23 replies to this topic

[Glambee]

Well, I've read several opinions on this, so would like some advice there. I planned to change my air intake pipe to a new version (Dave H/Duncan one to be more precise), without the "T" part for the hose between intake pipe and cam cover breather; thus I would have to fit an oil catch tank. Then I read several post mentioning issues with that setup (oil contaminated due to lower vacuum in the breather, catch tank filled too quickly, etc.). So, should I go the catch tank route or not?

[MrSimba]

Defiantly go this route My catch tank has never needed emptying or even shown signs that it's filling, but why would you want to vent hot crankcase air back into the intake that your trying to keep as cool as possible?

[Nev]

An TC'ed engine with moderately good compression just 'pulses' air in and out of the cam cover breather until it is on full boost, so any accumulation of sludge in the catch tank should be minimal. If the tank were to fill up fast (ie > a cupfull per 1000 miles) then your engine has poor compression and will be down on power. I do find catch tanks make a bit of a mess as they tend to 'leak' vapour and a mist around the engine bay or where ever you install them, so I intened to eliminate mine (was venting into an Evian bottle!) and plug the cam cover breather pipe back into the inlet. HTH.

Edited by Nev, 17 October 2012 - 04:11 AM.

[GeorgeBC]

Thats interesting as i get an orange/brown water and oily sludge in my catch tank. I get about half a mugs worth every two trackdays but my catchtank for the breather is also shared with my gearbox breather so i cant be sure Whats what.

[Duncan VXR]

George it will not be gearbox, they never leak with a ahort section of pipe on let alone all the way to a catch tank ;-) condensation I suspect jf no sign of naufhty mayo on header or under oil cap :-) DG

[GeorgeBC]

George it will not be gearbox, they never leak with a ahort section of pipe on let alone all the way to a catch tank ;-) condensation I suspect jf no sign of naufhty mayo on header or under oil cap :-)

DG

Cheers

[Nev]

Thats interesting as i get an orange/brown water and oily sludge in my catch tank. I get about half a mugs worth every two trackdays but my catchtank for the breather is also shared with my gearbox breather so i cant be sure Whats what.

Perfectly normal sounding to me George, nothing to worry about.

[Darcini]

Thats interesting as i get an orange/brown water and oily sludge in my catch tank. I get about half a mugs worth every two trackdays but my catchtank for the breather is also shared with my gearbox breather so i cant be sure Whats what.

I reckon both your gearbox and engine are fcuked, time to get new ones plus a Garret of some description.
And a stand alone ECU. HTH

My breather pipe exits through a hole in the undertray, originally it vented into a catch tank but there was so little collected it wasn't worth it tbh.
If you do route the pipe to exit into the atmosphere be sure to keep it away from hot exhausts...

[Duncan VXR]

LOL, I agree Nigel

[Glambee]

One more question: there are two entries on a catch tank, so one connected to cam cover via a hose. I guess the other one is to vent the tank, so where do you put the exit of this? Undertray, wheel arch liner, or elsewhere?

[Darcini]

I found when exiting into the wheel arch fumes were recirculated into the interior of the car, ie it stank when the window was open or the top was off. Venting through the undertray solved this.

[Nev]

One more question: there are two entries on a catch tank, so one connected to cam cover via a hose.
I guess the other one is to vent the tank, so where do you put the exit of this? Undertray, wheel arch liner, or elsewhere?

The second exit usually has some gauze filter on it to stop dust going into the tank and possibly being sucked into the engine.

[siztenboots]

are you keeping the PCV hardpipe from the crankcase, or have you made mods to the camcover baffle / throttle body oneway valve?

[Nev]

are you keeping the PCV hardpipe from the crankcase, or have you made mods to the camcover baffle / throttle body oneway valve?

Sorry, are you asking me or the OP Steve ?

[westie]

Any links to above mentioned catch tanks or will an egay cheap one suffice?

[rob999]

Did you find a decent cheap catch tank westie?

[MrSimba]

Defiantly go this route

My catch tank has never needed emptying or even shown signs that it's filling, but why would you want to vent hot crankcase air back into the intake that your trying to keep as cool as possible?

Thats interesting as i get an orange/brown water and oily sludge in my catch tank. I get about half a mugs worth every two trackdays but my catchtank for the breather is also shared with my gearbox breather so i cant be sure Whats what.

Update.

When I had the cam cover venting to both a catch tank & still with the smaller vent into inlet manifold the catch tank never showed any signs of filling or ever needed emptying, when did the Garrett conversion I capped off both the cam cover vent to inlet manifold and inet manifold & now just vent straight to catch tank, which fills up exactly as George says above!

Can only guess that as the inlet manifold was providing a vacuum it was just all being sucked straight into there before! Gone from never filling to being on wing nuts now to make it easier to empty!

Edited by MrSimba, 24 February 2013 - 07:38 AM.

[westie]

Did you find a decent cheap catch tank westie?

No mate changed the car instead ! I thort that was the cheaper way to go , haha !

[MrSimba]

Good read on engine breathing here http://www.burtonpow...her-system.html Got off my arse today & fitted a 'Y' piece to my cam cover breather & gearbox breather & then both to catch tank & from catch tank to a vent filter so no more fumes!!!

[turbo boy]

Time to resurrect this thread as I'm looking for a catch tank solution. Can anyone advise the best solution for someone right on a budget? Cheers, Jon