Is My Oil Catcher Plumbed Wrong? Not Catching Oil

[KrazyTurk]

iv had cases of oil leaks before but asumed it was leaking from the oil catcher though i did get that replaced

now i noticed theres still leaks but its not coming from the catcher but from some sort of filter under the pod i think its a breather ?

iv attached a picture of how my catchcan settup is and where the leaking is from (brown shading represents oil leaks)

http://i.imgur.com/P3jxTH7.png

the catchcan itself seems literally empty

my question is why isnt the catchcan catching the oil? but passing down through the breather

[R_34]

The oil catch can doesn't catch the oil because it doesn't see any blow-by gases through it.

The catch can shall be between the rocker cover and the breather/intake pipe.

As is your catch can is totally useless.

[KrazyTurk]

ah i see this whole thing is plumbed incorrectly then and despite the several mechanics i went to about it didnt mention anything

even though the breather is before the catchcan wouldn't the can at least catch something other side of rocker cover?

i have a feeling the can might be installed incorrectly by the mechanic too lol

just figured that the breather/filter i was confused about was there to vent gases/oil to atmosphere instead of the intake

Edited September 28, 2014 by KrazyTurk

[Ben C34]

Yep that's a fairly retarded way to plumb in the catch can. It would only catch what's coming out of the inlet cam cover

How much is coming out anyway? A healthy engine none should come out.

[KrazyTurk]

not to sure as none of the oil went back in to the can lol but i only get it when im boosting really aggressively

[Ben C34]

That means two things

1 your engine is tired.

2 your catch can sucks. It should be baffled.

[GTSBoy]

That means two things

1 your engine is tired.

2 your catch can sucks. It should be baffled.

Actually it doesn't necessarily mean 2 until such time as he sets the plumbing up properly and then oil still comes out the vent.

OP......you need the catch can to be in the path between the engine and the vent. Merge the two hoses from the cam covers together and hook them to one connection on the catch can. Connect the vent to the other port on the catch can. Run it and report back. If the can works, then there will be oil in it. If the can doesn't work (per Ben's suggestion above) then there will be oil in it and oil outside it!

[KrazyTurk]

yeah that is exactly what ill be doing after i get ahold of the fittings and hoses

[Blackkers]

worth noting that the filter/breather is a bad idea. Hook it up to the turbo intake.

1. It's illegal

2. the filter material will become soaked in oil and drip. also it's a fire hazard

3. Supposedly exposing the crank case to vacuum from the turbo will help keep the rings on their seats with a worn engine. I don't know how true this is.

4. Also if you've got blowby, and I assume you do. then boost is escaping from the combustion chamber into the crankcase where it is venting to atmosphere. typically you want this to recirculate to the turbo's inlet. I'm not sure if this would affect AFR's though

Anyway, hook up the catch can between the rocker covers and the compressor inlet. That should allow you to tick all the boxes of legality while keeping oil out of your intake

[KrazyTurk]

so i hooked everything up correctly and now noticed smoke coming out from exhaust pipe?

[KiwiRS4T]

so i hooked everything up correctly and now noticed smoke coming out from exhaust pipe?

Ok that indicates that oil fumes are getting though the catch can so you need to baffle the catch can and/or put an air/oil seperator (could be another baffled catch can) into the line from the catch can to the turbo intake. If there is masses of oil coming out at WOT refer to the oil control thread for more answers.

[KrazyTurk]

its not hooked to intake though just a breather, i think it might be due to a small kink in the breather hose ill check it out when i have the car back

[Ben C34]

When you say hooked it properly most people would take that as you hooked it up the proper way, with the catch can venting back to the inlet.

Are you sure it's hooked up properly at the moment?

[KrazyTurk]

yeah definitely

car isn't with me till Monday so no photo but heres an example

[GTSBoy]

That's not hooked up properly. That filter on the far right.....shouldn't be there. That hose should be hooked up to the turbo inlet pipe, so that the air that flows through the catch can into the engine has been through the AFM. We explained all that already.

[Ben C34]

It's a shame even after being told how to do it you still do it wrong, and are adamant that it's correct.

It's wrong.

Simple as that. If you don't understand that's cool, get someone who knows what they are doing to do it.

[KrazyTurk]

im aware its venting to atmo, so hooking it back to oil intake will stop the smoking?