Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock!

CATH can?
close enough, guess.

 

If you're going to make a mistake, make it big.

Good graphic work.

 

I wish I knew why as well. First time I cleaned it, mix of oil and water. Second time looked like straight coolant not as red more brown but smelled like gas. Pictures are from the third time. But i'd say less than a week from 2nd to 3rd cleaning(300 miles).

I don't notice any particles in the substance. Funny thing is I couldn't place the odor to it. Actually reminded me of transmission fluid the odor wouldn't go away. I had the odor with me all day. Absorbed into my hands. I'm thinking of pulling it out again and check my intake manifold and PCV valve. I left that back nut off on the EGR cooler for EZ access.

 

It's mix with coolant, you installed OCC little late. I had the experience with this problem: loss coolant + white smoke + milky in OCC, all these mean the head gasket is leak. When I got this problem, I did pour head gasket sealer that lasts for 4000 miles, then the gasket was broken again. I had to take it to shop for gasket replacing.

 

To be clear... when I empty my OCC, the color is the same as this, just not the consistency.

 

Yeah same here. I think it could be just humidity. My coolant level in reservoir hasn't budged to speak of.

 

Same here ........
Tan watery mixture , that smells like a combination of oil, fuel and weird hydrocarbon smell .

No loss of coolant, or white smoke ..........

 

Welcome to PriusChat!

Who did the work, and how much was charged for the gasket replacement?

Were you satisfied with the work performed?

 

Got my OCC bracket and hose clamp bracket installed today. Make for a nice clean, easy to service holder device for the Ruien style Oil Catch cans . Install was pretty straight forward , and even came with the hold down bolt/nut/lock-washer . A little bit of a tight fit getting the hold down bolt started under the headlight , but I got it to thread on NP . Much better way to hold an OCC than a cup cozy or something along those lines !

Thanks danlatu !

Pictures ...........
Sorry, the nice embossed "Prius OCC" print was hidden by the hoses after install .

 

question for ya. do you think this is necessary / recommended for desert dwellers in Phoenix, Vegas, etc? Gets to be ~30F at the coldest, if that helps.

 

Currently at 167k. Some history on the car. 156k water pump failed MIL came on car died. NO warning temp light came on. Replaced water pump , fresh coolant. Not long after I developed some cold start knocking. Never had the issue prior. I did have the low load knock related to the EGR system. A couple hundred miles later i'm getting MIL misfires 1 & 2. I clean intake EGR cooler replace PCV new spark plugs add catch can. Issue came back, I start to notice coolant loss( minor ). I added some J seal to the cooling system.

This car has been burning oil since the day I got it with 33k miles. I have history of the car that showed oil changes done every 5k prior to me owning it. As the miles rack up so has the oil burning. If I wasn't drinking oil i'd salvage the motor. I plan on replacing this engine in the near future.

Just checked my can and its just moisture in it now. No gel substance.

 

The repair shop is in Garden Grove City, $1300 = replaced head gasket + sparks plugs + thermostat. I just drive it about 500 miles and so far so good.

 

The spigot that was on the OCC is swapped over to the old PCV location?

 

Thanks for the idea! I just tried it... Sure enough, the OEM pcv valve screws perfectly into my similar OCC - it even fully seats properly.
I'm sure the OCC spigot with its "O" ring will fit the engine mounting location.
I too am looking for a way to remove most of the oil from the pcv line. My 4100 mile trip with the OCC installed with only a small piece of stainless pot-scrubber as a filter media left _much_ to be desired. At the end of my trip the intake manifold was full of oil & the OCC was less than 1/4 full.
Let me think a while... Possible hose with an internal baffle from the engine to the higher mounted OCC would allow oil to separate from the air & then drain back into the crankcase before even getting to the OCC.
Or 3/8" hose from engine to a baffled, vertically mounted OCC, Out of the top of this OCC to the ruien OCC with the PCV valve mounted onto the outlet of the ruien OCC? This would allow much of the oil to constantly drain back into the engine sump. Downside would be any moisture collected would drain back into the engine also?
These are just thoughts, use at own risk - but good luck

 

So I have some time today and check my OCC. 45cc in 3300 miles and the clear hose to the intake manifold looks very oily. I guess alot of oil vapors are going into IM. This is not good. So I got this sheet of tea/coffee strainer and made this cylindrical filter of sort since I don't have any steel wool or such. This is similar to those oil/water separator used with compressors. Hopefully, my filter/mesh is fine enough to catch some oil vapor and enough surface area to not cause problem with PCV. The open end of the mesh is touching the base of the can and should be under oil very soon. What do you guys think?