I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in all things catch can related, but I've read enough to be educated on the subject. The more I've researched, the more I've found running an oil catch can (OCC) is warranted for a Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) vehicle.
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In port fuel injection, fuel is sprayed across the intake ports, which cleans oil off the valves. However, in a GDI system, fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber. Hence, any contaminants accumulating on the ports/valves or in the intake tract are not cleaned by simply getting on the skinny pedal. In fact, spirited driving is going to amplify the issue, as it will create more pressure and in turn create more oil vapor. All of the oil vapor being recirculated is going to travel through the intake, and because of condensation and friction about the intake/vapor interfaces, will end up gunking up your intake valves and manifold. So, to prevent this "blow-by" vapor to accumulate in the intake tract, the vapor must be condensed and stored before it gets to the intake... AND THIS is where the catch can comes in.
From the Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve or the Breather Hose to the intake are hoses where all this vapor travels through. Placing an area for that vapor to accumulate is what you'll be doing.
In comes the OCC. You can do a few different things. I ordered one OCC, but because of the size limitations of the Q50 engine bay, I was unable to install it. I then purchased a cheap ebay 400mL OCC. But the moment I got to actually looking at it, I realized this was going to leak and be an all-around headache. Additionally, there was no access to the internals of the OCC, and since it was not baffled (because it was a cheap eBay POS) and it didn't have a way to put a filter material in, it wouldn't really do a good job at condensing oil vapor.
This brings me to the different designs. You can either use a baffled OCC (which is what I will be installing in the next post I am reserving on this thread), or you can create a "heat sink" in an empty cheap canister which will essentially do the same thing, which I will discuss now.
๐ซ๐ถ ๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐บ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ป๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ณ ๐พ๐ถ๐ถ๐ณ! ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ as a stainless steel scrub pad.
So there's two ways I know of to accomplish a functional OCC design.
First, you can go down and get an air compressor filter from Home Depot/Lowe's/True Value/Harbor Freight, some hose, and some barbed fittings to put it all together (most cost effective).
Or, I personally like a little bling, so you can also get an eBay OCC. These OCCs come without baffling, so we need a material to act as a heat sink to condensate the vapor for collection. In this case, you can place a stainless steel scrub pad between the inlet and outlet of the OCC. The oil vapor will drop in temperature when it comes in contact with the cooler steel mesh and condensate into the OCC. If you're worried about sucking bits of the stainless steel pad into your intake, simply put a check-valve fitted with a stainless steel screen material inline between the OCC and the intake. After a couple of years of running this type of setup, I am not slightly concerned about this... but you may choose to be more cautious. The one I saw on the first search actually comes with the stainless steel scrub pad as a "filter" which is exactly what it does.
DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL! It is not the same thing.
The biggest thing about the OCC is making sure you empty it at oil change or periodically between. If it gets full, where do you think that oil will end up? I'll give you a hint, not where you want it to go... XD
Additionally, this is a good place to check for contaminants in your oil. If you see metal flakes, excessive dirt, fuel, water, bunnies, whatdafukeva. If you have things that shouldn't be in your oil, then your next step is to figure out why, or take it to the dealer and say, "My oil sparkles like an 18 year old Vegas hooker."
Local parts were mildly difficult to locate, so I have used the best of a limiting situation and what NAPA/Home Depot/True Value had to offer. The correct parts are on order, but I really wanted to get this together to test the functionality. If you go the same route I did, and don't buy parts that you are going to end up not using (this is how 75 year old men have every fucking part you could ever want in their garage):
๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ถ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐กโ๐๐(๐ ) #8 ๐๐๐ #4 ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
3' of 1/2" ID hose $15 True Value
1' of 5/8 ID hose $7 NAPA
(2x) 5/8" to 1/2" reducing couplers $4 at Home Depot
๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ต๐๐๐ค-๐๐ฆ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ #14 ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
3' of 3/8" ID hose
2' of 1/2" ID hose thanks Anne! XD
3/8 to 1/2 reducing coupler
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1/2" self-tapping screws $unknown (I have a bunch of these laying around)
90 degree corner angle plate $1 True Value
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Go from the Breather to your 5/8" hose => reducing coupler => 1/2" hose => OCC IN
Go from Breather Hose => reducing coupler =>1/2" hose => OCC OUT
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If you use the Mishimoto OCC, you're going to have an in and out. Engine side goes to the in and blow-by hose connects to the out. If you get in there and get confused, just remember, your motor is a huge metal thing and the hose is made of rubber.
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It's a tight squeeze.There is a solid black bracket in front and just above the breather valve/hose. I screwed through my 90 degree angle bracket into that bracket with the self-tapping screws, then attached the OCC bracket to the angle bracket using 2 more self-tapper screws. It was not lining up properly, so I used the vice and turned the 90 degree angle bracket into a 50-60 degree bracket then reattached. Where it is mounted makes unscrewing the bottom to empty a PITA, you'll be better off unscrewing it from the bracket, removing the hoses, emptying and reinstalling.
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I've only had this installed for about a week or so, I haven't checked to see if it has collected anything. The blowby hose was coated with oil, so my guess is that the OCC will work as advertised.
Hose #14 is the PCV hose, do not VTA, make sure this routes back to the intake manifold and use a separator if you wanted.
Hose #8 and #4 route back to the compressor inlets, passenger side in the coupler and drivers side into a fitting on the turbo. These can be VTA but is recommended to route back to the intakes. You can use a separator in each circuit to keep the oil out.
2: Shaun has installed Vent to Air (filtered) OCCs on the breathers referenced above, which works well.
PCV VALVE OCC MUST BE A SEALED CAN, VTA = No Joy.
3: DO NOT USE PVC couplers. Attached in the pictures is the first Home Depot reducing couplers I used. They are blue and I am lucky they didn't completely melt.
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I am simply providing a overview of what I did. If you get in there and accidentally **** **** up, that's on you.
OK.. thanks. Putting it in our cars makes a lot of sense, especially if you are going to tune it. (More cylinder/ring pressure & possibly of more blowby).. I deleted my post as the pic is changed
Here's what I know so far, the hose coming off the PVC is 5/8 ID. The fittings on the Mishimoto OCC are 1/2". Brass reduction barbed couplers in those sizes are hard to come by locally. I have PVC and will keep a close eye on it, but I should be fully installed tomorrow if my wife let's me break away before the birthday party for the toddler.
However, this new OCC is small, so no problem finding a mounting solution me thinks.
Okie dokie... Installed it, I will do a detailed write up sometime tomorrow. Because my hands fucking hurt.
Self tapping screws won the day, this thing was a PITA to install. But a quick drive +logs didn't show anything bad happening. I'm not 100% sold on the mounting solution... Only one screw holding it in place for now. But I'll be testing and measuring the amount of oil separated and updating as I learn more.
You hit the 20 dollar question... Literally. I was concerned about this, so I bought access to the service manual for a day. Thankfully no, because of the number 1 rule in real estate. Location.
There's only one PCV valve. From there it splits into a couple of paths. I'll upload the path documentation I took screen shots of in a moment and update the initial post.
As part of the Memorial Day Sales Weekend, Home Depot is offering the 5k and 7k lbs capacity Quick Jacks at a nice discount:
BL-5000SLX ($1099 - save $400):
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Quick-Jack-BL-5000SLX-5-000-lbs-Capacity-Portable-Vehicle-Lifting-System-BL-5000SLX-AC-110v/307393222...
Coming up to the 56k service and it says HEV inverter coolant should be replaced so a few basic questions. 1) Is this same as the antifreeze coolant and 2) how many litres is needed to replace. (2015 Q50s 3.5v6 hybrid/petrol). Canโt see it in the manual.
I purchased a new 2017 Q50S at the end of March. It did not come with the spare tire. In fact, Infiniti has gone so far as to almost eliminate that as an option (more on that later).
After investigating how much trunk space I'd lose with the spare tire added, I decided to look for all of the...
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