Ok I know several vendors on here sell them but I'm not a fan of over spending. So my question is, Is there really that much difference in the $90-130 tanks the vendors sale an the $30 ones on the famous auction site??

 

I actually was wondering the same thing. I've been reading a lot and there even seems to be a divide as to whether or not the catch can is actually needed.

 

Well I ain't gonna lie I drive my car really hard an during the tear down of the motor we found alot of oil in the intake an the 7 & 8 pistons showed alot of signs of oil buildup on them. The engine builder is pretty sure the excessive oil in the intake was the cause of alot of the smoke from the exhaust warnting me to do the tear down. So I'm gonna go with one its just a matter of how much I'm gonna shell out for one.

 

Yes its caleche to say but this topic has been discussed to death and you will find that reasearching the topic will answer all your questions. You will look under oil consumption , PVC & oil catch cans . Heck look under my handle or Dave68's and you will find more information than you would want.


RIP1976; you have and LS1 but fail to mention if you have a manual or auto tranny. Or how much oil consumption you have between changes. If you are an aggresive driver , you will be more prone to oil blow-by. The LS1 PVC system is not effective as the 'dirty' crankcase vapors elude the baffle/seperator . The LS6 baffle seperator isn't much better with its new position under the manifold . Even the LS2 owners complain about oil consumption and that PVC system uses baffles/ oil seperators at both fresh air inlet and dirty crank vapor outlets.

The origin of the problem is with the Gen3 block and the coolant passages around the siamesed cylinder bores. There isn't enough coolant to control bore temperatures ( plus the fact that bore diameters were not machined to closer tolerances). The result is that the cylinder bores have 'hot spots' that distort the roundness and taper of the bores. The thin, flat faced ,9 pound tension rings can not contain the blow-by at conditions of high engine speed and low engine load. "Ring flutter" results and oil blow-bye is the result.

The patch job that GM did was to not address the LS1/LS6 Gen3 block but to install Napier (scraper) faced , 13 pound tension ring(s) ( one number two ring for warranty 1999-2001 M/Y and complete revised Napier ring pack on 2002-2004 M/Y vehicles). This was semi successful, with no apparent power loss . The real fix came with the LS2 Gen4 block and a much closer piston to bore tolerance and tighter machining tolerances.


Many have made the LS6 PVC conversion in an attempt to control blow-by. But an oil catch tank/ can with a coalescing element , placed away from the engines heat will help the seperation of oil and water vapor from the PVC discharge, thus reducing oil from entering the combustion chamber where it will carbonize on the head , valves, rings, ect. Reducing oil contamination will increase power (stabilize air/fuel ratio), O2 sensor reading and increase CAT life.

The cheap catch cans are hallow with no condensating element and thus the vast majority of dirty crankcase vapor passes thru . The extent of your blow-by issue should determine your need for how effective your choice of catch cans should be. (I use two catch cans in series. One has a Binks particulate filter and the other a Binks coalecsing filter. I have no real oil consumption issue but all performance engine use some oil so I went with over kill, spared no expense as I redesgined the CCA/ Mike Norris catch cans).


Hope this helps clearify the issue.
Resource: Dave Hill,Chief Corvette Engineer/ John Juriga, Asst Chief Engineer for GEN 3 engines/ Mark Durma and Jordon Lee , GMPT Engineers GEN 4 engines/ Dave68 , Conceptualpolymer

 

I just purchased a catch can from CCA. Great folks to deal with and I've heard nothing but good concerning their product. With the amount of mods that I have and a forged bottom end a catch can is a must.