Oil Catch Can project

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by Doru

Having the mayo visible on the dipstick or on the oil cap is not good. When you see it one has 3 alternatives:

1. Once you reach operating temps, put the car in tiptronic, and downshift, driving close to 3000 rpm's for 10-15 mins (do 2-3 stints). This is if you don't have a highway close by, and you're stuck in city driving (you won't break the speed limit)
2. Warm her up, then do an oil change. This is if the above method has failed, due to a high mayo contamination of the CCV - the mayo "might" not come out, but it's an honest effort to chase it out with some fresh oil. Chance are 50/50 (my theory)
3. Do nothing and pray you will be OK (slim chances).

The quick warm-up method works best, combined with tiptronic downshifting and driving at higher rpm's. This can be during the work-home commute, no problem. And you don't have to do it every day.

0.02

I did something similar on the last oil change this spring; I took it for a long drive, city and highway (it's a manual, so driving at ~70 mph has the engine speed at about 3500 rpm) to make sure the engine was at operating temp. Just before draining though, I added a half can of Sea Foam to the crankcase and let it idle for a few minutes, hoping it would help remove any remaining moisture, and hoping it would help melt any remaining cheese. I didn't see any since then, but then again we took it on vacation last month & put about 2000 miles on it. It's about due for another oil change, and I'll probably do the same treatment. I've read though that even after the most thorough attempts at getting all the cheese out, there is usually some remaining under the valve cover in the little nooks & crannies; the only way to get it all is to disassemble and manually clean. I might do that some day, maybe when I feel the need to tackle the VANOS reseal, but not today.

I still think there ought to be some way to get an air/water separator inline with one of the CCV pipes, or maybe a canister with some kind of desiccant in it. I know the best way to keep the cheese at bay is getting the thing good and hot on a regular basis, but as long as we live where we do, and my wife is the primary driver of the thing, it's just not going to happen.

[puddinboo]

my driving is like less then 15 min per trip each way to work and all city driving about 60km/h .this is why I went with catch can .I`m experimenting with it and see how it goes. I just didn`t like the idea of there being a hose hooked up to the dipstick tube which allows a ton of oil into your intake if the ccv fails like it did to me this winter. (hydro-locked my engine and had about 1 liter of oil left in it,not good,glad I noticed oil smell in the house in time and ran out and shut down the x5). just got back from a 6 hr trip the day before this happened ,so I didn`t get stranded, it was idling in driveway.

[puddinboo]

update no more yellow stuff on dipstick end and oil fill cap (disappeared) since changing over to catch can.
also here are a couple more pics.

[puddinboo]

put about 500km on this oil catch can setup ,haven`t loss a drop of oil there fore not burning any oil at all,no codes and engine running very quiet and smooth ,no loss of performance at all.I will post here every now and again if anyone is interested?

[Green Dragon]

Thanks for the updates Puddinboo! Haven't heard anything from the guys at G.A.S. I plan on having an install completed by October on both the X5 and x3 with something.

[puddinboo]

I`m going to keep testing it through the winter months and see how it goes,like keeping an eye on any mayo build up(which at the moment is completely gone since going to catch can). also just changed my spark plugs and they were nice and dry, no oil on them which is a good sign. In the future if all goes well I would like to get a a different catch can with fittings on it the same size as the fittings on the valve cover hose(3/4). less hose connections and would be even a much cleaner look.

[puddinboo]

UPDATE AT 207000KM 1/4" of mayo+water in bottom of catch can when I emptied it today. most of the mayo could be left overs from the previous ccv ,because there is still no mayo on oil fill cap.will be checking monthly through out the winter months (may have to bring in catch can to thaw though.)

[THE VEIN]

So the crankcase is only vented through the dipstick tube?

[puddinboo]

the dipstick tube outlet where it would connect to the ccv is plugged (not vented) thats a huge issue when the ccv freezes and sucks oil into the intake which happened to me last winter and hydro locked my engine and thats the reason for catch can. so my setup is not vented.

[Omerta]

Few comments:
- Catch can will collect alot of moisture during the winter months as it will be the 'cold sink' in this setup acting as a condenser.
- Your hoses are not rated for oil resistance and will swell/degrade at different rates so pay attention to them over time.
- Should pass emissions depending on the amount of oil-vapor carryover there is though the system. The BMW system uses small orifices and a cyclone style separator.
- Too much vacuum could pull combustion gasses past the rings at low load and dissolve away the oil film leading to premature ring wear.