste that collects I the inlet tract

The ONLY way to stop it completely is to vent to atmosphere, but the can DEFINITELY slows the rate at which the crud accumulates.

Any more?
 
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