Carbureted Oil Catch Can

Original Poster: Mark_88

Difficulty: 1 out of 10

Time to install: About 30 minutes


Disclaimer: The Ranger Station.com, The Ranger Station.com Staff, nor the original poster are responsible for you doing this modification to your vehicle. By doing this modification and following this how-to you, the installer, take full responsibility if anything is damaged or messed up. If you have questions, feel free to PM the original poster or ask in the appropriate section of The Ranger Station.com forums.


Brief Explanation:

On carbureted 2.0 and 2.3 engines there is a vent pipe from the Valve Cover (VC) or oil filler cap that goes into the breather. With a bit of excess pressure in the engine this can lead to oil or foam pooling in the breather which is both messy and generally destroys a good air filter. This, hopefully, will allow the oil to be trapped in the container and the air can then be vented back to the breather.

UPDATE: My engine needs a rebuild but I recently had to modify the catch can to control oil burning. The oil was being sucked up into the base of the carb and resulted in plenty of smoke. I have included photos of the mod.

Tools Needed:
- screw driver (slot head)
- blade knife


Parts Needed:
- container (varies) to catch the oil
- hoses to fit both the breather connector and container (varies)
- clamps for the hoses (I used only 1 but will need more)

Notes: I found an F350 Turbo diesel that had a perfect container. It was the coolant reservoir and it had the correct size spouts for the inlet and outlet hoses to match the ones on both my valve cover and breather connector.

You can pretty much use anything here, but the one I used was deep enough to prevent the oil from climbing up the hose and had a few chambers that were connected but allowed the air to flow while trapping the oil. It may be necessary to stuff the top of the air return with some steel wool that will help trap the oil and keep it in the container.

The connector hose from my VC to the container came from a Mazda 2.3 circa 1997 and fit almost perfectly. I just had to cut a small chunk of fuel line (3.8” diameter x 4” long) and it fit both connectors on that line exactly.

The outlet hose of the container was actually bigger than I anticipated (1”) so I stuffed an old VC vent hose (like the one on the VC end of the Mazda) into the hole and it was tight.

Modification images

This one shows the hoses running from the base PCV connection that normally would go into the PCV and then into the base of the carb. This actually routes the oily blow by into the catch can through a 5/8" heater hose. The 3/8" fuel line can be seen running back to the base of the carb.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/IMG-20120810-00130.jpg

This one shows the added connector about half way down the catch can. There is a removable lid on the catch can that I opened and stuffed in 3 or 4 bats of steel wool.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/IMG-20120810-00131.jpg

This one shows the top end where the cleaner air is directed to both the working PCV and a down and out hose that routes excess to the side of the truck. This will eventually lead back to the breather on the carb once I can be sure that it is actually eliminating most of the oil.

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/IMG-20120810-00132.jpg

I have been looking for an oil separator that would be put on that line to eliminate the really messy oil that may make it past the steel wool.

The Container from F-350 Turbo Diesel

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/Truck/Oil-Catch1.jpg

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Steps 1:

Once you find a suitable container to catch the oil, find a place on the passenger side of the engine bay and mount the container so it is easily accessible and can be removed to drain.


this image shows the placement of the container. It is only zip tied in but you can bolt yours in if desired.


http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/Truck/Oil-catch2.jpg


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Steps 2:
Once the container is in place, connect the hoses and take it for a spin.



This image shows the VC exit and return hoses connected. Much neater than before and, hopefully, I won't be leaving $$$ dollar $$$ drops on every paved surface.


http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/akwarian8/Truck/Oil-catch3.jpg

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That’s pretty much all there is to it…

Took it for a long drive but didn't exceed 80 Km/hr...so far only a mist of oil has gotten to the foam in my breather filter...this is a big improvement because normally I would have a pool of it...I do think the steel wool inside the catch can will improve things though...

So, now I have great oil pressure..so great that it is spitting oil out of my dipstick...lol

But The oil seems to be otherwise staying in the system longer and my breather does not get the slop that it usually had...

Looks pretty clean. I do like it. I of course have a Vulcan, but props.

I agree, it looks good and seems to work.
I probably would have looked at the pics and replied sooner sooner if they were already on the page rather than clicking links.

Richard

Thanks for the input guys...

An update, however...I actually had to swap the lines to take some of the pressure off the system...it was dumping too much oil out of other areas like the dipstick.

This has kept the oil pressure lower and still seems to be drawing the smoke out of the canister. Before swapping it was starting to get oil up to the breather again...have to replace the breather inlet filter but I couldn't find any.

I think one of those skinny pot scratcher pads is very similar to the white ones that were made for this purpose, but if I have to spend $50 on gas running around trying to find them I will pay the $5 for a pack of pot scratchers...

Another update...

I modified the catch can to try to eliminate the problem of oil being sucked into the intake through the carb base. Pics to come...just waiting for my camera to charge up...

But it actually works much better...a bit of steel wool as a filter (3 or 4 bats, actually) and an inlet pipe that comes from the PVC outlet near the intake and runs in to the steel wool compartment...

Pics added...and comments...