After you pass the 450rwhp mark, oil in your intake (pulled in from your throttle body and from the valley cover become a serious issue. The oil once in your combustion chamber acts to lower the net octane level of the mix and leaves carbon deposits once burned.

We have all seen catch cans both pretty and easy to install. The issue with all of them is that the oil still manages to get into the intake tract although some is caught giving one a false sense of security.

Cartek's catch can is a different story. It has a breather on top and instead of having to go on a singe line (throttle body or intake manifold to valley cover line) it accepts both lines and vents to the atmosphere with no return line. Yes that is right, there is no line back to the intake manifold or throttle body therefore there is zero oil in the combustion chamber. Another aspect is that the oil doesnt explode all over your engine compartment when you beat on your car (verified today). Breathers on the oil filler cap do just that. Carteks can is a custom in house unit that they weld up more input ports to.

Call cartek for details and have them install this thing before you have caked on deposits on your pistons. I did my first head swap at 2800 miles and they were already covered at that time. The next head swap was 4k later and they were again covered after having been completely stripped of carbon deposits. The sooner the better. The cost was very acceptable in view of the fact that a single catch can wont cover both lines and oh yeah....they dont work.

Thanks for the short notice install and the time you took on the phone Dave. I never feel rushed and I know I ask far more questions than the average buyer.

Next install: Cartek's ported L92 heads. I swear I am going to hit 400rwtq at 3500 this time around.

 

So this is just an oil collector, nothing to draw the oil into the can other than crankcase pressure?

Have you tried an small electric vacuum pump, found on some late models, to apply a small amount of vacuum to the crankcase and draw the fumes to the catch can ?

Seeing that the problem is two fold, block ventilation and ring seal I want something to draw the fumes and the catch can to seperate it.

 

Do you get any oil vapor smell? I've run breathers on various cars and when coming to a stop I usually got a strong oil smell coming through the cars vents. If not, this sounds like an excellent solution as I've never liked routing the PCV system back into the intake.

 

Link to where I can get one?

 

Spin, what is the mechanical explanation for why this occurs over 450 rwhp? Is it blowby? Interested because I am having some oiling issues of my own. Pressure with the ported pump is healthy, at least.

 

If one has any questions involving anything to do with LSX related street performance/racing/repair then Dave and Julio are the people to ask, these guys REALLY know their craft.

 

Ask the source.

I will adress some of the questins I know for sure:

Sir, this is a proven product they have been installing for years on cars that see severe race track duty and max effort motors. Eliminating the return lines and venting to the atmosphere isnt a new concept. Every car did that prior to the smog control in the 70's. There is no oil in my intake after 300 miles of beating on the car like I stole it. It works and thats it.

I live 55-60 miles from Garwood NJ and had to do the drive in bumper to bumper traffic. That night I went out to enjoy the car and other various changes. There was zero smell.

 

Click on the cartek logo to the left of the screen.

 

Their website looks nice, but I never found part. Must be me....

I had the same issue without 450RHP, but the standard billet filter system worked for me.

 

So lets just call it what it is, a puke bottle. The 'catch cans' that use the engine vacuum to draw the fumes become puke cans at WOT since no vacuum exists to draw the fumes. Neither are efficient at reducing crankcase pressure at WOT, but at least one does it at part throttle.

Whether you isolate the oil from the intake or use the intake vacuum to ventilate the block, both are really just band aids for poor oil control in the block.

 

I really don't understand this problem well and your comments went right over my head. Can you elaborate a little and maybe explain what a better solution might be?

Thanks.

 

I see it as two problems
1. Ring Seal
2. Block Ventilation

The first problem stems from CAFE standards required by the OEMs, in stock block applications. I believe Ford started it with their 5.0L engine back in the '80's when they reduced ring tension. Ford saw the error of their ways and increased the ring tension but still not as much as originally. GM followed suit in reducing ring tension.

This reduced ring tension increases the chances of blow-by which in turn increases the pressure in the crankcase. This pressure has to go somewhere.

The second is block ventilation. This is built into the design of the block. In the early years of the LS1 many Corvette owners complained of high oil consumption. GM determined drivers with the 6 speed was holding a low gear and keeping the revs up.

The design of the first LS blocks, the area between the mains was fairly isolated from each other and this was causing a large portion of the problem. When you have a crank, cam, rods, pistons etc rotating and oil dripping down from the top it beats the snot out of the oil and turns it to froth. GM's fix was to make the 'windows bigger' and the LS6 block was born. The LS2 was improved some more and the LS3 block has received more improvements in this area.

Professional race cars use dry sump systems to suck the oil/froth etc from the block, pass it thru an aerator and into an oil tank. The LS7 is a good example of this. It's all done to reduce parasitic drag on the rotating assy and to free up some horsepower.

When using dry sump systems there is a negative pressure in the block, this is to draw in the loose oil flying around and reduce the pressure on the back side of the ring. This helps reduce ring flutter at high RPM's which helps seal better which allows the engine builder to use less tension ... so it's an accumulative process in this aspect. It has been shown though that there is a line between too much and not enough.

If you go to your local circle track you will see in the lower classes that the engines have a tube connecting the two valve covers together, this is to reduce any oil from dripping on the headers from the filters to equalize the pressure between the two halves of the block.

Years ago in drag racing it was popular to use a 'pan evac' system which consisted of carefully placed tubes in each collector to draw a vacuum in the engine, via the valve covers. The problem with this is the tubes had to be in the right spot, right angle and have sufficient flow at WOT to draw a vacuum. When they worked, they did so only at WOT.

Then they went on to adapt AIR pumps to work as vacuum pumps but they were really troublesome. Moroso and others now make dedicated pumps for this. They are belt driven and can be adjusted for the vacuum level desired.

Because of the problems early on with the LS1 and continuing today, people have gone to installing a 'catch can' between the PCV valve and the vacuum source. This can has two chambers with a screen assy to separate the oil and air and in theory, and most applications, allowed no oil in the intake. The problem with this setup is that under WOT there is no vacuum and therefore no ventilation. So, not effective at WOT.

The system from Cartek, as described above, removes the vacuum altogether and only catches the oil pushed out by the crankcase pressure. Again, not effective unless your only desire is to eliminate the oil in the intake.

As HP goes up, in stock block applications, there tends to be more blow by because the rings are operating outside their intended application. It's nobodies fault, it just happens.

I believe the proper way is the same as in the past with AIR pumps, only using the current electric pumps with a catch can inline to separate the oil. This will allow a negative pressure in the block, with good ring seal, nearly all the time and isolates the oil from the intake. These pumps are less than $100 and the motors can be replaced separately.

 

wow. I need to read that again, glenb.

 

Sorry that it's kind of long, but I felt some cause and effect might be helpful to understand what the cans are used for.

I hope I put it in a way that it could be understood.

 

The electric vacuum pump?

 

 

Wow. Fantastic explanation. This should be in the sticky. Thanks!

 

Define worked.

To me the term 'worked' means that there is zero oil in your intake manifold. Is that what you are saying?

A standard billet filter goes on one of the 2 inlet lines. Either the TB line or the valley cover to intake manifold line. The other still allows oil to make its way in. Take off the intkae and if there is any oil in the runners, it doesnt work. That means you need 2 of them and if there is a return line, it still doesnt work.

The purpose for me putting the website location down was to get the telephone number to call them and see why the builders of the fastest N/A cars run 10.8 in the 1/4 stock bottom end on a C6. All the other rants on theory of ring seal and so forth dont address the real issue: oil in the intake is bad and the cars with this mod dont have ring seal problems, ring blow-by, or run poorly. They do have very clean combustion chambers and dont have octane skewed tuning issues or puffs of smoke comming from the tailpipes when you come off the gas.

I posted this to show my observations of a mod that worked for me. I dont sell them or get any kick-backs from Cartek. The mod doesnt make them any money since its so cheap. The issues of what happens with the breather in place are true but it comes down to which is worse and what is actually observed. Oil in the intake tract is very bad. The oil blow by from ring seal issues can be bad to but its not observed. I did this mod since I am porting the heads on my car and will remove all the carbon deposits on the pistons prior to running the car. At the 2k mark I will remove the heads and see the new carbon levels. If nothing changes, I will let everyone know that too. Perhaps you all should call cartek and ask what the reasons for the mod are. Maybe its the lesser of 2 evils. In any event the 25 bucks they make on the modded can isnt going to keep any of them awake at night if they dont get it. Me either; Im not a supporting vendor.

 

No, what the 'rant' does is set the table to understand the how and why the oil gets there in the first place.

Some people don't care and just buy the latest greastest because some one says they need it, others would like to know some background.

My approach isn't ground breaking nor is Carteks. And because they run 10.8's doesn't make them the be all to end all. Their device is inexpensive and simple and, as I stated, works for the intended purpose. It can be duplicated with parts from Home Depot for less.

I mentioned my way only as an alternative and to show that there are other means to consider.

 

Couldn't find this part there as well.