So what is an oil catch can and why is it a good idea to look into installing one on my car? (F150, vehicle)
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An oil catch can is not needed unless you tow heavy loads or drive your vehicle like you stole it. All the catch can does is fits inline with the PCV hose and catches the oil particulate and the moisture created at every startup. For normal operation, the PCV system takes care of this by running the moisture thru the engine and out the tailpipe- been happening since 1964. It also catches any oil particulate from an engine that has hot spots from heavy use and is cooking the oil off. People that have this issue and have a clue will look for a motor oil that has the lowest noack. Here's a hint for you, you won't find the lowest and most stable motor oil in the synthetic oils list. The best out there right now is Pennzoil conventional 10w-30. It's ASTM D-5800 test rating is 4.2. The absolute lowest made in the working range 30. Mobil One for a comparison is 11.4. Maximum allowable or it's out of spec is 15.0 per API and ILSAC. The numbers represent the amount of fluid cooked off in a one hour test at 302F in percentage of weight. So for those intellectually challenged, that means the Pennzoil has 4.2% cooked off in the test whereas the M1 has 11.4% cooked off, by weight. There's a lot more to this and that's why I gave you specific details so you can do your own research. FWIW, Ford with their EcoBoost engines specs a 5w-30 oil rather than a Xw-20 oil like the rest of their engines. The reason is the same as your grand father that used a 40 weight oil in his car if he pulled a trailer a lot. It's called fuel dilution. The old carbed engine along with any direct injected engine will literally flood the engine with gas to make the power. Not all of it burns and it ends up in the motor oil. AS gas accumulates in the oil it degrades faster and makes it thinner causing issues with lubrication film strength. Those that claim you NEED a catch can need to learn how to drive or buy the right rig to do the job. For those that don't have the issue which number in the millions now, it makes no sense to put this junk on the PCV system.
And because I know you're going to comment, Toyota belongs to ILSAC. Toyota can recommend anything but their engines and the motor oils that are acceptable to use in ANY USA sold vehicle MUST conform to ILSAC Standards. That means yes, you can use the 10w-30 in any Toyota engine. They CANNOT deny you warranty or they could lose their ability to sell cars in the USA. All of that goes for ANY vehicle sold in the USA.
Could an oil catch can alert a driver or mechanic of an engine problem
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL
An oil catch can is not needed unless you tow heavy loads or drive your vehicle like you stole it. All the catch can does is fits inline with the PCV hose and catches the oil particulate and the moisture created at every startup. For normal operation, the PCV system takes care of this by running the moisture thru the engine and out the tailpipe- been happening since 1964. It also catches any oil particulate from an engine that has hot spots from heavy use and is cooking the oil off. People that have this issue and have a clue will look for a motor oil that has the lowest noack. Here's a hint for you, you won't find the lowest and most stable motor oil in the synthetic oils list. The best out there right now is Pennzoil conventional 10w-30. It's ASTM D-5800 test rating is 4.2. The absolute lowest made in the working range 30. Mobil One for a comparison is 11.4. Maximum allowable or it's out of spec is 15.0 per API and ILSAC. The numbers represent the amount of fluid cooked off in a one hour test at 302F in percentage of weight. So for those intellectually challenged, that means the Pennzoil has 4.2% cooked off in the test whereas the M1 has 11.4% cooked off, by weight. There's a lot more to this and that's why I gave you specific details so you can do your own research. FWIW, Ford with their EcoBoost engines specs a 5w-30 oil rather than a Xw-20 oil like the rest of their engines. The reason is the same as your grand father that used a 40 weight oil in his car if he pulled a trailer a lot. It's called fuel dilution. The old carbed engine along with any direct injected engine will literally flood the engine with gas to make the power. Not all of it burns and it ends up in the motor oil. AS gas accumulates in the oil it degrades faster and makes it thinner causing issues with lubrication film strength. Those that claim you NEED a catch can need to learn how to drive or buy the right rig to do the job. For those that don't have the issue which number in the millions now, it makes no sense to put this junk on the PCV system.
And because I know you're going to comment, Toyota belongs to ILSAC. Toyota can recommend anything but their engines and the motor oils that are acceptable to use in ANY USA sold vehicle MUST conform to ILSAC Standards. That means yes, you can use the 10w-30 in any Toyota engine. They CANNOT deny you warranty or they could lose their ability to sell cars in the USA. All of that goes for ANY vehicle sold in the USA.
Could an oil catch can alert a driver or mechanic of an engine problem. I think so. Just think if someone published catch can accumulation results at 3,000 mile intervals across car and truck models.
Oil consumption is very important some cars need no additional added between oil changes, some need a lot.
Pennzoil is good stuff no doubt but it won't help if the rings are bad by wear or design the same goes for the injectors. An oil catch can could answers those questions and even slow down the damage.
Here is an excellent article for Oil catch can D.I.Y. install.
Years ago I installed one of those things on my Jeep Wrangler 4 cylinder engine. I was amazed at the amount of crud it caught instead of allowing the stuff to go through my combustion chambers where it would undoubtedly have made carbon.
This was one of the early simple units. Due to the simplicity it was relatively inexpensive, but it worked rather nicely. I liked the fact that for a catch basin it used a pint Mason jar. It was nice to be able to SEE what it was catching! If I could find one like it, I would buy it for my current Jeep Wrangler (6 cyl., 194,000 miles).
However, I won't pay the price for the extra fancy new models!
I've had it on my more performance oriented cars. Have never even thought about it on the other cars. Albeit I do have an Outback that likes to consume oil... maybe that could use one. But honestly - I didn't even know they made these things for non-performance cars.
When I saw the title of this thread I thought about the days when I worked for a company that had heavy cranes for lifting and the mechanics would often hang tin cans/buckets under oil drips to catch the drops but after reading the post it is not that. LOL
In today's world, they're used to catch that oil because in a GDI system, there's no fuel going over the intake valve to clean it. So, carbon can build up on it. by catching that oil, you're stopping the carbon.
Many newer GDI engines have been designed to not have this happen, so it's less of a problem now. but I recall some early models basically had to be 'sandblasted' with walnut shells to clean them.
In today's world, they're used to catch that oil because in a GDI system, there's no fuel going over the intake valve to clean it. So, carbon can build up on it. by catching that oil, you're stopping the carbon.
Many newer GDI engines have been designed to not have this happen, so it's less of a problem now. but I recall some early models basically had to be 'sandblasted' with walnut shells to clean them.
This is exactly why I have catch cans on both my 2013 Taurus SHO and 2019 Ford Transit, both powered by Ford's Gen I 3.5 twin turbo. I don't have a catch can on my 3.5 Ecoboost powered 2017 F150, because it has the Gen II 3.5, which uses both direct and port injection. The port injection injects just enough fuel to keep the valves clean.
I think a catch can is worthwhile on any car, but mandatory on direct injection cars, especially forced induction cars.
Your right Oil catch cans help maintain performance in any car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macroy
I've had it on my more performance oriented cars. Have never even thought about it on the other cars. Albeit I do have an Outback that likes to consume oil... maybe that could use one. But honestly - I didn't even know they made these things for non-performance cars.
When a car ages oil catch cans are even more beneficial. Probably the least expensive upgrade you can do on a car that will have the most return. The 5,000 mile plus oil changes of today and algorithms saying it's OK to go to 10,000 miles are just forcing engines to chug down all the more of those foamy milkshakes via the intake.
At very least the octane suffers from having addition contaminants introduced into the fuel air mix even in brand new cars.
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Could an oil catch can alert a driver or mechanic of an engine problem
