Is My Catch Can Install Correct?

[boostn0199]

Ive just installed my oil catch can and have searched through the pages to find a lot of different ways people have said to install them so I installed mine as pictured below in plumb back way. Is it correct?

[R31Nismoid]

Where is your bottom hose going?

Side point... another one of those silly greddy tin's.

They don't have any condenser/separator in them...

[boostn0199]

The bottom hose is going to the air feed in the intake pipe. Are you meant to put wool or something in them if theve got nothing?

[The Dan]

It's hooked up correctly, but the factory hookup would work the same with that can....even with ss wool inside

[boostn0199]

but the factory hookup would work the same with that can....even with ss wool inside

So are you saying the wool helps or not? and whats the factory hook up?

[lachlanw]

yes it is correct .

albiet ugly . i left the hose joining the cam covers and ran the one off the spare spigot on the left cover

yes you might expect the empty catch can to do nothing but they do actually work . i have pu tone on when i did my fmic and 18 months later it has a film of oil in it and my intercooler pipes are totaly oiless . i mean spot less . mind you my motor is pretty tight

all you have to do now is f**k the PCV system off

[PM-R33]

Atmo venting catch can for the win

[boostn0199]

Atmo venting catch can for the win

Yeah but theres anther defect if you get pulled over

[PM-R33]

Not if you can't see the catch can

But yeah obviously a defect.

[tom_v]

Whats the benefit of getting rid of the pcv system?? Do you remove it by blocking it off???

[gotRICE?]

Whats the benefit of getting rid of the pcv system?? Do you remove it by blocking it off???

Yep block it off. It will vent through the catch can.

The only issue i had when i did this, mine was an atmo venting mind you, was that after a while the car started blowing smoke at low rpm. Taking off from lights.. coming to a stop.

I emailed a few SAU people, and Rob from RIPS,seemed as if there wasnt enough breathing with the PCV blocked. Put it back to normal and the smoking stopped instantly and hasnt come back Possibly with the intake sucking away at it it may have been ok.

Something to consider. I dont know if anyone else has had the issues.

Mine

Dont let the Stock plumb back line fool you Its blocked with a bung, but stealthly for stock looking piping. Haha

Edited June 24, 2010 by gotRICE?

[lachlanw]

yeah either remove it all together (pull valve out of rockercover and put a bung in it , cap the nipple on the plenum ) or block the line if it stil has to look legal .

doesnt have to in NZ

all the pvc does is fill your plenum up with oil residue any time you are not on boost

if you have good size lines and it set up like above you will never have smoking issues

atmo venting catch cans are f**kin stupid . they create way more headaches than they solve ( unlless done properly , which 99% arnt )

[PM-R33]

Way more headaches ? The photo above is an atmo venting catch can and you just said you will never have issues. I don't get what you mean, your contradicting yourself.

Mine has no issues what so ever.

Edited June 24, 2010 by PM-R33

[gotRICE?]

Yeah im confused too.. lol. How is yours setup PM-R33?

Why does an atmo venting cause issues over a non atmo? And what are the headaches other than issues i came across?

RIPS also said that it was the 1st they had heard of with mine. So i dunno...

[PM-R33]

Mine is just the two rear lines off of the RB26 covers going into a catch can with a filter on it hidden out of view, similar to what yours is. It barely gets any oil in it though, maybe a millimetre every 5000km when I service it and clean it out.

[gotRICE?]

Oh yep. Is your PCV blocked too?

I re-instated my PCV, and live with the occasional idle hunt because of the un-afm'd air getting in

Mine didnt get alot of oil either, it was more like oil condensation sticking to the walls of the catch can haha. That, and the breather filter went black.. so theres a bit getting through i guess.

[Hanaldo]

Little bit off topic but it has been mentioned, would it be possible to use one of these empty cans, and put some air filter paper in it? Been reading a bit about catch cans, and I know some people say to put SS wool inside a stocking and then put that in the can. But wouldn't filter paper do a better job of filtering the oil from the air?

Still not 100% sure on how catch cans work, so I dunno if that is a stupid suggestion or not

[PM-R33]

Catch cans seem to be a very miss understood concept and I always seem to post a quick explanation. Can't for the love of me find my last explanation so i'll have to retype it damnit.

There are two main ways to install a catch can (I say two main ways because there are slight variances in each).

First way is the legal way. The reason it is the legal way is because you can not vent crank ventilation gases/oil into the atmosphere, it must be burnt through the engine and go through the vehicles exhaust system. Therefore the catch can must be in series with the engines current ventilation system. This method is more an oil/air seperator as the oily air goes through the catch can and then continues to go through the engine. This method you are trying to seperate as much of the oil from the air as you can before it continues on through the engine. This is why people say having a hollow empty can hooked up in this way does dick all. The oily air simply goes into the catch can and comes out the other side back into the engine. Therefore it aint doing much. What you want is the oily air to hit as much of a surface area as you can, hence the steel wool/stockings etc. An even better way is to have the exit of the catch can line higher then the entry so it has as much surface area of the steelwool to hit before it exits.

This way has many variances to the way you hook it up but in essence it is the same. Oily vapour from engine goes into catch can, gets seperated, oil stays in catch can, air goes back through engine and is legal.

The second way is the illegal way as you are venting to atmosphere. In this method you get rid of all the standard crankshaft ventilation gear and block off anything that could cause a vacuum leak. You now usually have two exit points on top of each camshaft cover and you run them into the catch can. This catch can must have an opening, such as a filter as you commonly see, as not to pressurise the crankcase and cause the dip stick to blow out. This method doesn't really require anything in the catch can (would help, but not necessary) as the oily air simply goes into the catch can and either stays in it or vents out through the catch can filter.

You will commonly see old school V8s with filters sticking out the top of the tappet/rocker covers, this is the same thing really. The danger with this is if you get an excessive amount of blow by or if something goes wrong, the oil will shoot out and can easily go onto a hot exhaust manifold causing a fire, hence having a catch can is a lot smarter and safer.

That is it in a nutshell, as you can see the illegal way is a hell of a lot easier, neater and does the job better since there is NO oily air going into the engine. This is the method most people use if the legality aint a big concern.

Edited June 28, 2010 by PM-R33

[Hanaldo]

Thanks for that Phil, clarifies a few things for me. But even still, wouldn't air filter do a better job of providing a surface area than the steel wool?

[PM-R33]

Yeah probably would. I suppose the only thing is you would have to replace it every now and then, where as the steel wool you don't really need to.