Catch can connector

[George_Ion]

I think catch cans are a great idea because they can prevent a sticky valve situation with oil squishing out of the lifter, with the subsequent annoying sound, partial opening of one or more valves, engine imbalance and foaming oil as PCV system was never a mature design with no changes since implementation in the 70s.

However if not designed and implemented the right way they can create more problems than they solve. While satisfactory quality catch cans are not expensive or hard to find, the connectors are a problem. PCV oil resistant hoses seem to be the right choice but they tend to collapse under manifold vacuum and are not thermally conductive and do not promote condensation of the blow by gas before it reaches the catch can itself that may not have enough volume and low enough temperature to promote condensation for most of the gas which means some will pass into the intake that may be colder than the can, condensate and trickle up to the valves.

PVC clear tubing seem to cool a bit better but collapse even more, especially during hot summer days.

For that reason i tried to use a corrugated copper connector instead. However, after a couple of months i found small amounts of green stuff inside the can that comes from the condensed gas corroding copper, besides mostly water mixed with oil and probably corrosive stuff from oil additives and also chemicals from partially burnt fuel. Which puzzle me since i saw cars with copper lines for EGR valves. However those handle (return) exhaust which may have a different composition (less unburnt fuel) than blow by gas and also coat selves on the inside with protective soot.

Ok so next experiment was with a water heater connector made of probably 304 stainless steel (the kind a magnet does not attach much to) again for water heaters bought on Amazon. I looked in the can after about a few hundred miles and did not see nothing. And BTW i think i get water in the can if the gasoline has some in it. (or temperature outside is lower?).

So i did not look again for a couple of months or a few thousands miles when i started to feel oil smell or better said, fuel mercaptan marker smell that the oil from blow by catches from the unburnt fuel coming from a not so perfect rubber adapter. So i looked again in the can and this time i saw again a teaspoon of something similar with the green stuff before, but yellow-white, like solid butter underneath a couple of ounces of the known water/oil emulsion. Is that wax from oil or corrosion from the stainless steel connector?

It doesn't seem to have passed the can, as i can't see any in the evacuation line towards the intake where is nothing but oil but it looks like i'm up for an emergency oil and filter change (Mobile one 5W20 for 20k miles). My question is if a different kind of oil will be less corrosive. Or any ideas at all (thinking now of using this). Going without it is not an option as the engine imbalance and subsequent vibration promote driveability issues at high speed and not so perfect roads.

 

[zray1]

Photo ?

Before spending $ on an oil change that may not be needed, why not have the mystery substance analyzed ?

I’m doubting that your oil can be vilified as “corrosive”. If I had to throw out a guess, I’d say there was antifreeze in the oil

Z

 

[George_Ion]

Too late. Maybe next time. I was so mad when i found it i just disposed of it and also panicked thinking i needed to change oil. It looked highly viscous like butter or cheese, I would think corrosion stuff would have been more loose, and i don't think a photo would have shown more than i just said. (no answer yet if any of the blow by components might corrode 304 stainless steel, if that is 304 stainless steel).

But we could analyze the oil where it comes from. Those who can afford it and are interested and know a trustworthy lab could share the result on the forum. Maybe key to the advertised so long "guaranteed protection" (20k miles) is higher paraffin content to keep viscosity within specs with a secret additive to keep it fluid..

And i think it's a lot if it solidifies in a catch can while the additive used to keep it liquid probably evaporated and passed in the intake.

However there might be big commercial interests at stake, trade secrets and stuff and no lab will give you the correct result. I was thinking while writing (as writing or sharing a story with someone else always clears my mind), one test would have been trying to see if it burns and how it burns but as i said i don't have any left right now.

BTW the oil after 5k now looks thicker on the dipstick than the one left in the 5 quarts bottle that was already thicker than any oil i saw before (though is 5W20) and surprisingly clear (no soot in it) and that could be reason for an oil change with a different type. Where is the soot, on the bottom of the pan?

 

[zray1]

I don’t believe you have enough solid evidence to make any conclusions. While there is some value in developing hypothesis, but without some proof to point you in one direction or another, it’s just fruitless to let imagination take over.


Saying “….However there might be big commercial interests at stake, trade secrets and stuff and no lab will give you the correct result.…..” borders on conspiracy theory territory.

I can’t go there.

 

[George_Ion]

Yeah i knew i was going to regret opening to a forum like this.

Can you go and ask an analysis bulletin of the batch to be attached to any bottle of oil sold. Or at least a list of components used in the order of amounts like on food wraps but in plain English. For too many of us the health of our cars is more important than our own health. For those who can't afford to buy a new car after the warranty ends.

But i bet it would show like this. Trade secret trade secret trade secret. It's their secrecy that promote theories constructed by desperate people.

Nevermind i found something here. Though i cannot recognize the main component of any synthetic oil which is paraffin, or the stuff the candles are made of known to most of us as wax.

One thing is sure. Anybody who ever used a catch can knows they have to empty it from time to time and all the suff it's in there, parafin or not with all the additives listed in the MSDS linked above will otherwise will burn in the engine and i bet most of those additives are not designed to burn in the engine or the cat.

BTW this forum has a moderator? Can i ask where one can see conspiracy theories in what i posted? Fruitless, imagination, rhetoric, trolls?

 

[Astro14]

This forum has several moderators. We maintain the forum rules to which you agreed, which includes a prohibition on trolling.

As a moderator, I’m struggling to see either the relevance, or the sense of your posts. Your opening sentence is absolutely ridiculous.

“they can prevent a sticky valve situation with oil squishing out of the lifter” - There is not one technically accurate thing in your entire first post. then you go on to make ridiculous claim, after ridiculous claim. So, you leave me scratching my head on your intent. Troll? Hopelessly ignorant of how cars work?

Either way, in your third post, you started criticizing the forum for not answering your “question” - except that I don’t see a legitimate question - only uninformed rumination, blather, and piles of words that don’t really make sense.

So, in the absence of an actual question, and in view of the misinformation that could be considered trolling, this thread is closed.