Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock!

Since it’s still very hot here 90F (32C) it’s 90% oil, and the rest I assume fuel. In the winter months it’s mostly water with a little bit of oil. I drive 45 miles on interstate daily and I always let it warm up fully in the morning. On the weekends it’s mostly city driving. I did switch over to a new oil that I haven’t used, Mobil 1 EP 0w20. The last oil I had in it was Toyota genuine 0w20 and it had less blow by.

 

You put car in maintaince mode til engine is 190F very morning before driving off? That’s the only way to get car to fully warm up before any driving.

 

Letting the engine mostly warm up before asking it to work hard should be good enough. I wait at least until it will run on mostly engine power, not mostly on battery, as it tries to do in the first minute after a cold start.

 

I don’t put it into drive until the engine runs it’s course and goes back into EV. So I understand the oil is not at full operational temp but it does allow the oil to flow and warm up before driving it. It only takes me about a mile before I get to the ramp then I’m accelerating to 75 mph.

 

4,000 mile update post oil catch can.
1. 453 miles driven + 26 miles left to drive = 479 miles total. Being conservative I’ll round it down to 470 miles total on a 9.2 gallon tank/fill up. All equals to 51MPG.

2. Driven in 60-80 degree conditions.
3. AC off most of the time.
4. 55-65MPH max on country roads.
5. Used cruise control most of the time.
6. 30 miles each way to work.
7. 37psi on tires all around.
8. Radio screen off (personal preference, specially I don’t like it on when I drive at night even dimmed). Radio off during the day too.

9. Last week I filled up with Sam’s club gas (87oct) and notice a little increase in mpg compared to Mobile/Exxon gas. Dash showed more miles/fill up post Sams club gas and I actually got more miles. 440 Exxon fill up vs 450-460 miles with Sam’s Club gas. BUT, it could also be from the driving conditions & change of weather (cooler) and driving without AC on.

Great stuff considering car is almost reaching 170,000 miles.

 

You’re saying OCC install improved your mpg? I’m all for them (have two pricy ones in series) but wasn’t seeing it as a mpg increaser. I can take a look at my before/after tank stats, but I’m sceptical. It’s primary purpose is reduce combustion chamber gum up?

 

First OCC went in Sept 15, 2017. MPG dropped after, likely just due to short trips, but no big change. Again, wasn't expecting any.

 

^ poor screen grab, too late to edit. Rightmost column is mpg. Note time of year too; subsequent fill ups are heading into winter.

 

Had the twin Moroso’s out for a clean-up yesterday. Without intake manifold removal, from above, it’s a bit of a handful; will leave next time till I’m also doing the manifold/EGR clean-out I think.

Attached are a couple of pics illustrating my set up, mounted on a bracket below intake manifold. Original hose is split and pushed onto barb splicers (per @danlatu recommendation), and the hose extensions are SAE30R7 3/8” ID fuel line.

Note the absence of hose clamps. I only use the two original spring clamps, at connections to PCV valve and intake manifold. Never any issues, less stress on hoses. Neater too.

 

with the driving conditions it’s hard to say whether or not the oil catch can increases the MPG. I did not keep track of the miles until this year, but I think I was getting way less miles before maintenance.

I am just happy that I’m getting that high mileage after 4 years of having the car. I am the second owner and proud of the maintenance done to it. It was way worth doing so.

 

For sure OCC install is good. It's primary purpose is to reduce the "soup" being introduced into the intake. Food for thought too: maybe only about 50% lingers in the manifold, lots blows right through? Anyway, anything that ensures you're combusting less goop and more gas/air mix has got to be good, for the pistons, possibly the EGR carbon build-up.

 

Mendel, you’ve been great help.

I would like to confirm that the special blend California demands out of refineries gives the consumer (us) way less MPG. I can confirm east coast 87 octane gas is amazing. Also would like to add that Sam Club gas is superior to Mobile if anyone else in the US would like to try please let me know.

 

This thread was great reading. Just wondering if an OCC is still a viable preventative measure for a 2022 prime le.

I follow recommended maintenance as I just retired a 2002 tahoe with 300k for this prime.

Thanks

 

Do it ASAP, sam technology.

 

Take a look through the throttle body with blade pushed open. If you’re seeing a dark glistening pool of something, you could benefit.

 

I realized when I cleaned by entire EGR system and intake manifold a year ago I didn't pay any attention to the small ports on the intake manifold. I got scared reading this thread so last night I pulled the intake manifold just to check if those passages were clear. In one year/~12,000 miles there was a bit of visible build up on the EGR pipe, intake manifold, etc but it wasnt more than probably a milimeter thick with no huge gunky spots.

I checked those passages and they looked quite clean, even though I did not scrub or brush them.

Turns out the "pressure washer method" is quite effective. I did spray pressurized soapy water through the EGR pipe passage and into each port, looks like the pressure washer took care of cleaning everything out.

Also there was a small amount of oil in the bottom of the inake manifold even though I have installed an oil catch can. But again it was not a lot. I am not using a steel scrubber in my OCC, so I think I need to invest in one, perhaps it will catch more gunk.

 

I've got a couple of OCC in series. I empty them spring and fall: not much from the second one in the fall, but in spring it exceeds the volume of the first one. Mostly water. Not exactly drinkable water though...

My cans do have pot scrubbers, actually came with them: inlet goes through a mesh at the top, into the barrel, then up through a second scrubber to the exit. (Morosso 85474)

And still get a "sheen" on the intake manifold, nothing is perfect.

 

Interestingly I can drive the entire warm portion of the year and maybe my OCC will have 2 tablespoons in it.

However, it can completely fill up the OCC (probably has about 400ml of capacity) a week or two in the winter, especially when it gets very cold (below -20c). I am assuming that the hot pcv vapours meeting the freezing cold metal OCC causes some condensative action.

 

Geez, how many kms would that entail? I’ve lapsed regarding measuring what drains, but IIRC the spring drain is 50~60 cc at most. But we’re only doing around 4000 kms per year.