To install a CATCH CAN or Not ?!!!

[Simon D]

Hello fellow petrol heads. in the past few months i have made a small experiment to see how fast the throttle body gets filled with gunk. initially when i opened the intake manifold it was full of oil residue and gunk accumulated around the butterfly valve ( mivec engine ) after around two months from cleaning it, i again opened the intake manifold and noticed already like 20% of gunk accumulated again . 

taking in to consideration that i am using a very good fully syntactic oil that is changed regularly , i started thinking of some alternative options to prevent this from this happening again . thats when the CatchCAN came to my mind . and started considering to  install a CATCH CAN to my Pajero, but a lot of controversy in the articles and on YouTube when it comes to this topic. what i have reached to the following :

1. for diesel engines its very helpful and recommended., but for petrol its not clear .

2. As the mechanism of a catchCan is to slows down the oil vapor coming out of the combustion chamber eventually cooling down and precipitate, this can cause a pressure buildup in the engine which might blow up the PCV valve ( some may say this depends on the quality of the catch can).

3. you can always use intake manifold cleaners from liquimolly and others that they claim that you just spray it in while the engine is running( but do you really want all the gunk and dirt to go down your engine and the Catalytic converter ?? 

4. Maybe stick to the old fashion way of cleaning the intake manifold by dismantling and cleaning it . 

 

I would like to hear from you guys if you have had any personal experience with installing a CATCH CAN on to your vehicles. 

 

Cheers ... 

[M.Seidam]

No personal experience. However I never did have Any performance issue in any terrain . Once “ dismantled and cleaned “ 

[Naveen Raj]

6 hours ago, Simon D said:

Hello fellow petrol heads. in the past few months i have made a small experiment to see how fast the throttle body gets filled with gunk. initially when i opened the intake manifold it was full of oil residue and gunk accumulated around the butterfly valve ( mivec engine ) after around two months from cleaning it, i again opened the intake manifold and noticed already like 20% of gunk accumulated again . 

taking in to consideration that i am using a very good fully syntactic oil that is changed regularly , i started thinking of some alternative options to prevent this from this happening again . thats when the CatchCAN came to my mind . and started considering to  install a CATCH CAN to my Pajero, but a lot of controversy in the articles and on YouTube when it comes to this topic. what i have reached to the following :

1. for diesel engines its very helpful and recommended., but for petrol its not clear .

2. As the mechanism of a catchCan is to slows down the oil vapor coming out of the combustion chamber eventually cooling down and precipitate, this can cause a pressure buildup in the engine which might blow up the PCV valve ( some may say this depends on the quality of the catch can).

3. you can always use intake manifold cleaners from liquimolly and others that they claim that you just spray it in while the engine is running( but do you really want all the gunk and dirt to go down your engine and the Catalytic converter ?? 

4. Maybe stick to the old fashion way of cleaning the intake manifold by dismantling and cleaning it . 

 

I would like to hear from you guys if you have had any personal experience with installing a CATCH CAN on to your vehicles. 

 

Cheers ... 

catch can will do significant improvement on carbon build up for direct injection engines with high compression ratios, not sure how this will be effective on Pajero engines which is having port injection.

[Gaurav]

Good topic @Simon D I briefly researched this catch can in past and then forgot.

Just asked the same to Pajero guru's in diff country club, will update here and looking fwd to learn more too.

[Gaurav]

Response 1: My feeling regarding that is, if the manufacturer saw it to be beneficial, it would have been sold like that as standard.  Correct Intake Manifold Vacuum is crucial, and I won't mess about with that. Just make sure your pcv valve is working correctly you should be fine. But whether it's beneficial or not, I can't advise as I dont have it myself.

 

Response 2: The biggest issue is the oil and exhaust gasses that mix and form a paste/build up in the intake manifold on diesels. I ran a provent 200 in my ps sport while it was still under warranty and no issues from Mitsubishi. I later also got rid of the egr, with the catch can I had nou oil in my inatke system and intercooler. Just fit something proper like a provent or a flashlube

 

Still nothing solid with yes/no.

[Simon D]

2 hours ago, Gaurav said:

Response 1: My feeling regarding that is, if the manufacturer saw it to be beneficial, it would have been sold like that as standard.  Correct Intake Manifold Vacuum is crucial, and I won't mess about with that. Just make sure your pcv valve is working correctly you should be fine. But whether it's beneficial or not, I can't advise as I dont have it myself.

 

Response 2: The biggest issue is the oil and exhaust gasses that mix and form a paste/build up in the intake manifold on diesels. I ran a provent 200 in my ps sport while it was still under warranty and no issues from Mitsubishi. I later also got rid of the egr, with the catch can I had nou oil in my inatke system and intercooler. Just fit something proper like a provent or a flashlube

 

Still nothing solid with yes/no.

As per my understanding some brands like vw started to install one on their stock cars to solve the GDI carbon build up. But if you come to think of it  many mods and tuning that we do to our cars are not their initially some are good and some are bad ofcourse 😂. 

For me I can feel the respone of the engine much better when the intake manifold is clean ( I think due to the butterfly valve getting stuck) I am thinking to remove them all together but it will ofcourse affect the fuel economy on the road .

I am still doing my research on this topic 

[Zed]

Hi @Simon D if we work backwards from the problem, then you may derive your own conclusion here:

So the problem starts with engines equipped with EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), where some of the exhaust gas containing Nitro Oxide are being re-routed back to the cylinders to be burned off again. But at the same time, oil mist from the crankcase also enters the manifold. The combination of oil mist + exhaust from EGR = soot / carbon deposits, which you saw when you open your manifold (for others refer to photo ref #1 below).

So doesn't matter Diesel vs Gasoline, if you have EGR, you'll soon see soot 😁but because Diesel produces Nitro Oxide more than gasoline, you'll see EGR being enforced for Diesels in environmentally-friendly countries.

Solutions to the Soot:

1. Yield to the Manufacturer. This is when everyone says "if Mitsubishi engineers are so smart, why they let this happen?". So EGR is a Law-thingy, and they cannot sell in Europe, America if they don't comply. If you accept this solution, then we can just chin-up and pay when the lazy mechanics say "oh, this soot is too much, we cannot clean it, let's buy a new intake manifold" or "the soot came back within months, really? Then we need to replace your EGR Valve, it may be malfunctioning!"

2. Delete EGR Valve + Blanking Plate:  this removes the valve that close/open to allow gases to re-enter the manifold and block the hole for EGR with a plate. Note that modern engines open/close valve electronically and have sensors, so assume the Computer does some assumptions and calculations based on EGR. So if you delete EGR, it may throw Check Engine Light. Is it safe? EGR is turned off during idle, otherwise it will cause rough idle, so technically with EGR off, engines can still run fine. Deleting EGR is like Deleting Catalytic Converter, it will throw CEL, it's bad for the environment, but car will still run fine.

3. Prevent Oil Mist from re-entering to meet with EGR: this is Catch-Can. But if you do #2, which is more effective, you don't have to do this Catch-Can thingy. If you love the environment and don't mind emptying Catch-Can every month, then this is the solution you'll choose.... until you find out that your Catch Can is still producing soot every few months 😂

Good luck with your choice, and update us after few months of implementing it 🙂

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Zed