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Oil Catch Can

47K views 40 replies 10 participants last post by  C Team 
#1 ·
Have been driving a 2010 Equinox LT1 (Ecotec) for about 3 months. So far so good (knock on wood). When I purchased the vehicle I did some snooping on the net about issues for this vehicle. I guess the bad gas mileage on the 4 are the hot topic. sure beats my replaced 1999 Chev Lumina with the 3.1V6, in any temperature.

My question, after reading up no this, has anybody installed an oil catch can on their 4cyl.? I know it is PRIMARILY used for turbos because of the high pressures. I have read both arguements about putting one on a every day hauler.

Any opinions out there? I thought it might an idea seing that it is a direct injection and having such a high compression. Another question is how it behaves in cold weather? Canadian winters can be less than pleasant.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
wtavcar said:
My question, after reading up no this, has anybody installed an oil catch can on their 4cyl.? I know it is PRIMARILY used for turbos because of the high pressures.

Any opinions out there? I thought it might an idea seing that it is a direct injection and having such a high compression. Another question is how it behaves in cold weather? Canadian winters can be less than pleasant.
Thanks.
A PCV oil catch can would be a great asset, a compression of 11.4:1 the MY12 V6's has been dropped to 10.8:1 I believe (can't remember off hand) but for sure, turbo or NA it will keep your intake a lot cleaner and less chance of oil leaks, especially the crankshaft main seal, these are quite common. My 2011 V6 with only 18,000km's when I traded it in had this seal leaking oil all over, and bad, oil would drip off the bottom pan.

So my Hubby is going to install a Husky mini air line oil separator ( Home Depot carries them he says) on my new 2012 to help rectify this problem. Wish GM would make these standard equip.

He had an oil analysis done on my first break in service of 1600km's and the fuel dilution was to high.

He has installed them before and they work quite well in Canadian winters, there's no moving parts and under hood temps help.
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#3 ·
POLRCUB said:
A PCV oil catch can would be a great asset, a compression of 11.4:1 the MY12 V6's has been dropped to 10.8:1 I believe (can't remember off hand) but for sure, turbo or NA it will keep your intake a lot cleaner and less chance of oil leaks, especially the crankshaft main seal, these are quite common. My 2011 V6 with only 18,000km's when I traded it in had this seal leaking oil all over, and bad, oil would drip off the bottom pan.

So my Hubby is going to install a Husky mini air line oil separator ( Home Depot carries them he says) on my new 2012 to help rectify this problem. Wish GM would make these standard equip.

He had an oil analysis done on my first break in service of 1600km's and the fuel dilution was to high.

He has installed them before and they work quite well in Canadian winters, there's no moving parts and under hood temps help.
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Make an Install How-to.
 
#8 ·
RIT333 said:
Doesn't Helms publish manuals for these cars ?
Ya they do RIT333, unfortunately they were about a yr behind.
I had signed up for a 2011 service manual with them back when I had purchased the Terrain and I just received a notification via email (just a couple months ago) that the MY11 was now available.

So needless to say I didn't order one, as the MY12 as my Hubby informs me, there are some differences he has noticed from the MY11's.

Helm is now caugh right up to the MY12 model, $200 for the full service manual set.

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#9 ·
Ok, I will ask what may be a 1st grade question. I have looked at ebay for catch cans. You can get one as low as $30 (shipping included). Most are more towards $100, once you factor in the shippig. They all seem to be made of stainless or aluminium. One guy on youtube rigged up a pickle jar. I know that is going a little extreme. That is taking MacGyver a little too extreme. A for effort though.

I actually saw one do the HUSKY filter trick as mentioned above. It's plastic!

Is PVC a valid materiel? I am guessing that the heat might be extreme and melt either the fittings or the PVC tube.
It's essentialy a cylinder, capped at both ends and some fittings and hoses. Is it worth the effort or will the heat make a PCV blob under the hood? Getting the fittings would be easy. A trip to Home Depot plumbing section.

Any chance that how to will re-materialize?
 
#10 ·
OK,

This might be a question for the ecotec forum but here goes. Where the $%^ is the PCV valve on this (2010 2.4_I4)piggy? I am still stumped as to the large box above the valve cover woth "ECOTEC" on it. What's its purpose? The air filter is off to the left.

I am trying to see where to tie in the can. Is there any links/pics that kinda shows the bits of this engine. Without a manual it's hard.

Thanks.
 
#11 ·
wtavcar said:
I actually saw one do the HUSKY filter trick as mentioned above. It's plastic!

Is PVC a valid materiel? I am guessing that the heat might be extreme and melt either the fittings or the PVC tube.
It's essentialy a cylinder, capped at both ends and some fittings and hoses. Is it worth the effort or will the heat make a PCV blob under the hood?
The plastic is fine - just keep it away from extreme heat sources like the exhaust manifold and such.
The under hood temps. won't melt it.
On GM truck engines, I've seen guys simply mount the Husky filter on the side of the engine cover by drilling 4 small holes in the side of it then just simply using zip ties to hold it in place.
I wouldn't use any hose material from Home Depot - using 3/8 gas line hose from an autoshop would be better grade.[/color]
 
#12 ·
wtavcar said:
OK,

This might be a question for the ecotec forum but here goes. Where the $%^ is the PCV valve on this (2010 2.4_I4)piggy? I am still stumped as to the large box above the valve cover woth "ECOTEC" on it. What's its purpose? The air filter is off to the left.

I am trying to see where to tie in the can. Is there any links/pics that kinda shows the bits of this engine. Without a manual it's hard.

Thanks.
On the valve cover, there should be a connector with a tube on it leading to the air intake.
I'd have to look at the Hubbies 2.4 I4 but there should be one - maybe the new 2.4 DI's don't have one??
The large box? If your intake tube from your air filter box ties into this 'box' then out the other side to the intake manifold - then this is your air baffle (resonator) box.
If your air intake tube does not tie into this piece - then its simply your engine cover.[/color]
 
#14 ·
;)

Catch can is installed (spliced) between the PCV and the intake, do not remove the OEM PCV my Hubby says as that regulates the pressure in the crankcase as the oil catch can has no pressure regulation built into it.

I'm most interested in what he is going to do with my truck lol [/color]
 

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#15 ·
Anybody install one of those HUSKY water separator things yet? I went to my local Home Depot and Reno-Depot (I am in Montreal) and those flippin water separators are $24 & $28 respectively. The Home Depot here does not carry the HUSKY brand. All I saw is Campbell Hausfeld. I guess I will have to run accross the border ;D to get it at $12.

Add the nick-nacks and I could get a already made can from Snail-Turbos on ebay for $31 all included. Just a a thought.

Did some snooping on the web and there are some talented fabricators out there.
 
#17 ·
Great !

Has he figured out the plumbing yet? I am REALLY curious because I am trying to put one in also. I am torn between the simply HUSKY air separator type or graduate to the more funky official looking ones. I have doing alot of reading over the last couple of days and getting varying views. There is the camp that says it is a useless appendage for normally aspirated engines. The other says that it should be standard on all engines to help the insides clean. I am leaning towards the latter camp. With the 11.3:1 ratio on the I4 it screams to put one.

The plumbing in this beast (I4) is not to self explanatory. The double whammy is that, as mentioned earlier, The bloody water separator is in the mid to high $20. Add the hoses and clamps and you hit $30 easily. An ebay vendor (snails_turbo) has the whole kit for $31, tax in and shipping. Tough call.

I am under the impression that since these engines don't make the pressures that turbos do, the simple filter would do. Hmmmmmmm..... big dilemma :-\.
 
#18 ·
wtavcar said:
Anybody install one of those HUSKY water separator things yet? I went to my local Home Depot and Reno-Depot (I am in Montreal) and those flippin water separators are $24 & $28 respectively. The Home Depot here does not carry the HUSKY brand. All I saw is Campbell Hausfeld. I guess I will have to run accross the border ;D to get it at $12.

Add the nick-nacks and I could get a already made can from Snail-Turbos on ebay for $31 all included. Just a a thought.

Did some snooping on the web and there are some talented fabricators out there.
Best to stick with a metal container, oil will break down the plastic material and eventually crack...not to mention if the filter is made of a poly material, it will disintegrate and get sucked into the engine. Most quality catch cans use stainless steel wool or steel mesh to catch the oil mist. Good luck
 
#19 ·
OK,

Good to know. The next (and most important question) is where do you plug it in? I scoped out the engine bay of my 2.4-I4 and I can see a spot on the left side, down low, near the alternator. Being that low is easy to drain.

I was lucky to find a neat website (parts.nalleygmc.com) where the IPC for GM is. I went to the schematic that identifies the emissions plumbing and I THINK i found the hose.

http://parts.nalleygmc.com/showAssembly.aspx?ukey_product=2670485&ukey_assembly=388032

It's labelled as #20 HOSE Crank Case Ventilation....so I think that is it. It comes from under the valve cover and plugs into the "Air Cleaner and Silencer". That odd black blob in the middle of the engine bay with "ECOTEC" on it. The hose does not seem complicated. I tried (gntly of course" to see if I could unplug it from the silencer box but it puts up resistence. I went to the GM dealer near my house and they want $16+tx for that hose. Very odd that it costs $8 in the US (according to the parts website) but $16 in Montreal!!!!!. Has anyone tried to pry this out? I asked to see this part at the GM dealer it is only by order.
 
#20 ·
Just curious, are you losing a lot of oil? If not, I really wouldn't mess with it. The normal scenario is when a PCV valve and/or hose is near a part that has oil "splashed" on it, like overhead cams or excess misting of the oil, usually on a high RPM engine...and the oil gets sucked into the valve and/or tube. This can happen with naturally aspirated engines also but really prominent on boosted engines. My Ford Lightning was notorious for oil contamination on the inter-cooler, hence the need for a catch can.
 
#21 ·
As far as I can tell i am not loosing a drop!!! I only have the thing since November 2011. I bought it used from a GM dealer with 7800km (~4700mi). It now has 15300km (~9200mi). Its quite low in terms of mileage for its age. I did one oil change recently (Quakerstate 5W30 dino with a FRAM filter). It runs flawlessly. Never a problem. Yes the fuel consumption is dissappointing but apart from that no complaints.

The whole catch can thing came to me after watching youtube videos on where the oil filter was. Saw a 2011 Camaro being serviced and they mentioned this can thing. After doing some reading I thought since the compression for this engine is in the mid 11s, and reading some threads talking about carbonisation on DI engines I thought it might be a good idea. Yes, those things are mainly used on turbos because of the high pressures.
 
#23 ·
I am more interested in the long term carbon build-up issue of DI engines and of course oily gunk. As has been said in other places the fuel spray in regular systems did some cleaning. With no fuel, gunk may accumulate from the oily fumes being sucked back into the intake.

Am taking a trip to Boston soon. Will see what is available of a real catch-can or HUSKY filter. Will definitely make a how-to when I attempt it.
 
#26 ·
Looks like they have their hands full. I went to look at the Mazda SkyActive system that they are peddling. Turns out it is the same thing GM is doing (i.e. high compression, DI, 6 sped tranny). So, if the monkey-see-monkey-do theory kicks in we shall see DI engines from every manufacturer before long.

I wish them better luck than GM. Once pretty much maintenance free engines will have new unseen problems crop up.

I have been looking/reading the catch can thing awhile now. Will be installing one on my I4 in the coming days. Alot of sites I researched ask the same question why this is not standard equipment. Short answer, people are too lazy to change oil, let alone empty a can with some frequency. You would think a can could be fabricated to hold roughly a quantity equal to the length of an oil change. But, hey I am no automotive engineer so what do I know. ;D
 
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