I bought the hose at Detroit Speed Shops, but any performance shop should sell the. Just standard Earl's hose and fittings.

I bought the can from gulfcoastperformance.com, a forum vendor.

 

It is incredible how much oil these things catch. I just emptied mine the other day after about 5000 miles and there was several ounces that came out.

 

Two ounces in 5000 miles (a fairly typical number) is about 1 gallon of oil recovered in 320,000 mile. That's an oil-to-gas ratio of 1:12800. It may sound like a lot, but it is not really a problem.

 

I wonder more about if the oil ingestion is not a steady-state issue, but one where it happens in episodes of larger amounts at certain times. This could lead to far greater oil/ fuel ratios at times. Possibly causing fouling, knocking, etc.
GM

 

Mine was a quart low the other day. I need a catchcan. I hear the LSX motors eat oil? I am new to this and have never heard of a newer engine using oil like this. I guess the catchcan is worth a shot

 

If you have a stock vehicle , no you dont really need a catch can BUT it will help keep the intake track cleaner .(clean intake is a happy intake).

The more hp you make the more you will want a catch can .

As i was breaking in my 408 stoker motor i was filling a Norris catch can
half full every few days and after break in its putting out about 2-3 ounces every 5k with normal driving .

If im out racing on a saturday night spraying a meduim to big shot that can will be 1/2-3/4 full in the morning .

The more you put your foot on the floor the more you change that "steady-state" .

As you build power higher it becomes more important to keep the oil out of the air/fuel because oil introduced into the intake will hurt the a/f ratio in boosted/nitrous cars that demand higher octain fuels .

With a catch can you have a steady a/f , without a catch can you have a less steady a/f/o ratio.

 

good info, however, i would disagree with the applicability of the findings in relation to 'oil catch-can' implementation.

the gasoline additives that limit the formation of deposits apply to the 'deposits' that would be formed from the gasoline itself. the 'additives' do not prevent deposits from forming when the contaminants are in addition too what is contained in the gasoline. the additives prevent the gasoline from leaving as many deposits but when and if additional contaminants are introduced the effectiveness of the 'additive' is reduced.

the pcv system is what introduces the 'additional contaminant' into the system, which is not addressed by the fuel additive, and has a tendancy to lead to 'carbon build-up'.

in answer to the op, yes, imo, a 'oil-catch can' is better than a pcv valve/baffle. if the ls2 used a pcv valve i would replace it with the can, but since it uses a baffled system from the valley, i simply use the catch-can as an addition to the baffle(s).

“After combustion chamber deposits form, thermal insulation of the piston increases and the cylinder temperature rises." ...

which leads to detonation and the reduction of output potential.

if the build-up goes through the stages described above that implies that the 'tune' would also be in a constant state of change.

imo, it's much easier to 'remove' the potential for additional contaminants by using an oil catch-can, and let the fuel additives work as designed (since the effectiveness of the additive is based on the formula of the gasoline that is used - each 'mix' of gaoline is slightly different and each uses additives specific to the 'mix').

 

 

It's always good to consider more than one opinion in a technical discussion and that is why I posted.

My posts on combustion chamber deposits are based on having examined test engines run for 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 500,000 and 1,000,000 miles and working 25 years with a major oil company. The point was that BOTH gasoline and synthetic oil have effective additives to limit combustion chamber deposits and today's engines are designed to run hotter than in the past for good reasons.

If you read the posts you would also understand that I didn't tell anyone not to install a catch can if that makes them happy. I simply said the amount of oil ingested by a healthy, stock or lightly modified (CAI, headers and moderate tune) engine is NOT the problem it appears to be. You are on your own after heavy modifications (cams, heads and aggressive tune) and a catch can might be needed.

These comments were posted after seeing the picture of an engine with a light coating of carbon after 14,000 miles being used to "demonstrate" the magnitude of this problem. That was funny. Those familiar with these engines understand the LS2 and LS3 are just starting to bloom at 14,000 miles. The slight build-up of carbon is actually beneficial in that it insulates the piston/combustion chamber and slightly raises compression. In a healthy engine the deposits will not increase to the degree you fear (you are using the GM recommended fuels and oil?).

Sometimes, ingested oiling problems are a simple case of over filling the engine. For example, Ducati owners complain about excessive oil in the intake system and how much oil is "used" by the engine. The oil level drops and they add more oil. When they were asked to monitor the oil level carefully they found it quickly dropped to a specific level after an oil change and then remained stable. Your engine may be telling you something and a lesson can be learned by listening to it. Don't overlook the obvious (and I am not saying to let it drop to unsafe levels - just see if oil usage is reduced with a slightly lower fill). Crankcase windows and dip sticks are not always accurate.

Just a final comment to **** everyone off :

Kevin Cameron once said that in his opinion there were two kinds of engine builders and mechanics. The first studied, thought for themselves and learned rather than blindly accepting conventional wisdom (which is often wrong). The second needed a "Daddy". As in "Daddy, please tell me what to do" and they usually embraced conventional wisdom. Think and explore all sides of a technical question.



EDIT: Oil is cheap compared with the cost of your engine. Change your oil at 5000 to 7000 miles depending on driving conditions and enjoy the car (there might be additional benefits when alternating gasolines with slightly different additive packages). The engine will be fine in 200,000 miles.