DIY: Cheap and easy oil catch can

[ctrlraven]

http://www.aaronreedbaker.com/oil.html

I have had the hardest time in the world trying to do the Home Depot or Lowes catch can with finding an oil/air separator so I've been searching for something else. Came across this link and it is a fairly easy build and I know I can find the parts anywhere, especially the bottle, Wal-Mart has tons of them.

Just thought I'd pass this along.

[fastblackmerc]

IMHO....... You need some type of baffle(s) in the can to be effective.

[musclemerc]

Birdman save your money. They do nothing for the oil vapors. Your intake track will still be oily when your done. Those have a filter designed to catch water droplets, oil is much denser than water. Please don't fill it with a brillo pad either, they will rust and destroy your intake, I've seen all attempts at making baffles, SS pads, shreaded aluminum, etc.

[ctrlraven]

Originally Posted by musclemerc

Birdman save your money. They do nothing for the oil vapors. Your intake track will still be oily when your done. Those have a filter designed to catch water droplets, oil is much denser than water. Please don't fill it with a brillo pad either, they will rust and destroy your intake, I've seen all attempts at making baffles, SS pads, shreaded aluminum, etc.

Already got a solution for the oil vapors. I'm not going to be spending a lot of money on this, got most of the stuff laying right around in my garage.

[Marauderjack]

Why do we need a "Catch Can"???

I have a bunch of miles on my original motor with over 135K miles Supercharged and have never had a problem....that I know of??

What am I missing......if anything??

[musclemerc]

On a N/A MM the upper and lower intake is always coated with oil. The oil and the vapors are passed through the PCV track and into the intake. All of them do this so over the years some put breather's on (mostly Eaton swaps but then the cam cover's are soaked in oil constantly and the system is no longer cloosed loop), some have used catch can's with breathers built on them (Does nothing for oil vapors because they are'nt baffled, the PCV system is'nt a closed loop system, and the fumes are being released through the filter), some have used just a catch can (these don't have baffles and still lead to the intake being coated in oil, from the oil vapors passing through the can), some of us have baffled catch cans (these catch both the oil and the vapors from entering the intake) and will keep both upper and lower clean

On another note it has always been said the guy's running FIT system need to convert to the Novi PCV setup, the FIT system came out of the box with an incorrect PCV setup.

[Marauderjack]

Never even started the car with the FIT setup!!!

I gutted the OEM PCV (made it into a 90* fitting) and connected it to the fresh air tube before the blower!!

Then I used a Mustang Cobra SC PCV (EV-111) valve on the driver's side plumbed to the intake port for the PCV!!

It has worked flawlessly for nearly 5 years!!

[babbage]

Originally Posted by ctrlraven

Already got a solution for the oil vapors. I'm not going to be spending a lot of money on this, got most of the stuff laying right around in my garage.

The kit I got from Musclemerc is very functional AND good looking. It mounts nice and neat near the shock tower. I'll have to post some pictures. $130 for the kit I think it what they are going for...

Take a peek inside your intake or push the throttle body open and put a flash light in there. Its all covered in OIL!! I'm betting that all of that oil sucked into the intake helps the seals to fail - that's why you get smoke on startup and I DON'T.

[ctrlraven]

Originally Posted by babbage

The kit I got from Musclemerc is very functional AND good looking. It mounts nice and neat near the shock tower. I'll have to post some pictures. $130 for the kit I think it what they are going for...

Take a peek inside your intake or push the throttle body open and put a flash light in there. Its all covered in OIL!! I'm betting that all of that oil sucked into the intake helps the seals to fail - that's why you get smoke on startup and I DON'T.

Oh I know I clean my TB and intake every 6 months.

I only get a little smoke on startup after the car has been sitting longer than a week, it also has 144k miles on it and it hasn't been driving Miss Daisy around.

[SILVERSURFER03]

wait a min i may be cheap but im not easy .......hahaha

[CBT]

Originally Posted by SILVERSURFER03

wait a min i may be cheap but im not easy .......hahaha

That is NOT what she said.
I wonder if a filter off an air compressor would work? Or are they not baffled? You know the kind I'm talking about, clear, rounded at one end, threaded on the other.

[musclemerc]

Thanks for the plug Babb's...

Originally Posted by babbage

The kit I got from Musclemerc is very functional AND good looking. It mounts nice and neat near the shock tower. I'll have to post some pictures. $130 for the kit I think it what they are going for...

Take a peek inside your intake or push the throttle body open and put a flash light in there. Its all covered in OIL!! I'm betting that all of that oil sucked into the intake helps the seals to fail - that's why you get smoke on startup and I DON'T.

[babbage]

Originally Posted by ctrlraven

Oh I know I clean my TB and intake every 6 months.

I only get a little smoke on startup after the car has been sitting longer than a week, it also has 144k miles on it and it hasn't been driving Miss Daisy around.

Try some Auto-Rx to clean and recondition the seals. The catch can system that musclemerc put together works well.

I don't baby mine either. Impressive that you are running a 13.7 N/A with over 100k on the clock.

I hope to still be running 13's after 100K someday...

[musclemerc]

You did the PCV path correctly Jack, and you kept the closed loop system. The Cobra PCV valve seals better than our stock unit but if your intake starts to get oily then consider the catch can. Your running a Centri so you got less to loose but the Eaton guy's on the other hand have alot to loose. Intercooler, and pulling the blower for service to degrease it.

Originally Posted by Marauderjack

Never even started the car with the FIT setup!!!

I gutted the OEM PCV (made it into a 90* fitting) and connected it to the fresh air tube before the blower!!

Then I used a Mustang Cobra SC PCV (EV-111) valve on the driver's side plumbed to the intake port for the PCV!!

It has worked flawlessly for nearly 5 years!!

[ImpalaSlayer]

wile reading this, i just remembered that i no longer get smoke on start up with 2 breathers. how ever, like Musclemerc said, they do make a mess. i have one of his catch cans, but haven't gotten it rigged up yet.