Help me fix my mistake and install an oil catch for my truck

[oilpan49]

Well, what I thought I was going good for my truck by installing breather filters, was not a good idea and just down right wrong.

So before any problems develop in my truck, I would like to correct this problem. All I know about catch systems is they seperate the oil and fumes and prevent them from entering the crankcase.

first off, I need resources. Where to buy, what to buy etc... If anyone can give a boost start or a basic idea how to install this catch system or where to get parts, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you,,,,op

 

[SHOZ]

I use 10" piece 3" aluminum conduit with 3" rubber caps. The rubber caps will harden over time so either replace them every year or line the inside of the cap with a oil friendly material.

Anyway I tapped two 3/8" pipe threads into the pipe about 2" from one end and 180 degrees apart. Screw 90 degree 3/8" hose barbs into these holes.

Then took a 3.125" x 1/8" thick piece of plastic that was just a bit longer than the pipe and cut a V in one end. This end is opposite the holes for the hose barb fittings. Slide it in separating the two hose barbs with it.

Add some hose to the PVC system with the new catch can inserted before the PCV valve. Mine also has a check valve that is held closed when the engine is running. The PCV system will be under a slight vacuum and this helps the ball stay closed. When the car is off the ball opens up and drains out the nasty condensate.

 

[SHOZ]

I've had one of these in various forms for about 4 years on my V8 Taurus.

Originally I ran the crankcase sealed so there was a strong vacuum, around 10" Hg when the intake vacuum was above that. Worked good and help seal the check ball. But it had quite the pumping noises caused by air leaking past the TB and other areas so I run it at normal PCV pressures, ~1" Hg of vacuum when intake vacuum is is 15"Hg.

The larger the better as you will collect quite a bit of liquid if this is done correctly. About 100 ml to 200 ml a week. Also the higher the dew point the more liquid condensed. While driving from California back home to Illinois in the summer there was very little collected in the dry west but as soon as I got into the corn country the condensate volume increased substantially.

What I have found is there is a considerable amount of blow by heated and in a gas form. This condenses out in the large aluminum container, I have it mounted outside the engine compartment for lowest temperatures. I have also observed that the yellow gunk condensate that normally gets sucked in as a gas is about 75% water and the rest light petroleum liquids. No "heavy" oils to speak of. It will also evaporate leaving behind very little residue.

This yellow gunk is what carbons up your intake and valves. Since using this I can take my intake off after 30k miles and there is only a very light carbon coating on the valves and a small amount of brown oil in the intake. Normally this cokes up on the V8 to the point of interfering with the secondary butterflies in the lower intake manifold just above the valves.

Here is a view looking down into it showing the baffle two ports and the check valve.

 

[Gary Allan]

I'll give you a basic theory here ...to augment SHOZ'S post.

Do you know how a shop vac works? Basically you take a high velocity flow and empty it into a larger chamber ..where it loses all its velocity (flow that screams through a small pipe/hose ..crawls through a bigger chamber). When it loses its velocity, the heavier particles drop to the bottom and the lighter stuff (mostly air) exits back into a higher velocity tube/hose/pipe. The same theory is used for spray dryers, dust collectors, clarifiers, and all kinds of other "stuff" where you want to separate particles that are held in suspension by the velocity of the flow alone. Take away the velocity of the flow ..the particles can't stay in suspension and drop out.

If you want to get fancy, get an air/oil separator for a higher volume air compressor.

Here's a cheap one, with limited volume capacity. The bigger, the better

Just google "oil separators" and you'll find lots of them

In addition to SHOZ'S preferred construction, one could merely take a 1.5" piece of tubing, put small fittings 180 out and at opposite ends of the tube. Have the crankcase side enter on the bottom ..have the suction side leave via the top. Unless you have a 1000 mile non-stop trip, any accumulation will just drain back into the crankcase. All the volatiles should still be processed in the combustion cycle ..but the oil that gets entrained will be returned. The baffle that SHOZ'S suggested would shorten the needed length for the tube.

 

[surfstar]

You can save yourself some fabbing and get one on ebay for $2 plus $18 shipping. Just search for oil catch can.

 

[SHOZ]

What I made is a flow through condensator. The oil catch cans may be a good product to modify but will not do the job of removing the blowby gas as they come. No baffle or separation. Most I have seen on eBay look like thy would make a good brake bleeder container though.

You would be amazed at the quantity of blowby gas that is produced when the temps are low and the humidity high. From what I have seen of other's attempts with the catch can type located in the engine compartment it takes weeks to trap as much as I can get in a day or two with the can in a cool area.

 

[robbobster]

$15 home depot air/oil spearator works great on my 5.4L Expedition.

I get tons of blow by with the supercharger, these work as well as the expensive aftermarket ones.

 

[SHOZ]

I've seen the engine bay mounted air compressor/oil separators on the Lightnings. They don't compare to the blowby gunk I can pull out on a NA motor.

 

[robbobster]

quote:

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I've seen the engine bay mounted air compressor/oil separators on the Lightnings. They don't compare to the blowby gunk I can pull out on a NA motor.

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Quit bragging!

 

[Drew99GT]

Do you guys put just a catch can on the PCV line, or do you also put another one on the fresh air line? I'm thinkin about doing this; for what reason I have no clue

I think my car has so much blowby at times that it overwhelmes the PCV line and actually goes through the fresh air line cause there's tons of oil in both lines.

 

[robbobster]

I run it on both and get equal amounts of oil in each.

 

[Gary Mintz]

Here's a thought put the stuff you took off back on or did you put it in the trash.

 

[Deere John]

What's the difference between a catch can and a condensator? I have plans to build a condensator that uses BB's or other materials inside.Do they help gas mileage? Condensator builders claim large gains in mpg.

 

[SHOZ]

A catch can is used to catch overflow. The condensators will turn the blowby gas into a liquid which then will be trapped.

On mine the PCV system is completely stock with the exception of added hoses and the con can. I just added to the PCV lines as they come from the oil separator and insert the can, then ran the exit hose from the can back to the actual PCV valve.

If the intake line is full off oil sounds like you need some Auto-RX to clean out the piston rings.