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oil catch can [Merge]

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Rice Burner

20+ Year Contributor
71
0
Mar 28, 2002
Katy, Texas
I just ordered my intake and K & N filter from Dejon and now I'm looking for a Catch Can. Does anyone know where I can get one of these? I have looked on some web sites with no luck, with the exception of (i think) Machv for $99.

Any help would be appreciated.

Also does anyone know if any one sells the rubber window trim that goes on the door for the window. You know the one at the top of the main part of the door on the outside. The black coating has pealed off and looks pretty bad.

Thanks in advance! :D
 
There are two issues:
1: You should not have a catch can vent to the atmosphere. People will disagree, but this allows un-metered air into the system. You may never "feel" a difference, but in DSMLink when I tried this I could see that the ECU's airflow readings were off. The second reason is your valve cover vent no longer has a vacuum on it to help remove excess pressure like it did in the stock configuration. This is a debated topic because the purpose is to let air into the cover, not out (that is what the PCV is for) but extra venting is not a bad thing in my opinion.

2: The purpose of the steel wool or similar material is to encourage oil particles suspended in the air to cling to the steel wool instead of passing through the catch can and right into the intake. It sounds like you are not rerouting anyway so there is no purpose for you.
 
dr_fatkins said:
There are two issues:
1: You should not have a catch can vent to the atmosphere. People will disagree, but this allows un-metered air into the system. You may never "feel" a difference, but in DSMLink when I tried this I could see that the ECU's airflow readings were off. The second reason is your valve cover vent no longer has a vacuum on it to help remove excess pressure like it did in the stock configuration. This is a debated topic because the purpose is to let air into the cover, not out (that is what the PCV is for) but extra venting is not a bad thing in my opinion.

2: The purpose of the steel wool or similar material is to encourage oil particles suspended in the air to cling to the steel wool instead of passing through the catch can and right into the intake. It sounds like you are not rerouting anyway so there is no purpose for you.

1: No, it doesn't. The PCV valve/catch can only applies to air in the crankcase, which is air that leaked past the rings. Most likely, your airflow readings were correct after you added the catch can, and you just had a lot of blow by, which then puts a lot of oily air into the intake.

I would suggest that you run a line from the valve cover to the catchcan, and then run a line from the catch can to the exhaust. This will add vacuum to the crankcase which will increase horespower (slightly), as well as make sure you can never have your catch can over flow.
 
I am not going to argue with you about un-metered air, just know that the experience of several hundred DSMLink owners disagree with you on DSMLink's forum. In practice, it should only be an issue close to idle (no positive pressure in the cover).

Believe what you want, I am just trying to help him with a solid setup (one that mimics the stock one where after the catchcan, the breather line is routed into the intake).
 
T is for TURBO said:
I do have a breather filter comming off the top of the can...
Highly not recommended. Run a line to the normal place on the intake instead. The breather filter will give the engine compartment a fine layer of dust-holding oil fumes. Better to just let the engine run it out the tailpipe and be done with it. You've accomplished your goal by putting a catch tank in the line.
 
Sorry for any confusion I may have brought up. I am not making the catch can for the PCV. It is for the one comming off of the side of the valve cover that goes to the intake. I plan to have it set up so there is a line comming from the valve cover, then to the catch can, then back to the intake pipe prior to the turbo. I am only doing this to prevent oil from getting into my IC pipes. That is why I was wondering if I should but some sort of fulter media inside the catch can. (ie. steel wool) Im basing the catch can off of the $$$ greddy catch cans or the like the one off of RRE
-Shawn
 
I currently have my Catch Can Setup as RRE has described

(http://www.roadraceengineering.com/instructions/catchcaninstructions.htm)

I removed the PCV valve and replaced it with a nipple, capped off the nipple to the intake manifold, and ran 2 lines to the CC. I have also tried running a third line to the Turbo inlet and have also tried just using a breather instead of the third line.

Here's the problem . . .

With this setup, I am having to empty the CC roughly every 1500 miles or so. Reason being is it appears to be filling up with (what I think is . . .) water! I've drained the CC into a plastic container and let everything settle out for a couple of weeks. Afterwords, the clear/brown 'watery' liquid settles to the bottom of the container with a milky sludge floating on top of it and a thin layer of oil floating on top of the sludge.

Best I can think of is the water vapors that would usually be burned off by being vented out the PCV are now being caught in the CC and mixing with the oil vapors. Is this normal . . . has anyone else run into a similar situation or do I have a bigger problem on my hands?
 
Same here. Oil is completely understandable, but the clearish liquid did concern me as well. I thought it may be gas which made me crap myself, but it's not flammable, so I tend to agree it must be water/vapor. I notice the can is filling up more now than in summer, so cold temps, condensation in winter time would make the vapor more abundant.

I think you are safe.
 
weith1111 said:
Same here. Oil is completely understandable, but the clearish liquid did concern me as well. I thought it may be gas which made me crap myself, but it's not flammable, so I tend to agree it must be water/vapor. I notice the can is filling up more now than in summer, so cold temps, condensation in winter time would make the vapor more abundant.

I think you are safe.

You've got the same setup/problem/issue? Sweet . . . I was hoping it wasn't a problem.

Heheh . . . on a side-note, I too was wondering if the liquid was flamable LOL . . . sure smells like nasty fuel/oil, however I never went as far as puting a flame to it. What I actually did was took a glass of water and used one of those coolant concentration testers on it, took note of where the marking on the gauge was, then tested the brown 'mistery liquid'- it came up exactly the same as the tap water.

Out of curiosity, how often do you need to drain your CC and do you have it vented or is it running back into your turbo inlet for a bit better vaccuum?
 
I have a catch can run the same way as you on a new motor and also getting water. I dont have one going to the turbo intake because I dont want that nasty water oil mix in the intake I have a tube running to the bottom of the car from the top of the can. The water is normal in the winter. I check/drain it every 2 weeks to keep it from freezing.
 
I have the vent on top, it works super good unless the can gets full, then it sprays that mess everywhere. I'd rather wipe down a little of the hood and the valve cover than have to clean out the inside of the intake and IC pipes all the time. F that.

I try to do it every oil change in summer, and whenever I check the oil in winter (every week or two). It gets super full in a couple months.

Thanks for the reminder, I need to empty it today. :)
 
weith1111 said:
Same here. Oil is completely understandable, but the clearish liquid did concern me as well. I thought it may be gas which made me crap myself, but it's not flammable, so I tend to agree it must be water/vapor. I notice the can is filling up more now than in summer, so cold temps, condensation in winter time would make the vapor more abundant.

I think you are safe.


Just wondering how you found that out? Typical dsmer, I wonder if this.....Kaboom!
 
This is absolutely great news :D

Guess I'll either leave the breather on the CC or put back on the third hose and run it under the car somewhere . . .

What about hooking it up to the exhaust? I've heard that can create a vaccuum effect and help pull the vapors out. How would one go about doing this?
 
D_Eclipse9916 said:
Just wondering how you found that out? Typical dsmer, I wonder if this.....Kaboom!

Heheh . . . I was wondering that as well . . . it has the consistency and attitude of water on latex gloves (behaves different than gasoline). I'm thinkin of maybe splashing some out on the ground and see if it lights. Or even soak some string in it, but I'd bet $100 it's just some nasty water. . . .I'll try and get a pic tonight to share :thumb:
 
D_Eclipse9916 said:
Just wondering how you found that out? Typical dsmer, I wonder if this.....Kaboom!
Well since gasoline isn't explosive, only gas fumes, I just emptied the can, let the oil separate, took it outside, busted out the lighter. Nothing!

I'm not too scared of fire. After some 2nd degree burns it will be a different situation, but that hasn't happend...yet.:D
 
I was just going to run a hose from the dump at the bottom of the can to the ground below. That should prevent buildup. The emissions freaks won't like hearing that, but the amount of residue from blowby, etc, at one point of time is nothing. Seems like a lot when you have 1/4 cup after 4 weeks, but think of how many hours of operation that is. It's not like there will be an oil trail behind me.

Really, anyone leaking from their oil pan or turbo outlet is dropping more oil in a day than I will in a month.
 
Here is a jar full of the stuff I'm draining out every week or two . . . As you can see there is a thin layer of oil at the top, the milky stuff (from what I've been told) is a water/oil mix that (given enough time) will eventually separate, and the stuff at the bottom is some NASTY water.
 

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terefic181 said:
Here's another thread from a while back.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182802&highlight=catch+can+water

Check your fluids to see if you have any cross contamination, if not, it's more than likely just condensation.

:)

Thanks for the link . . . looks pretty much like what I have. No cross-contamination . . . just swapped out radiator 2 nights ago and the coolant drained out of there was clean- also the dipstick shows no sign of coolant in the block.

Last I checked, compression #'s were good across the board as well, so I seriously doubt it's a failing HG.

I do thank you all for your replys and insight- glad this didn't turn out for the worst :D
 
I have the exact same stuff that you have in that bottle. It started after I hooked my PCV valve up to the catch can, like you did. I also have to empty it twice as often now that I hooked the PCV up to it as well. Gross.
 
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