what does your catch can contents look like???

[WHITE R32]

i emptied my catch can for the first time ever today (been on the car over 1 year) and the fluid i got out of it was a clear gold at the bottom like brand new looking oil..... and sitting ontop of that was like twice as much greyish/goldish coloured not clear liquid..... now i have a theory on this but i wanted to hear what everyone elses stuff looks like from their catch cans when they empty them....

incase it matters my catch can is empty (not baffeled etc) with a inlet at the top a drain at the bottom and a filter on the top.....

ok my theory is when i wash my engine bay which i do do a bit with the pressure cleaner i keep getting water in the catch can thru the filter on the top and over time this has built up and since its the first time ive emptied it it just looks scary.....

the engine still runs fine and doesnt blow smoke or miss an anyway.....

anyone have any ideas for me???

[Sydneykid]

The floaties are oil and water mixed with air. Over time they separate, the water evapourates with the under bonnet temperature and the air escapes through the filter. This leaves the oil. You may be gettin water from washing, but it also comes from humidity and from the engine when it is cold and has condensation. If this the first time in 12 months you have emptied it, then you have nothing to worry about.

[WHITE R32]

awesome thanks for that... i sorta expected that to be the case ill empty if after another few months and see what its like then... cheers man

[NRB]

Seeing as your question is answered, and my question directly relates to this, I thought I'd ask a very similar question

My catchcan (for want of a better word!) is a simple plastic bottle that the breather hose runs into, it has no filter on it, no steelwool packing and is open through a few vent holes I drilled into it. The breather hose comes off the drivers side breather, with the factory hose running between the drivers and passengers breathers still in situ. The PCV valve (on drivers side) has been plugged and the opening in the intake pipe has also been stoppered. Basically it's a vent-to-atmosphere breather.

It tends to fill with a strong smelling amberish fluid, which I think may be water. When the car is cold, there's a small amount steam that comes out of the pipe when idling. I recently fitted some 2530s, and before fitting we did a leakdown test on all cylinders to check the engine health - all were "normal". The catchcan was filling with this 'water' before the turbo upgrade.

I don't have any oil in my coolant, and no coolant in my oil, so I don't think there's a headgasket problem. I'm just concerned as to why there's a fair amount of liquid forming in my catchcan... I know there's people out there who have the can draining directly into the sump, but I wouldn't dream of doing it as that means I'd be contaminating my sump.

Any information on my situation would be great.

[DCIEVE]

i have the vapour coming out of my catch can too, have seen this on a no. of other cars with atmo breathing cans at idle as well so havent been overly concerned.

over 4000k's of driving the can was lined with oily sludge but only a couple drops of oil came out when tipped up. maybe sk can comment on the vapour at idle issue

[Sydneykid]

maybe sk can comment on the vapour at idle issue

Condensation, basically the same as what comes out the exhauts pipe when you first start up in the morning.

[NRB]

How much is an acceptable amount SK? I just want to try and maintain a healthy car