My catch can experiment (L83)

Doublebase · October 6, 2020

You're not going to get much out of the breather vents, most of the oil comes from the crankcase and PCV valve portion.

But yeah, I like catch cans, they at the very least catch oil and don't harm anything. Easy to install, easy to remove. In winter time just make sure you empty it every couple weeks to prevent freezing. Pretty simple.

I own a port injected vehicle now, otherwise I'd install a catchcan on it.

AZ_SS · November 6, 2020

My truck and Camaro are both port injected and have catch cans on them.

Hdwrguy · December 4, 2020

I just wanted to throw my 2 ¢ . I purchased and installed an Elite oil catch can. I can share pics later but I bolted it where the brake booster is and you take off the PCV hose and install it. It grabs the extra oil and keeps it from building up on the valves. I think these should be standard on any direct injection engine.

Here is the link in case you were interested.

https://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/e2-catch-can/#

SARNCAN · December 4, 2020

Is it too late to start using the catch can at about 35k miles?

SinisterZ71 · December 4, 2020

2 hours ago, SARNCAN said:

Is it too late to start using the catch can at about 35k miles?

No

flyingfool · December 4, 2020

2 hours ago, SARNCAN said:

Is it too late to start using the catch can at about 35k miles?

try using a thicker oil, get rid of the 0-20 watery oil and run 5w-30 see if this fixes the oil consumption issue you have

Jimmah · December 5, 2020

On 8/26/2020 at 11:38 AM, Salsa De Piña said:

I'm also interested in cold weather use, though I'd prefer some testing at -40 (feel free to pick your own temperature scale.)

Altho I dont see -40 we do get down to -20, -25 often enough and have had no issues with the Moroso can I installed at 800 miles in 2016. I installed off of the brake booster. I cant imagine not ever having one with all the gunk that has been captured.

I saved all the drainings just in case I had a dealer issue with warranty, (no problems to date). Each bottle represents 10, 000 miles, I've filled 4 but lost one when I moved a few years ago.

In the winter I generally drain every 300 to 500 miles, summer 1000 miles or so. They make for good conversation when I have company out in the garage.

SARNCAN · December 5, 2020

try using a thicker oil, get rid of the 0-20 watery oil and run 5w-30 see if this fixes the oil consumption issue you have

I already have switched to 0w-40 since 22k miles, I wasn’t convinced with 0-20, but still see a very dirty throttle body due to carbon deposits and that definitely tells that whatever is inside, is worse!

SinisterZ71 · December 7, 2020

On 12/4/2020 at 11:04 AM, flyingfool said:

try using a thicker oil, get rid of the 0-20 watery oil and run 5w-30 see if this fixes the oil consumption issue you have

I switched to 5w30 and the catch can still accumulates about the same amount of oil as it did when I was using 0w20.

flyingfool · December 7, 2020

5 hours ago, SinisterZ71 said:

I switched to 5w30 and the catch can still accumulates about the same amount of oil as it did when I was using 0w20.

if you get a chance have a mechanic do a cylinder pressure test or if possible a more elaborate leak down test. . i'm amaized at how much oil you guys seem to capture..

If i was throwing ideas out I would swap in a new pcv valve. no guarantee but its cheap test

next pull all spark plugs and see if any are dark or oily. one member pulled his plugs and found the AFM cyclinders where getting fowled.

flyingfool · December 7, 2020

also should be noted these engines run at high temperatures, and the pistons are high compression, so if your not using full synthetic like Amsoil or Redline oil, you potentially varnish and sludge up the rings and ring land areas on the pistons. causing poor oil sealing and blow by which might be contributing to the high volume of oil being captured in the catch cans. Definatly replace your PCV's as this is cheap part, they could have weak springs or gunked up with junk thats letting excessive vapor bypas into the cans

there could be a deisgn flaw in the oem PCV, if thats the case, I would gut the factory PCV from the manifold , and run over to autozone and pick up aftermarket PCV for an older 90's truck, something that has hose fittings on both ends, splice this after the factory pcv port and run for a few months

Edited December 7, 2020 by flyingfool

flyingfool · December 8, 2020

On 12/4/2020 at 5:42 PM, Jimmah said:

Altho I dont see -40 we do get down to -20, -25 often enough and have had no issues with the Moroso can I installed at 800 miles in 2016. I installed off of the brake booster. I cant imagine not ever having one with all the gunk that has been captured.

I saved all the drainings just in case I had a dealer issue with warranty, (no problems to date). Each bottle represents 10, 000 miles, I've filled 4 but lost one when I moved a few years ago.

In the winter I generally drain every 300 to 500 miles, summer 1000 miles or so. They make for good conversation when I have company out in the garage.

i'm willing to bet the reason you catch can guys get more oil in freezing winter months is due to PCV internal valve is frozen in a position that its not doing its job correctly and bypassing vapor full flow without checking the flow

diyer2 · December 8, 2020

I don't know about other motors but on my 2012 5.3 there is no PCV valve in the PCV tube. It is just a tube, so no valve to freeze or malfunction.

flyingfool · December 9, 2020

pcv location differs from engine , nothing is in the place you think it would be. some are in the manifold on 5.3 , or the engine valley area, the v6 is in a another spot. the 6.2 isn't in the same place as the 5.3, i think its in the valley , i would be curious to find out if GM has a redesigned pcv or new part number for the 2020 trucks pcv vs our K2 trucks? might want to order a T1 pcv just to compare,

Edited December 9, 2020 by flyingfool

flyingfool · December 9, 2020

10 hours ago, diyer2 said:

I don't know about other motors but on my 2012 5.3 there is no PCV valve in the PCV tube. It is just a tube, so no valve to freeze or malfunction.

i 'm not familiar with 2012 5.3L i think your is inside the plastic manifold , a tube is not a pcv, you got one somewhere

i do have the 6.0 2012 truck, i'm curious as to where that pcv is.. i'll have a look around, but i dont have oil consumption issues. on either my 6.0 or 5.3 trucks.

Edited December 9, 2020 by flyingfool