Oil Catch Can

[scuderia]

Hey Greg,

You were asking about the oil catch can the other day. i think this might help, I personally doubt the necessity of this mod, but maybe it is important.

http://www.altaminiperformance.com/products/catchcan/CATCHCAN.html

[weezer2282]

Thanks, but I've read that before. I was just wondering if anyone had one installed or knew of somebody with one. In the forums I've read that some people actually have them fill up fairly quick and other people get absolutely nothing in them. If you upgrade to a smaller pulley then the catch can might be more useful than with the stock pulley. It's kind of a mod that sounds good when the company writes it up, but you just can't tell if it is worthwhile. I wonder if K-Huevo has tried one.


Hey Greg,

You were asking about the oil catch can the other day. i think this might help, I personally doubt the necessity of this mod, but maybe it is important.

http://www.altaminiperformance.com/products/catchcan/CATCHCAN.html

[leonsrocketcar]

I have the alta. If you aren't going to be on the track, run your car hard off the track, drag race; then I don't think it is necessary.

I did have a couple of tablespoons in my OCC, but I hadn't checked it in 7 months and I run the piss out of my car. There are also some highly modded cars like mine in CA that removed them because they were a)installed wrong b)saw no need for them.

My advice: don't bother. use the money elsewhere.

[k-huevo]

I used the Alta oil catch can for a long time with a 15% pulley reduction. The can collected almost a half-cup of water for each tank of gas. No oil showing in the can whatsoever. I didn’t expect to see a lot of oil because my car doesn’t consume much. Oil still accumulated in the intercooler, intercooler boots and the tee section where the PCV hose and the valve cover vent hose met. In addition, an odor of crank case gasses would come through the fresh air vent when opened.

The can was installed correctly, by the way. Randy Webb (the one who sold it to me) looked over my shoulder after I put it on and pronounced it correct :cool:.

There are better-designed catch cans on the market from what I’ve seen and the Alta OCC can be improved upon by having two cans independently installed. One can for the valve cover vent and the other for the PCV vent.

For a primarily street driven car, I haven’t seen a need for it. I disassembled my entire air charge system and head after 45, 000 miles and didn’t see oil gummed-up or burnt on anything. To be fair about this observation, the intercooler is maintained regularly. I take the intercooler off at every oil change (sometimes more frequently) and flush the interior with acetone. I remove the intercooler boots (bellows) and wipe the oil residue from these as well.

I know you guys are going to get tired of me spoiling all the aftermarket fun :o. There are some things that are relatively harmless (most aftermarket bolt-on stuff is) and you don’t need some old guy with stodgy views holding you back ;). I still love talking about this car so feel free to dial 1-800-ask-keith, anyway :D.

[leonsrocketcar]

btw-I left mine on for the heck of it. I promised myself to check it once a month as I plan on being at the track the rest of the year.

When I did check it, it had about 2 tbl spoons of sludge, more water than anything.

And like Keith, I have been in my IC quite abit, so I check the boots and inside the runners too and it is almost nothing there.

For bling, get the M7 and shine it everyday!!

Finally, I echo Keith, please ask for our good/bad/indifferent/useless advice as I rather give it than read about how much zanio you used....oops I am rantng about other MINI sites...

[scuderia]

Hey guys,

This is the whole idea.... Sharing your experience and knowledge...
thanx for any valuable input.

[Will]

good info. Like Berk said thanks for sharing. Just the other day we were discussing this mod. :)