Do Oil Catch Cans Actually Work

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Language: en

00:00:00.000
hello everyone and welcome in this video
00:00:02.240 00:00:02.250 we're gonna be talking about why oil
00:00:03.740 00:00:03.750 catch cans are a great idea especially
00:00:06.289 00:00:06.299 for direct injection engines now this
00:00:09.440 00:00:09.450 video is brought to you by RetailMeNot I
00:00:11.780 00:00:11.790 will talk about that more at the end of
00:00:13.280 00:00:13.290 the video but know that there is a
00:00:14.690 00:00:14.700 relevant link in the video description
00:00:16.070 00:00:16.080 and in this video we're gonna be
00:00:17.870 00:00:17.880 focusing on four main topics so the
00:00:20.540 00:00:20.550 first one being a quick overview of how
00:00:22.429 00:00:22.439 these systems work how oil catch cans
00:00:24.590 00:00:24.600 work the second one will be looking at
00:00:26.480 00:00:26.490 some scientific research to see what
00:00:28.070 00:00:28.080 data-driven answers we can get behind
00:00:29.810 00:00:29.820 whether or not these devices are
00:00:31.820 00:00:31.830 effective the third thing we'll be
00:00:33.799 00:00:33.809 looking at a real-world example so
00:00:35.870 00:00:35.880 looking at an oil catch cans use on a
00:00:38.170 00:00:38.180 Volkswagen and then finally we'll end
00:00:40.549 00:00:40.559 with looking at different priced options
00:00:42.650 00:00:42.660 so I have a twenty five dollar oil catch
00:00:44.360 00:00:44.370 gain right here $100 oil catch can right
00:00:47.060 00:00:47.070 here and then this one is two hundred
00:00:48.860 00:00:48.870 thirty dollars so we're going to look at
00:00:50.240 00:00:50.250 different priced options and see if it's
00:00:52.069 00:00:52.079 actually logical to spend more money or
00:00:53.840 00:00:53.850 whether or not you know you can get away
00:00:55.250 00:00:55.260 with something that costs a bit less so
00:00:57.319 00:00:57.329 looking at my s2000 engine here it makes
00:00:59.630 00:00:59.640 it really easy to understand how these
00:01:01.580 00:01:01.590 oil catch cans work and so here we have
00:01:04.399 00:01:04.409 the valve cover on top of my engine and
00:01:06.140 00:01:06.150 you can see this hose leading from the
00:01:08.060 00:01:08.070 valve cover over to the intake manifold
00:01:10.340 00:01:10.350 now this is the positive crankcase
00:01:11.990 00:01:12.000 ventilation system and so what it does
00:01:14.149 00:01:14.159 when you have combustion strokes you're
00:01:16.580 00:01:16.590 gonna have that high pressure on top of
00:01:17.840 00:01:17.850 the piston and some of that high
00:01:19.190 00:01:19.200 pressure called blow-by can come past
00:01:21.649 00:01:21.659 that piston and it'll pressurize your
00:01:23.600 00:01:23.610 crankcase the area underneath the piston
00:01:25.969 00:01:25.979 and so you need that pressure to be able
00:01:28.039 00:01:28.049 to escape and that's why they have these
00:01:29.780 00:01:29.790 positive crankcase ventilation systems
00:01:31.700 00:01:31.710 so it allows that high pressure to
00:01:33.710 00:01:33.720 travel from your crankcase over to your
00:01:35.780 00:01:35.790 intake manifold now in doing so any oil
00:01:38.810 00:01:38.820 mist that's turning around within your
00:01:41.179 00:01:41.189 engine as well as contaminants that have
00:01:43.280 00:01:43.290 passed by your Pistons from blow-by can
00:01:45.920 00:01:45.930 then enter back into your intake
00:01:47.899 00:01:47.909 manifold through this positive crankcase
00:01:50.030 00:01:50.040 ventilation system and that means those
00:01:52.069 00:01:52.079 contaminants can then hit your intake
00:01:54.020 00:01:54.030 valves the oil can hit those intake
00:01:55.910 00:01:55.920 valves and you can start having deposits
00:01:57.830 00:01:57.840 build up on your intake valves so the
00:01:59.870 00:01:59.880 idea behind an oil catch can is that you
00:02:02.270 00:02:02.280 reroute this hose so you take one end of
00:02:04.609 00:02:04.619 the hose and you send it to the inlet of
00:02:06.410 00:02:06.420 this oil catch-can and then within the
00:02:08.900 00:02:08.910 oil catch hand you're going to have a
00:02:10.999 00:02:11.009 filter as well as this baffle here in
00:02:13.490 00:02:13.500 school
00:02:13.850 00:02:13.860 going to separate out that oil from the
00:02:17.300 00:02:17.310 air and so you'll have the oil trapped
00:02:19.310 00:02:19.320 at the bottom of this catch-can and
00:02:20.810 00:02:20.820 you'll allow that air to travel then
00:02:23.030 00:02:23.040 you'll have a hose routed out back to
00:02:25.340 00:02:25.350 the intake manifold so you don't allow
00:02:27.050 00:02:27.060 those contaminants from reaching your
00:02:28.910 00:02:28.920 intake valves and thus you help prevent
00:02:30.890 00:02:30.900 deposits from forming on the intake
00:02:32.750 00:02:32.760 valves now with port fuel injection like
00:02:35.120 00:02:35.130 on my ass mm this isn't that big of a
00:02:37.220 00:02:37.230 deal because the port injectors actually
00:02:39.470 00:02:39.480 spray fuel which goes over these intake
00:02:41.660 00:02:41.670 valves and helps to keep them clean with
00:02:43.760 00:02:43.770 direct injection engines you don't have
00:02:45.710 00:02:45.720 that fuel cleaning the valves and thus
00:02:47.420 00:02:47.430 they're more likely to have deposits
00:02:49.040 00:02:49.050 form moving on what does science tell us
00:02:51.530 00:02:51.540 about positive crankcase ventilation
00:02:53.060 00:02:53.070 systems and how they affect intake valve
00:02:55.699 00:02:55.709 deposits with direct injection engines
00:02:58.100 00:02:58.110 so I found a very cool study published
00:03:00.260 00:03:00.270 in Society of Automotive Engineers and
00:03:02.600 00:03:02.610 they were looking at a 2008 Pontiac
00:03:05.390 00:03:05.400 Solstice with eight hundred thousand
00:03:08.479 00:03:08.489 kilometers on the clock so very
00:03:10.400 00:03:10.410 impressive that a solstice made it that
00:03:12.110 00:03:12.120 far the reason they chose to use one
00:03:13.550 00:03:13.560 with such high mileage is that it
00:03:15.140 00:03:15.150 accelerates the deposit forming process
00:03:17.420 00:03:17.430 and so as a result they're able to run
00:03:19.610 00:03:19.620 these tests more quickly and see what
00:03:22.520 00:03:22.530 would happen what scenarios caused
00:03:24.440 00:03:24.450 deposits what scenarios do not so the
00:03:26.720 00:03:26.730 Pontiac Solstice used for this
00:03:28.039 00:03:28.049 experiment has a 2-liter turbocharged
00:03:30.170 00:03:30.180 gasoline direct injection engine it
00:03:32.690 00:03:32.700 produces about 255 horsepower and it's
00:03:35.270 00:03:35.280 doing so with about 20 pounds of boost
00:03:37.670 00:03:37.680 so the experiment the study performed
00:03:39.979 00:03:39.989 was to take the Solstice engine and to
00:03:41.840 00:03:41.850 put it on a repetitive Drive cycle that
00:03:43.910 00:03:43.920 would last for 16,000 kilometers now at
00:03:46.729 00:03:46.739 the end of those 16,000 kilometers they
00:03:48.860 00:03:48.870 would replace the spark plug the fuel
00:03:51.020 00:03:51.030 injectors and the intake valves for the
00:03:53.180 00:03:53.190 next test and they would weigh the
00:03:55.699 00:03:55.709 weight of the intake valve before and
00:03:57.890 00:03:57.900 after those 16 thousand kilometers to
00:04:00.199 00:04:00.209 see how much valve deposits were formed
00:04:02.570 00:04:02.580 how much weight gain was formed on that
00:04:04.729 00:04:04.739 intake valve during those 16,000
00:04:07.220 00:04:07.230 kilometers now what they found was
00:04:09.020 00:04:09.030 pretty fascinating and the set up is
00:04:10.550 00:04:10.560 actually a lot like - 2000 engine here
00:04:12.800 00:04:12.810 where there are two valves per cylinder
00:04:14.449 00:04:14.459 and then there are four intake runners
00:04:16.759 00:04:16.769 and then that positive crankcase
00:04:18.229 00:04:18.239 ventilation system comes here to the
00:04:20.030 00:04:20.040 center of the intake manifold and what
00:04:21.979 00:04:21.989 they found in this study with the
00:04:23.180 00:04:23.190 solstice engine is that valves 2 4 5 and
00:04:27.500 00:04:27.510 had the greatest amount of deposits
00:04:30.050 00:04:30.060 formed and so why might that be well if
00:04:32.510 00:04:32.520 you see this positive crankcase
00:04:34.010 00:04:34.020 ventilation system here it's routed in
00:04:36.050 00:04:36.060 and then depending on whichever cylinder
00:04:37.910 00:04:37.920 is on the intake stroke that's where the
00:04:39.650 00:04:39.660 air is going to be flowing and so the
00:04:41.960 00:04:41.970 side that's closest to the positive
00:04:44.090 00:04:44.100 crankcase ventilation system got the
00:04:46.250 00:04:46.260 majority of the deposits and that's
00:04:48.230 00:04:48.240 because those heavier elements those oil
00:04:50.090 00:04:50.100 droplets of course go to the closer
00:04:52.250 00:04:52.260 intake valve they don't travel further
00:04:54.350 00:04:54.360 now those heavier elements don't travel
00:04:56.390 00:04:56.400 as far and they go to the nearest that
00:04:58.340 00:04:58.350 path of least resistance the quickest
00:04:59.960 00:04:59.970 route and they just go straight to that
00:05:01.580 00:05:01.590 first intake valve so on this side
00:05:03.470 00:05:03.480 that's valves 2 & 4 and then on this
00:05:05.870 00:05:05.880 side that's going to be those left
00:05:07.220 00:05:07.230 valves valves 5 & 7 so for the first
00:05:10.580 00:05:10.590 part of this experiment they found that
00:05:12.020 00:05:12.030 yes they will have carbon deposits
00:05:13.880 00:05:13.890 forming on the intake valves so for the
00:05:16.370 00:05:16.380 second part of the experiment they're
00:05:17.870 00:05:17.880 going to run the exact same cycle those
00:05:19.670 00:05:19.680 16 thousand kilometers but now they're
00:05:22.220 00:05:22.230 gonna reroute that positive crankcase
00:05:24.020 00:05:24.030 ventilation system away from the intake
00:05:26.360 00:05:26.370 manifold so the intake manifold is then
00:05:28.670 00:05:28.680 going to be plugged and you're not going
00:05:30.110 00:05:30.120 to have any of those contaminants
00:05:31.370 00:05:31.380 traveling from the PCV system to the
00:05:34.010 00:05:34.020 intake manifold and what did they find
00:05:36.320 00:05:36.330 well crazy enough the intake deposits
00:05:39.200 00:05:39.210 forming on valves 2 4 5 & 7 was
00:05:43.210 00:05:43.220 dramatically less than when they did
00:05:46.010 00:05:46.020 have the PCV system routing to the
00:05:48.350 00:05:48.360 intake manifold so what does this prove
00:05:50.360 00:05:50.370 well if you can reroute those fumes and
00:05:52.760 00:05:52.770 effectively capture that oil like in an
00:05:54.980 00:05:54.990 oil catch can then you can dramatically
00:05:57.110 00:05:57.120 improve the amount of integral deposits
00:05:59.570 00:05:59.580 that are going to form on your engine so
00:06:01.850 00:06:01.860 what might we see happen in the real
00:06:03.710 00:06:03.720 world
00:06:04.100 00:06:04.110 well all of my cars are either port
00:06:05.900 00:06:05.910 injected or they run on like electrons
00:06:08.000 00:06:08.010 or something so I reached out to my good
00:06:09.980 00:06:09.990 friend Charles Hummel mechanic who is a
00:06:12.050 00:06:12.060 Volkswagen enthusiast he has spent quite
00:06:14.750 00:06:14.760 a bit of time with quite a few direct
00:06:16.910 00:06:16.920 injection Volkswagen engines and he said
00:06:19.310 00:06:19.320 some experiences using oil catch cans in
00:06:21.710 00:06:21.720 direct injection Volkswagens so we're
00:06:23.570 00:06:23.580 gonna send it over to Charles to learn
00:06:24.920 00:06:24.930 more about that what's up everybody's
00:06:26.720 00:06:26.730 Charles from humble mechanic calm today
00:06:28.250 00:06:28.260 I'm gonna give you guys some of my
00:06:29.450 00:06:29.460 experiences dealing with catch cans and
00:06:31.720 00:06:31.730 VW direct injection engines like I got
00:06:34.310 00:06:34.320 sitting right here for the most part all
00:06:37.040 00:06:37.050 VW gas engines at least in the modern
00:06:39.470 00:06:39.480 day are too
00:06:40.310 00:06:40.320 Injection which means we're putting fuel
00:06:42.020 00:06:42.030 right into the cylinder and while that's
00:06:44.210 00:06:44.220 awesome and gives us a ton of
00:06:45.410 00:06:45.420 flexibility with fuel timing it does
00:06:47.690 00:06:47.700 have a pretty significant drawback and
00:06:49.430 00:06:49.440 that is carbon deposits building up on
00:06:51.560 00:06:51.570 the backs of the intake valves this
00:06:53.570 00:06:53.580 carbon buildup on the back of the intake
00:06:54.950 00:06:54.960 valves can cause things like cold start
00:06:56.900 00:06:56.910 misfires pour fuel economy and even a
00:06:59.690 00:06:59.700 reduction in power something that a lot
00:07:01.760 00:07:01.770 of people have done is install a catch
00:07:03.110 00:07:03.120 can to reduce the amount of carbon
00:07:04.640 00:07:04.650 buildup on the intake valves this catch
00:07:06.740 00:07:06.750 can is from Black Forest Industries
00:07:08.510 00:07:08.520 retails anywhere from 350 to about 550
00:07:11.870 00:07:11.880 bucks depending on how you want to trick
00:07:14.030 00:07:14.040 it out and I installed this one on my
00:07:16.370 00:07:16.380 2015 volkswagen tiguan i first drained
00:07:19.760 00:07:19.770 this catch can at about 3,000 miles and
00:07:22.130 00:07:22.140 as you can see there was a lot of junk
00:07:24.470 00:07:24.480 that came out of the catch can it looks
00:07:26.450 00:07:26.460 like a mixture of oil fuel and water so
00:07:29.210 00:07:29.220 Wow I don't think a catch can is going
00:07:31.700 00:07:31.710 to solve all of the direct injection
00:07:33.410 00:07:33.420 carbon buildup problems I really think
00:07:35.870 00:07:35.880 the less of this junk running through
00:07:37.280 00:07:37.290 our engine the better off we're going to
00:07:38.870 00:07:38.880 be and on vehicles that are modified
00:07:40.640 00:07:40.650 this becomes even more important alright
00:07:43.250 00:07:43.260 everybody thank you so much Jason I'm
00:07:44.990 00:07:45.000 going to throw it on back to you thank
00:07:46.670 00:07:46.680 you so much Charles so now let's talk
00:07:48.590 00:07:48.600 about how much perhaps should one spend
00:07:50.840 00:07:50.850 on an oil catch can so I've got three
00:07:52.970 00:07:52.980 different ones here about 25 dollars a
00:07:54.650 00:07:54.660 little over a hundred dollars and over
00:07:56.030 00:07:56.040 two hundred dollars here so what
00:07:57.920 00:07:57.930 features do these have and what price
00:07:59.960 00:07:59.970 range makes sense for you so honestly as
00:08:02.480 00:08:02.490 far as build quality I've been impressed
00:08:04.310 00:08:04.320 with all three of these I don't think
00:08:05.600 00:08:05.610 any of them really are that bad of a
00:08:07.640 00:08:07.650 decision
00:08:08.480 00:08:08.490 so with this cheaper one here this
00:08:10.340 00:08:10.350 $25.00 one two the features that I do
00:08:12.290 00:08:12.300 like I does actually come with a
00:08:14.090 00:08:14.100 dipstick so you can check the level of
00:08:16.970 00:08:16.980 contaminants and oil that you've caught
00:08:18.470 00:08:18.480 within the catch can you don't actually
00:08:20.060 00:08:20.070 have to unscrew it every time so you can
00:08:22.010 00:08:22.020 check on that I think that's nice and it
00:08:23.840 00:08:23.850 does have a very simple baffling system
00:08:25.880 00:08:25.890 to help prevent that oil from going back
00:08:27.740 00:08:27.750 up and then traveling over to your
00:08:29.600 00:08:29.610 intake it is fairly small and there is
00:08:32.209 00:08:32.219 not a drain port on it
00:08:33.860 00:08:33.870 so this hundred dollar one here quite
00:08:36.110 00:08:36.120 small very nice build quality to it it
00:08:38.060 00:08:38.070 does have a bronze filter which is nice
00:08:40.279 00:08:40.289 so this one doesn't actually have a
00:08:41.810 00:08:41.820 filter on it it just has some baffling
00:08:43.640 00:08:43.650 so this has baffling as well as a low
00:08:46.610 00:08:46.620 micron bronze filter on it to help
00:08:48.560 00:08:48.570 prevent that oil and those contaminants
00:08:50.210 00:08:50.220 from going back into your intake the
00:08:52.070 00:08:52.080 only thing about it is that it's pretty
00:08:53.270 00:08:53.280 small
00:08:54.080 00:08:54.090 but nice that it does have that drain
00:08:55.550 00:08:55.560 port down at the bottom and then the big
00:08:58.070 00:08:58.080 guy over here this is probably the
00:08:59.420 00:08:59.430 nicest one I could find when I was
00:09:00.860 00:09:00.870 looking around on it different ones
00:09:02.210 00:09:02.220 online so it does have a nice bronze
00:09:04.640 00:09:04.650 filter right here it does have the
00:09:06.710 00:09:06.720 baffling system like the hundred dollar
00:09:08.900 00:09:08.910 one also has the drain port there at the
00:09:11.120 00:09:11.130 bottom and it's a good size to it so you
00:09:13.370 00:09:13.380 know you're not gonna have to dump it
00:09:14.540 00:09:14.550 out as frequently you're able to hold
00:09:16.730 00:09:16.740 quite a bit more in this of course just
00:09:18.590 00:09:18.600 looking at these size-wise
00:09:20.030 00:09:20.040 so nice if you have the space within
00:09:22.130 00:09:22.140 your engine compartment to stick this
00:09:23.750 00:09:23.760 guy it'd be good you won't have to check
00:09:25.220 00:09:25.230 it quite as frequently but honestly
00:09:27.530 00:09:27.540 overall none of these really look like
00:09:28.940 00:09:28.950 that bad of an option the big advantage
00:09:31.130 00:09:31.140 to these more expensive ones being that
00:09:33.019 00:09:33.029 bronze filter whereas this doesn't have
00:09:35.030 00:09:35.040 a filter so you're really relying on
00:09:36.590 00:09:36.600 that oil and air to cool and separate
00:09:38.870 00:09:38.880 out as well as just the longer
00:09:40.550 00:09:40.560 passageway that that oil has to travel
00:09:42.650 00:09:42.660 and hopefully you catch it rather than
00:09:44.840 00:09:44.850 relying on a filter to make sure it
00:09:46.460 00:09:46.470 doesn't go into the engine so you do get
00:09:48.560 00:09:48.570 a little bit more if you pay a bit more
00:09:49.970 00:09:49.980 but honestly all of these seem like a
00:09:51.890 00:09:51.900 butter system than doing nothing at all
00:09:54.110 00:09:54.120 now again this video is part of a series
00:09:56.329 00:09:56.339 where I have teamed up with RetailMeNot
00:09:58.400 00:09:58.410 which has a free browser extension
00:10:00.500 00:10:00.510 called RetailMeNot genie that's designed
00:10:03.079 00:10:03.089 to compile all the coupon codes out
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00:10:06.200 00:10:06.210 product online you get the best deal in
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00:10:17.840 00:10:17.850 on auto anything comm over $50 they have
00:10:21.770 00:10:21.780 all kinds of products and performance
00:10:23.990 00:10:24.000 parts it doesn't have to be an oil catch
00:10:25.640 00:10:25.650 can that you use the discount on and
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00:10:40.130 00:10:40.140 ever use their chat feature they have
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00:10:44.030 00:10:44.040 can find out there simply by saying hey
00:10:46.280 00:10:46.290 I found it for cheaper on this website
00:10:47.600 00:10:47.610 and then they'll match it or beat it and
00:10:49.490 00:10:49.500 then you can take an additional $10 off
00:10:51.650 00:10:51.660 using the link in the video description
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00:10:57.500 00:10:57.510 I hope you're able to take advantage of
00:10:59.329 00:10:59.339 it and thank you all so much for
00:11:00.920 00:11:00.930 watching if you have any questions or
00:11:02.630 00:11:02.640 comments of course feel free to leave
00:11:04.310 00:11:04.320 them below
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