[PolynesianPowerhouse]

Originally Posted by hotlap

A catch can has the potential to block the crank case ventilation causing it not to function properly. That happens if the owner fails to maintain the can, or in cold climates, when the can fills to the top with water in only a few days.

If the crankcase is not adequately ventilated, blow by gases will condensate and the motor oil will quickly become contaminated.

That happened to me in the first winter with my 2016. In a matter of days the can filled with water and blocked the crankcase ventilation. The drain oil was so badly contaminated that when I changed it in my closed garage (winter), the air reeked like gasoline and my eyes burned. The oil had only been in the car 1,500 miles.

Generally speaking, this shouldn't happen. even in theory, the boiling point of water is 212 deg F. which is what most crankcases and thermostats are designed to get to at some point. this is where water will be vaporized and pretty much burned as a by product. oil however, will cause the buildup.

while water can collect in a can, if anyone does a sample, its usually an acidic water in the condensation. however BLOCKAGE.... very unlikely to occur. even in temps down to negative teens, which I usually get every winter. for the full cutoff of the PCV to shut down, that means a line would be blocked. or if you use the bronze filter in the mishimoto, that CAN freeze with engine off condensation overnight in freezing temps.

otherwise no catch can, should have any problems with flow.if I remember right the camaros run a 3/8th line for PCV (my current car runs 1/2 inch)

Originally Posted by Lepsss

Can someone tell me if I can use a mishimoto catch can for a supercharged application? I know I would have to remount the cc in a new spot with some new tubing but would it still do the job correctly?

you can use any can, but there are better options out there. supercharged engines are a different animal than naturally aspirated. that def would all depend on the amount of boost you run, and how much CC pressure you may or may not be building. this is just an issue that's different on boosted cars vs N/A cars.

Originally Posted by protovack

its all a fine balance between performance, fuel economy, and emissions. The engineers are forced to design a PCV system that tries to satisfy everyone and as a result some sacrifices are made. This the price we pay for GDI engines that get incredible fuel economy and have incredible performance available as well. Most people could drive their GDI engine for its entire service life and never notice the 10% drop in power and throttle response due to coking. Enthusiasts have several options, either use an oil separator, or pop off your intake manifold every 20-30k and clean the ports and valves. For me personally, I think it is more annoying to worry about filling up and emptying a catch can. I'd rather just drive my car and not worry about it. Someday, I'll go to my local mechanic and pay him a few hundred bucks to clean everything out. It's a quick and easy job and doesn't require ordering any parts. And it pales in comparison to the kind of maintenance that used to be routine on older engines. Think about it. An engine that will go 150-200k miles without much more than a valve/intake cleaning every once in a while. That amazing. And the funny thing is, even with a catch can, you still get some coking and so eventually even catch-canned engines would benefit from a cleaning. So sure, use a catch can if you want. It's one solution to the problem. I just get irritated when people insist its the best, or only solution.

Fair enough. I just offer this bit of advice. CALL AROUND NOW. I thought somewhat of the same, even though I ran a catch can. but when I decided to get the manual cleaning done... non of the import locations had any experience with doing a chevy, and wouldn't take on the job. The one place that used to do corvettes, BMW's and Ferrari's... they stopped doing domestic. so between Virgina, MD, DE, and PA there was nothing within a few hundred mile radius... so after searching, I went local to GM... of which they use the BG induction cleaning... basically the CRC intake valve cleaner. after 76K I has some buildup, not much. a lot less than some who were between 5 and 15K, but I was shooting to best my 13.462 in the 1.4 mile. at the track on a v6. the problem was??? nobody local wanted to take on the cleaning.

so if you plan to skip the can...cool. just make sure you have a place local that is willing to do a manual cleaning. I found out that many shops wont touch a brand out of their norms, due to liability of them screwing up.

a catch can is not the best, or the only solution, but its a solid proven one. over the 2.5 years I owned the car, it was great! I actually miss it. but a catch can is def something I'd give more thought to. I wasn't a light driver by any means... and it was a daily driven car. AutoX and track driven, and also for road trips. 76K in 2.5 years is a lot of mileage for most.

Originally Posted by DIYguy

I second that thought.

As I have posted before (and got an immediate rebuttal from the Elite guy) the intake on my LGX V6 is bone dry.
I checked it literally just last week when I put a new throttle body on it.
Still dry and clean at 46k miles.
And the intake valves were only very slightly coked when I had the manifold off earlier this year while indexing my spark plugs.
So there is nothing to "catch" coming from its crankcase ventilation system and no particular cause for concern, at least in my case.
I expect I may have to do a walnut shell blast at around 100k miles, and will do it myself. No big deal.

From experience, you'll prob want to shoot before 100K. I was at 76 K, and in no way was it extreme, but when you're dealing with an engine that's as sensitive and precise as a direct injection engine, so should your maintenance be with that same mindset.

The counter argument offered to the factory LGX air/oil separator doing such a good job was that all of that stuff must therefore be returning to inside the engine.
Fair enough. No argument.
But for that and other reasons I change my oil and filter at 3500-4000 miles or at 50% on the oil reminder whichever comes first, not at 13,000+ miles as was shown in the earlier posting. Cheap insurance IHMO.
To me, stretching the oil changes out to whatever the reminder optimistically reports is false economy anyway if one plans to keep their vehicle a long time.

nothing wrong with exteneded interval changes. I've ran the oil that I run since 2007. 07 charger SXT, 13 Camaro 2LS, 16 Camaro LT, and now a 15 Charger R/T with R&T. every car had an oil change of over 10K and also an accompanying oil analysis done. wear partterns were normal, even the 07 Charger SXT which I got at 21K miles and went up to 244,033 miles when I traded it in on the first camaro.

of the shelf oils shouldn't pose much a problem, when you change as you are doing now. 3.5-4K miles. there a far sight different when you get into custom blended oils however. that's all i'll run from now on at this point. id get more into that, but this is a catch can post not a quality of oils and additives post.

Originally Posted by DIYguy

Regardless, adding in a system such as was shown in a prior post is out of the question because I reside in California.
It would not pass the technical inspection during a smog test (I have had vehicles fail tech inspection for much less).
Even if I plugged up the hole that I'd have to drill in the manifold it would be a risk depending upon how anal the inspection tech wanted to be.

So my solution (just one of many possible of course) is more conservative oil change intervals for all of our vehicles.
FWIW.

P.S. I have had catch cans on older vehicles and they definitely did work.
But on the LGX I honestly feel no pressing need.

you cali boys gotta deal with much more , so I understand that. My condolences for all that CARB stuff, exhaust law mandates, and all the stuff I see posted all the time now from people I know into AutoX out there.

there's not much you can do to get around that, so I know where your sitting at. when I had my cavalier and charger registered in DC... no joke... sun roof water test... to test for leaks...a leaky roof can leak on you, distract you, and cause a crash. I went through that in college. gotta play with the piper of your state.

Originally Posted by DIYguy

I agree with cellsafemode.
I don't want to do anything that could add any amount of oil mist to the intake (and I will look into the CRC product, thanks 95 imp).
Plus, for better or worse, I live in the fabulous PRC, so modifying the intake manifold or the crankcase vent system is beyond any question of legality to start with.

As for the argument that changing the oil more frequently could be in any way harmful, sorry, not buying it.
My dad worked for an oil company and was one of the people who helped develop the pin wear test protocol for engine oil that became part of the SAE test standards.
He knew quite well what he was doing (PhD actually) and taught me a lot about engine oil and the mechanisms by which it wears out.
Oil deteriorates as it is used, period.
Even in things like air compressors which have no combustion byproducts to deal with it wears out from shear forces, and so do additives.
So you are simply not refining it by using it.

And of course Elite chimed in.
I am emphatically NOT disparaging their product or discouraging you from buying a setup if you are so inclined.
However-
By their own words- "very little oil is actually entering, and coking severity has been reduced to 50% plus of what the LLT and LFX did, but an oil analysis will show the oil condition."
Yes, I don't want ANY of that stuff going through my intake and especially not into the catalytic converters because it will harm them...!!
Find another way to deal with it.
I totally agree that on engines that have PCV systems a catch can is only a benefit.
Assuming it is done right of course, which Elite's definitely appear to be.
So again I am not arguing against their product or anything like them in that situation.
For the LGX however, change your oil....!!
And 13,000 miles on an oil change? Really? Seriously?

BTW, I do drive conservatively.
I do not "track" my car, never have, never will.
My typical trip is to start it up, drive 38 miles, shut it off, repeat.
I completely understand that if someone is on the throttle all the time and drives short trips it will gum things up faster.
But I will repeat that letting it go to what the manufacturer's oil minder says as a change interval is borderline foolish.
And of course their own oil reminder will reduce the interval based upon that sort of usage.
Remember please that just like the much-reviled AFM system, they programmed that to meet some EPA/treehugger goal of minimizing oil changes.
Do you buy into that?
With your engine and your wallet?

as far as the "making the engine suck more oil out of the crank case... that's a crap myth made up by someone. I ran the Elite setup, and taping the manifold didn't cause anymore oil to be sucked up.

the tapped area uses a restrictor piece that allows airflow, but the hole is literally about 1/16 of an inch. due to the way the pcv system works, it simply gives you vapor evacuation at idle as opposed to when on the gas hard. at idle, you don't have the vaccum to suck oil physically from the crankcase... its not like you are using a straw from the tapped part of the manifold to go into the actual oil...to draw oil out.

you ever put a straw an inch above your drink and try to suck liquid out your cup? it doesn't work, unless the straw is submerged in the liquid. and then you would need a decent amount of vaccum to pull the liquid up. I cant remember who said that when I did the testing on the mishimoto vs the elite, but it was a crap statement then, and it still is in 2019. just being realistic here.

but once again, as for your limitations with emissions. totally understand.

I don't get a chance to get on here much anymore with wrestling picking up a great bit lately. but if you have any questions don't hesitate to send a line. ive ran both catch cans on an LGX ( not the SS V8) and I can help where I can.

On catch cans, i'll leave this... if you don't know about this channel. def some good learning.

[DIYguy]

From experience, you'll prob want to shoot before 100K. I was at 76 K, and in no way was it extreme, but when you're dealing with an engine that's as sensitive and precise as a direct injection engine, so should your maintenance be with that same mindset.

Thanks for that perspective, much appreciated, I only threw 100k out as a rough target.
I am quite certain that I will have the manifold off again long before then (spark plug checks if nothing else) and will keep an eye on the valves in the process.

you cali boys gotta deal with much more , so I understand that.

Yes we do.
Takes a whole lot of the fun out of cars as a hobby.
I see people who do muffler deletes for example.
Bad, bad, bad idea in Cali with the really strict noise laws on the books these days.
They have issued violations for people "driving in track mode", no joke.
Nowadays it is no longer a fix it ticket either, it is a summons.

as far as the "making the engine suck more oil out of the crank case... that's a crap myth made up by someone.

Well, actually Elite claims that they do exactly that- more "stuff", mainly oil mist due to blow-by, pulled out of the crankcase.
Take a look at the advertisement they posted in this thread for example.
So OK, we go from having a squeaky clean manifold now to- who knows what????
Not worth the risk and cost versus just doing more frequent oil changes IMHO, but I do understand your point. Advertising hype?
However I do know from having dealt with air leaks on the manifold and throttle body already that the LGX engine is very sensitive to un-metered airflow.
It is pathetically easy for it to throw codes in fact.

sun roof water test...

A sun roof water test? Seriously?
What do they do if it fails, make you tape up the seams?? Fiberglass it shut? Scrap the car?
OMG...... That is a bit over the top in my opinion (pun intended).
But then again here they WILL fail your smog test because you run afoul of some insignificant, possibly imagined, bureaucratic thing even though it passes the tail pipe test quite easily.
Don't ask me how I know that.

[L8Apex]

I had about an inch of oily black water in my CC between oil changes.