1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Oil catch can subject...again.

More time has been wasted talking about, and more money has been spent on catch cans than any other product in all of cardom. Catch cans are the figment of Forum imaginations the world over. 1) How did it start? 2) Why is it popular? 3) Has anybody ever proven their usefulness/uselessness? A brief history:

1) Club racers who convert street motors to race motors remove the PCV system: the system that burns oil vapors instead of releasing them to the atmosphere. Sometimes they hose the vapors into a jar or old plastic oil can to catch the condensed oil instead of creating a mess at the valve cover. The total parts cost used is $2: oil can, hose, some zip ties. Done.

2) Catch cans for street cars are popular for several reasons: they're found on race cars; they are really easy to make and sell for vendors (source an ebay can with two hose barbs, some hose, some clamps, and *poof*, you have created your own, race-proven performance part!); people buy them, install them, and don't have any measurable results, positive or negative. They're happy.

3) Here's the intrigue: nobody will ever prove or disprove the efficacy of the much ballyhooed OCC. Conjecture says that they catch oil that is in your PCV system. Sometimes they do catch oil, as well as water vapors. Conjecture says that less oil in parts like your intercooler will help it perform better. Yeah, maybe, but you could never measure that performance increase. There's still oil in your intake tract.

You'll notice that we don't offer an OCC on the Helix site. That's because they don't offer any measurable benefit to the performance or longevity of the car. If you like yours, good on you! I support it. It's fun to tinker with cars. If people ask me to install one, I install it. If they ask me whether they should buy one, I say: 'save your money for something give you a better result'.

Eric

 

It all depends on the car. Some Gen 1's have a lot of oil blowby. I have one and I get about 1/4 cup +/- at my semi-yearly oil change. Would rather empty an oil can that clean the IC.

See my gallery for my catch can.

 

^^^ That's what my Meth system is for. :devil:

 

breaking bad dave!

 

Heck if you ever run low on oil you can pour it back in the crankcase.

 

Nice clean install.

 

You did good dude!

 

Great minds..........and such.

 

R53's do not need catch cans, it's a waste of money.

End of story.

 

Some do,some don't.......

End of the complete story!

 

I don't think anyone here has ever actually claimed a performance improvement, simply a cleaner, less maintenance causing mod. I like the fact that it keeps my IC and intake cleaner.

 

That looks nice Narvarr.

 

When was the last time you cleaned it? I had a coating in mine at 35k but not the puddling. I did a cheap Harbor Freight cc to help. It's the air moisture separator for a compressor. You just have to flip the little valve at the base.

 

although an R50 I fitted 2 catch tanks. The right one(viewed from the front of the engine with the cam cover valve) gets a small amount of oil but the left(intake ) gets almost nothing.

Oil Catch Cans | Everything you need to know and more!

 

And one more thought....
The oil that you find in the intake track has been DOING GOOD...:aureola::idea:
That big air compressor.... Known as a SUPERCHARGER.... The oil floating around is lubing the external parts...the vanes/lobes the have very little clearance on the inside of its case....
Just like a air compressor that uses oil.....(not the oil-less ones that use a carbon compressor that wears a bit to lube itself)......
Guess if you do lots of short trips a OCC in a COOL location will help get some moisture out....