Catch Can Mystery / Are they Necessary?
This is essentially oil that would traverse through your factory PCV valve and head back into the maninfold, designed for emission purposes. So what is the problem with that? Simple, the oil will accumulate. That will in turn lead to carbon build-up, which will retard spark detonation and ultimately cause your vehicle's computer to back off timing to compensate...what does that mean in layman's terms? You will build up sludge and loose power.
For the exact same reasons as stated above, all of us '03/'04 Mustang Cobra owners went through the exact same thing... ten years ago. This model is Supercharged, and most of us were upping the boost and doing all the mods, thus, even more crankcase pressure.
*Even my '01 Naturally Aspirated Mustang Cobra was doing this, and I added a Catch Can immediately upon hearing about these concerns.
Odd thing. On both cars, when I installed the CC, a few tablespoons of oil were captured in short order. What was strange was, it never captured any more, nor any less. In other words, if left alone, it never filled up the Catch Can.
I used to empty it religiously every time I detailed under the hood, which was frequently. I would empty it out, and it would fill right back up to the same spot. I never found it empty, I never found it with any more than it's "normal" level.
My main concern was the oil mixing with fuel and reducing octane, causing detonation, which is instant death on that particular model, as it was supercharged, and did not have a knock sensor.
When I finally did have to rebuild the motor (don't ask; It was a fun experience, but pricy) I found my intake tract clean.
On the other hand, I have since witnessed countless top ends removed, and noted oil stains on the Intake, which is much more complex; including the Plenum, Blower, Upper Manifold, Intercooler and Lower Manifold, etc.
Thing is, these cars were run VERY hard for many, many miles, dyno pulls, race use, etc and never had an issue, other than internal cosmetic "staining".
So, I have come to believe this is sort of a unnecessary mental "Placebo" that makes us feel good about doing something nice for our motors, but never really needs to be done.
I have not read through all the various Catch Can results threads, but I would bet, that though various motors "settle" at a slightly different level of trapped blow by residue, you may find that if left alone, they remain at the same level... forever. I don't know why.
Comments? Challenges to this theory? Anyone else experience this?
FYI, as a super cheap and semi-good looking option, I just plumbed a fluid catch unit that is used on large air compressors and the like. With fittings to fit the DIA of the PCV hose , it slid right on and could be located anywhere mid-stream, so to speak. It was nice as I found gloss black ones, as well as the Caterpillar Yellow if you wanted something different. Nice thing, it has a clear plastic screw on "Vial" that serves as the Catch, and can be unscrewed to clean it quite easily, and being clear, you can visually check the fluid level inside in a heart beat without even touching it. With screw in hose fittings, you can get them at any hardware store for like $25.
It may not be "trick" looking, but it works and was affordable and convenient:
http://us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com/yhs...nsource&hsimp=yhs-fullyhosted_003&type=dsites
Long story short; Anyone actually filling a catch can up?