[torqueaddict]

Originally Posted by Homer2

91,000 miles.. I don't

Damn, you must be one of highest mileage 6th gens.

[protovack]

I don't have one and will not be getting one.
I've read everything I can about this issue and the bottom line seems to be that its never going to be a big problem. I have not seen a single thread about an LT1, in a corvette, or a camaro, actually suffering from significant valve coking issues. I have seen hundreds of threads showing heads taken off with valves coked up. Yea, your valves are going to get coked up. It looks ugly. However that is never going to cause an engine failure and realistically, its never going to decrease performance. Worse case scenario at 50 or 75k you have it cleaned out. Or maybe you wait until 150k and are none the wiser. Is that worth voiding your warranty and constantly worrying about it? Probably not. Do I wish GM went with a combination injection injection system? Yes, and I'm sure we will see one eventually. But for right now, I just drive my car and enjoy it. I'll put out the money to take off the heads and clean it all out later if it ever becomes a big issue.

Another thing to keep in mind is, oil hitting the valves is only one cause of coking, and probably not the major cause. Actually, gas refluxing back when both valves are open probably causes most of the coking. This is why you can find many pictures of valves all coked up even on engines WITH catch cans.

The truth is that on the LT1 (unlike many earlier, foreign made turbo-charged engines with DI), its probably never going to be a big issue. More than likely, you'll be able to drive your car into the ground beyond 100,000 miles before even having to consider taking heads off and cleaning.
Even on a hard driven port injection engine getting into six figures, it wouldn't be a bad idea to remove heads and go through everything. So are you really saving any money or time in the long run, I think not.

So the catch cans are sold in large numbers to the anal people who will do anything to avoid a little oil on the valves. Many of them like to believe that GM's omission of a dirty side separator is some conspiracy or glaring error that somehow slipped by. It's not. It's simply economics--it was not worth it to add a component that will not significantly affect the overall life cycle of the engine.

Even the aftermarket cans aren't perfect (from a prior thread):

"You don't need it. The factory oil separator is actually a superior design to the aftermarket offerings. The only thing that could improve the factory unit is to add a filter/regulator on the separator side of the PCV intake tube (the large middle one) that limits draw to something between 5-10psi and provides a secondary layer of moisture lock without tripping the factory evap monitoring.

The aftermarket cans which don't have an open flow back to the oil pan actually run at a much higher static pressure that keeps the oil suspended in a mist until the vehicle cools or shuts off. And a metal can body will cause humidity to be pulled back in through the intake pipe and condensed into water within the can. A plastic catch tray with a more stable operating temperature is better than metal rapidly heating and cooling next to the exhaust manifolds. Because the factory unit has less pressure and lower temperature variance than aftermarket off-board cans, there is less chance for blow by. A simple check valve doesn't do any real good when the valve still allows it to open without a post valve moisture filter. For any oil separator system, that should be the next evolutionary feature that gets developed. Currently there is no off the shelf regulator/filter small enough to easily place inline of the intake tube that will maintain such a low, fixed psi rating -- just making the filter would be easy."

[JCunningham]

Elite X2 dual outlet and elite clean side.

[NW-99SS]

Mighty Mouse on my truck (2017 Denali 6.2) and LS1. When I do pull the trigger on a 6th gen (looking for a ZL1 1LE next spring) - it will have one.

No, they can't void your warranty for preventing dirty PCV from going into your intake.

While the can can't preventing all coking from happening as posted above, it reduces it. The truth is, that most manufacturers, including GM, have recognized the issue of coking with DI engines and have added port injectors (LT5 has dual injectors).

[Mark114]

I had an Elite can on my 5th Gen LFX. Out of curiosity I saved all the fluid the can collected and had a pint of fluid after 4 years and 40K miles. I have an Elite can on my 6th Gen LT1 and so far (20K miles) it is collecting similar amounts of fluid. Agreed that this won't completely eliminate deposits as I have a Pray ported intake manifold and I noticed slight deposits on the intake valves when I installed it. I can't tell you if it will make a significant difference in the long run but I'm happy with my purchase.

[JeromeS13]

I do, because the inside of my intake manifold looked like this with 1,800 miles on the odometer. Yes, that's oil dripping from the PCV tube...

[Burly]

I've run the Mishimoto can for about 10k miles and about 2k miles I empty the can. I collect about 1.5-2oz each time. Peace of mind. My dealer said it was good idea to run one as long as I clean it out regularly and they have no issues with warranty.

[Nsxmatt]

I do not and never will. 99% of the people here won't keep their car long enough to even know if the catch can helps, and most likely it will never be an issue. DI cars have been out a while, we have a few 300k mile DI Hondas with zero issues. I think its just a mass fear that everyone just assumes they have to have one. Will it hurt? Not at all. Will it help? Probably does. Will it be fine and you'll never see a problem over the life of the vehicle? Most likely.

[S2K+1LE]

Originally Posted by NW-99SS

No, they can't void your warranty for preventing dirty PCV from going into your intake.

*Yes* the dealer absolutely can advise the manufacturer to void the warranty of your vehicle if you modify the factory-installed emissions equipment. You can also have a fun little conversation with the EPA if you have bad enough luck. If they can prove the failure was caused by this part, there is absolutely nothing legally/ethically/morally wrong with doing so.

[avalonandl]

The SS has 2 "catch cans", well they are like catch cans but are small plastic boxes with foam rubber in them.

[JeromeS13]

Originally Posted by avalonandl

The SS has 2 "catch cans", well they are like catch cans but are small plastic boxes with foam rubber in them.

And only pull air from the valve covers, aka "clean side". They do not collect anything from the PCV side.

[dmcmahan60]

Originally Posted by protovack

I don't have one and will not be getting one.
I've read everything I can about this issue and the bottom line seems to be that its never going to be a big problem. I have not seen a single thread about an LT1, in a corvette, or a camaro, actually suffering from significant valve coking issues. I have seen hundreds of threads showing heads taken off with valves coked up. Yea, your valves are going to get coked up. It looks ugly. However that is never going to cause an engine failure and realistically, its never going to decrease performance. Worse case scenario at 50 or 75k you have it cleaned out. Or maybe you wait until 150k and are none the wiser. Is that worth voiding your warranty and constantly worrying about it? Probably not. Do I wish GM went with a combination injection injection system? Yes, and I'm sure we will see one eventually. But for right now, I just drive my car and enjoy it. I'll put out the money to take off the heads and clean it all out later if it ever becomes a big issue.

Another thing to keep in mind is, oil hitting the valves is only one cause of coking, and probably not the major cause. Actually, gas refluxing back when both valves are open probably causes most of the coking. This is why you can find many pictures of valves all coked up even on engines WITH catch cans.

The truth is that on the LT1 (unlike many earlier, foreign made turbo-charged engines with DI), its probably never going to be a big issue. More than likely, you'll be able to drive your car into the ground beyond 100,000 miles before even having to consider taking heads off and cleaning.
Even on a hard driven port injection engine getting into six figures, it wouldn't be a bad idea to remove heads and go through everything. So are you really saving any money or time in the long run, I think not.

So the catch cans are sold in large numbers to the anal people who will do anything to avoid a little oil on the valves. Many of them like to believe that GM's omission of a dirty side separator is some conspiracy or glaring error that somehow slipped by. It's not. It's simply economics--it was not worth it to add a component that will not significantly affect the overall life cycle of the engine.

Even the aftermarket cans aren't perfect (from a prior thread):

"You don't need it. The factory oil separator is actually a superior design to the aftermarket offerings. The only thing that could improve the factory unit is to add a filter/regulator on the separator side of the PCV intake tube (the large middle one) that limits draw to something between 5-10psi and provides a secondary layer of moisture lock without tripping the factory evap monitoring.

The aftermarket cans which don't have an open flow back to the oil pan actually run at a much higher static pressure that keeps the oil suspended in a mist until the vehicle cools or shuts off. And a metal can body will cause humidity to be pulled back in through the intake pipe and condensed into water within the can. A plastic catch tray with a more stable operating temperature is better than metal rapidly heating and cooling next to the exhaust manifolds. Because the factory unit has less pressure and lower temperature variance than aftermarket off-board cans, there is less chance for blow by. A simple check valve doesn't do any real good when the valve still allows it to open without a post valve moisture filter. For any oil separator system, that should be the next evolutionary feature that gets developed. Currently there is no off the shelf regulator/filter small enough to easily place inline of the intake tube that will maintain such a low, fixed psi rating -- just making the filter would be easy."

I like this thought process and no I will not run one either. In a boosted application especially a turbo car I would run a catch can but for N/A applications nope. I had a 400 AWHP Subaru STI that had so much blow by oil going through the intercooler you had to have a catch can!

[NW-99SS]

Originally Posted by S2K+1LE

*Yes* the dealer absolutely can advise the manufacturer to void the warranty of your vehicle if you modify the factory-installed emissions equipment. You can also have a fun little conversation with the EPA if you have bad enough luck. If they can prove the failure was caused by this part, there is absolutely nothing legally/ethically/morally wrong with doing so.

Best of luck proving a filter device with a built in check valve can be the cause of any damage to the engine whatsoever...PCV oil into an intake causes an engine to burn dirtier air, so I would gladly argue with the EPA as well.

[Epx998]

I run the Might Mouse Wild myself