Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock!

This is a must do routine for our cars. Seems like it should be a service at around 70k to get it cleaned and have someone (or yourself) install the Oil Catch system.

 

Do you have any photos of your install?

 

My 2011 Prius hasn't seen a dealer since I bought it used. The prior owner had regular services done at the dealer and this may have been initial cause of my car's EGR/PCV/Misfiring/goop and sludge woes. My intake manifold does get a nice puddle of random chemical goop at the bottom of the intake manifold after just a 1,000 miles (which is just a few weeks for me) and because of this I'll be installing a sizeable Moroso catch can with a drain on it. I have it already and tested the drain valve to see if it can hold both pressure and vacuum without leaking.

With over 250,000 miles and more than just a few of those at high rpm in Power Mode on mountain roads, my car may have seen more heavy right foot than most on here and consequently possibly more engine wear. Add to that the TRD springs, swaybar and Koni shocks and the mountain road fun may end up giving the car PCV fun in the corners too, something not helped my years of prior car and bike racing That said, it religiously gets the oil changed between 5,000 and 8,000 miles whenever it starts looking more than just light amber, with Mobil 1. My oil changes are frequent given the 40,000+ miles per year I drive.

 

I find it hard to believe that a head gasket swap in a Prius costs more than a head gasket replacement in a Scoobydo, given the location of the boxer engine.

 

I installed danlatu's oil catch can last month. It was a 20 minute install with the manifold and air cleaner off of the car. A lot of space opens up when you remove the intake resonators after the air filter box. I'll post pictures of my mods when my "field testing" is complete. First need to get a license plate!

 

Mjoo,

A license plate would be useful. Whilst a dirty EGR isn't the best, nor is a goopy PCV system, I suspect that being stopped by the cops and stuck in the back of a cruiser is a shittier ending to the day than either of those Prius woes...

 

Do you have a picture or video for this?

 

Here are all my engine improvements before I got the new car purchase on the road:

IMG_20170717_122331_mod by mjoo posted Jul 18, 2017 at 1:16 PM

This is @danlatu's suggested PCV catch can (bottom left). The CC was initially above the coolant pump but I moved it lower. My idea is to have it lower than the PCV so that it quickly drains away from this valve. An improvement would be to use a 3/4" ID hose for the outlet side to lower the pressure drop and increase flow. I just need to find a 3/4" nipple with straight 1/4" pipe threads. There's also a sock pre-filter (bottom right) for the air intake that I used on my previous car. This is a simple, quick mod that can be emptied and has proven to remove a large amount of debris. Lastly there's a filter minder (top right) connected to the air box. The 2010 has about 73k miles.

That's what you can see in this picture. Aluminum window screen was installed over the HVAC inlet.

As for results, the engine has been noticeably smoother and quieter with the intake manifold, EGR system cleaned even with the air intake muffler removed. I'm averaging 55 mpg over the last 80 miles.

 

My Prius consumes very little engine oil overall so far, like (as I understand) most others that haven't yet attained serious oil-guzzling stage. The amount leaving via PCV must be miniscule, given that all engines must use at least a little through the rings and cylinder walls. I'm having a little trouble understanding why oil in Prius PCV system is so much worse than in other engines.

The PCV valve and valve-to-manifold tubing in my Mazda were always very oily, yet no ill effects ensued in 606K miles. I don't know how much oil was leaving by that route, but would bet it was a lot more than in the Prius. (Overall consumption was about 3K miles/quart at best.)

 

Do you need to get a new intake manifold gasket or can you re-use the old one ?

 

Haha, I jumped the gun on this one. Decided I would add an OCC to my 11' Prius while I had some time off this week. Bought the kit, then realized I couldn't make heads or tails of the pictures or descriptions in this thread. Also can't seem to find any instructions online elsewhere. If anyone is doing this soon, it would be greatly appreciated if you could post some pics of where you are connecting those hoses. There are pics of the job finished, there's one pic with a hose running from one port to another without connecting to an OCC, but I just can't seem to put the two together well enough to risk starting the job.

PS: thanks to the OP and all other contributors for this, I had no idea this problem existed before coming across this post.

 

It's actually easier than it seems. I'm on vacation with no access to my laptop or manual but here's my procedure:

1. Remove the air filter box it's three 10 mm bolts. The snorkel clamps are also 10 mm.
2. There's a rubber elbow underneath the throttle body on driver's side. Connect the catch can's outlet hose to this elbow
3. The PCV valve is behind the throttle body and connected to the engine and this elbow from #2. Connect your can's inlet hose to this valve.


Pixel XL ?

 

Just finished the 100k service on my Prius. Plugs,egr removal and cleaning, etc. installed a catch can while it was apart. Made my own can from a metal drink canister and two brass fitting. Have it zip ties in under the air cleaner snorkel and above the ac compressor. Fits perfectly and is hidden. Takes less than two minutes to pull the snorkel out to access it for cleaning. Found the canister at the dollar store bargain bin. Set me back .99 cents. 1.50 each for the brass fittings. Bit of quickset epoxy I already had on hand plus another 4 bucks for the hose. A home made catch can installed for under 10 bucks.
I started to paint the can but with its location no one will see it. Besides its officially labeled as awesome.

While figuring out the hose routing I didn't have to cut the original pcv hose. Simply rotated it about 90 degrees, added a brass hose coupler and ran new hose from there, under the intake to the can. Simple job.

 

I haven't had it done. I am waiting for the infamous crew at HybridPit to dial in their service for this. I am willing to pay for them to do it because they have access to the parts and the crew can do it. I will let all know once I have it done. HybridPit is in orange county in the city of Buena Park. I received and email from them stating they are putting a program together to do this service.

 

Of course, detailed photos will follow!!

 

And, we need to thank those how found out about this issue and found the "fix". Pruischat members care about each other!!

 

I meant the HV PLUG ...I always unplug HV PLUG when I work on hybrid.

 

I reached across thru hoses straight to PCV. Dont see lifting Prius for that
Plus the shield stuff...I just remove the 6 screws and pull air box out of way to get maneuver room. Tight fit for hands but once you know where you'd heading to you can feel it! Of course a battery power tool makes quick work of it all!