Catch can Question
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 702
Likes: 82
From: Ronkonkoma NY
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Catch can Question
I changed the oil today and as an after thought remembered to check the catch can. It had about one and half ounces of oil in it. Is this normal?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,038
Likes: 1
From: North York Ontario
It really depends on how many miles and how hard you accellerate. That being said when I emptied mine at the end of last seasons driving (approximately 10,000 miles) it had about that much in it. I don't track my car but ehjoy the occasional spirited drive. I was shocked how much it had, one way to look at it is if you did not have the catch can that would have went directly into your intake manifold? From now on I am going to empty it every oil change.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 2
The amount in the can depends on driving style. Think of it this way, that is over an ounce of oil that didn't make it into the engine, and thats a good thing.
I empty mine every 1500 miles or so, and usually get 1 to 1.5 oz out. I do play a lot in the twisty mountain roads here in Oregon..
I empty mine every 1500 miles or so, and usually get 1 to 1.5 oz out. I do play a lot in the twisty mountain roads here in Oregon..
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Tech Contributor
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,094
Likes: 197
From: Colorado Springs, CO
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
Get a breather can and go old school like chevy did back then.....and normal was no oil in the intake. I have the breather can on for 9k miles now and never see a reduction in oil levels between changes. No blow-by here either therefore.
LG is correct that LS2's consume oil as a normal factory issue. Normal isnt optimum though.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 327
Likes: 0
I agree its norrmal for pollution controled vehicles but the engine shouldnt be ingestion any oil whatsoever. Oil in the combustion chamber is a bad thing, lowers octane rating, causes carbon deposits, and reduces power.
Get a breather can and go old school like chevy did back then.....and normal was no oil in the intake. I have the breather can on for 9k miles now and never see a reduction in oil levels between changes. No blow-by here either therefore.
LG is correct that LS2's consume oil as a normal factory issue. Normal isnt optimum though.
Get a breather can and go old school like chevy did back then.....and normal was no oil in the intake. I have the breather can on for 9k miles now and never see a reduction in oil levels between changes. No blow-by here either therefore.
LG is correct that LS2's consume oil as a normal factory issue. Normal isnt optimum though.
Thanks
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Makena, Maui & NM
Last edited by siffert; Mar 21, 2009 at 08:58 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,002
Likes: 2
From: Carlsbad CA
I removed mine because I HATE emptying it! It makes it very difficult. I am going to put it back on but I am going to modify the bottom. I'm going to change the fitting to accept a length of hose then wind that down and attach it to something. The end of the hose will have a brass stop ****. The when I change my oil I just need to drain my catch can without all the hassle. 
This is the style I have:
This is the style I have:
Last edited by Poppy's Vette; Mar 21, 2009 at 01:19 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,002
Likes: 2
From: Carlsbad CA
That's way easier! I wish I would have researched them more before I bought mine because it's a terrible design, from a routine service perspective
Tech Contributor
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,094
Likes: 197
From: Colorado Springs, CO
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
I removed mine because I HATE emptying it! It makes it very difficult. I am going to put it back on but I am going to modify the bottom. I'm going to change the fitting to accept a length of hose then wind that down and attach it to something. The end of the hose will have a brass stop ****. The when I change my oil I just need to drain my catch can without all the hassle.
This is the style I have:
This is the style I have:
One is seen here on this car on the right side.
You can see the plugged nput on the accodian coupler.
My current setup the can isnt visible but you see the filter on the oil filler cap and there is no nipple on my intake tract with the accordian coupler replaced by a silcone coupler.
Last edited by SpinMonster; Mar 21, 2009 at 11:13 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 2
What you have there and its 100% ineffective since oil gets back to the intake is a catch can and its not a breather can. A breather has 2 inputs, no outputs and a breather/air filter on top.
One is seen here on this car on the right side.
You can see the plugged nput on the accodian coupler.
My current setup the can isnt visible but you see the filter on the oil filler cap and there is no nipple on my intake tract with the accordian coupler replaced by a silcone coupler.
One is seen here on this car on the right side.
You can see the plugged nput on the accodian coupler.
My current setup the can isnt visible but you see the filter on the oil filler cap and there is no nipple on my intake tract with the accordian coupler replaced by a silcone coupler.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 12,094
Likes: 197
From: Colorado Springs, CO
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
You run a oil cap breather and a breather on the top of the catch can.
Once you make big HP, you will be pulling in way too much oil. Cartek put the breather on my car and stated they use it on all cars north of 450rwhp.
I use no oil between changes so the blow-by theorists are wrong. You will not get more blow by or a better statement would be that you will be burning less oil in the combustion chamber. I have had my heads off 4 times since the breather set-up went on my car and the psitons are so clean compared to before it. Carbon is a bad thing. If there was substantially more blow by, the pistons would still be dirty...they arent.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 2
Thanks..Reason I chimed in was I have the same type of catch can, and recently pulled my TB off to have it ported. I ran a white rag into the intake with one of the spring fingers and it came out stained with oil. Not a lot but some. The catch can has been on the car since the 600 mile mark. This had me thinking about the effectiveness of the system I have. I was going to add some type of media in the can in hope of coalescing more oil, but now I'm going to rethink/revamp the whole system..Thanks for the info..
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 2
As stated, I get between 1-1.5oz of oil out of the can every 1500 miles or so. So the can is catching some, but not all the oil mist out of the crankcase. I have see some pictures of manifolds with actual puddles of oil in them..
I know some guys in C5's were running two cans in series, others have come up with systems using air/oil separators from air compressor systems..
I know some guys in C5's were running two cans in series, others have come up with systems using air/oil separators from air compressor systems..