I'm looking to make a catch can and my DD doesn't need one so I figured I would ask for some help. I know you guys do the home depot can or whatever, but I need to practice my tig welding. Anyone have any pics of their maxima engine bay and can point out or circle where the vacuum line is. Also any recommendations for locaion/size/type (round/square), mounting points etc.
My brother has a 98 GLE but he is never at home when i visit for me to see his car and get ideas.
Thoughts?

 

Here's mine installed before I relocated it to the passenger side right near the horn (held with zip ties at the time while I was checking how effective it was for me)... please note this picture was just before the engine bay had been cleaned up for the first time since it left the factory, was extremely nasty... made me question the previous owner (my mother) a bit given how she felt about the car.

Vacuum routing is pretty simple: PCV valve (rear rocker cover, you can see the hose come up after the TB, new PCV was blue, and around by the brake master cyl) -> can -> intake (trace the hose until you see it disappear in the pic, is just behind the wiring), the can just condenses and cools the air causing the vapors to settle (mostly) inside the can. Obviously it helps to never get too much in there because you don't want the motor to start sucking that nasty oil into it rapidly.

Ideally you'd want to be able to see how full it is for convenience and you also want to make sure you can easily empty it as it fills (easier to just have some kind of drain plug I guess), but you also want it to be as air-tight as possible since that could mess with combustion.


PCV catch can picture:


Better view of engine bay (before installation, as well):


I will note some of the electronics may be different (mine's a 1996 GXE, your brother's a 1998 GLE) but this gives you an idea.

 

Is there any interest in a custom can? Idea for a size and mounting place? And what size barb fitting for the hose is used?

 

I'd certainly be interested if it were easier to deal with than the one I made (bottom twists off), but finding the money to buy one would be the difficult part...

IIRC 3/8" outer diameter barb, or was it inner diameter? I forgot the exact size.
Been a while so I'm not completely sure, but 3/8" sounds about right, just trying to remember if it was outer or inner diameter.

 

Well basically I am just looking to practice, get feedback and such. Price would be material, shipping and maybe $5 profit so it won't be expensive at all. Probably be 20-25 shipped but no more than that. I am going to see what I can make tonight and get report back. They will all be baffled and sealed. I don't like people who use steel wool inside of the cans, besides I can make a baffle out of scrap aluminum.

Edit: that is for the design in my head. i have another design.

 

I did the samething using a home depot oil catch can. Im gonna get one of these soon http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-JD...sories&vxp=mtr

 

Looks ok, but I don't support china made crap for the most part. Also be sure you know what you are hooking up and if you need a sealed or vented can. You can do some damage not hooking it up correctly.

I have another idea. After looking over the pictures, how about a can with 4 bungs. 1 that will go to the breather on each valve cover and then 2 that would go to the intake pipe. That is how the factory setup is right?

Going to fix the gas leak on the car tonight and back to welding tomorrow.

 

I'm going to look at my brothers maxima today and get some ideas on the stock vacuum line routing. Give me a week to figure out how I want to design the can. There is more to it than just a can with some fittings. It's all about how the inside is designed. It's not just steel wool and that's it.
The ebay crap is junk and probably doesn't even have a baffle. A baffle design is keep oil from splashing around, getting sucked back into the intake and keep the vapor from getting sucked up as well. A real catch can will tell you which port is the inlet and which is the outlet.

 

I guess ill listen to you since your the one asking which vaccum line to hook up too .. My friend is running one on his turbo Z and it works fine and let alone has more oil passing thru then my car.

 

Ya it would be easier if I still had my maxima or if my brother ever went home lol. Hopefully he will be there tonight when I visit.
I have some good ideas in my head and on paper will see how they transfer over to aluminum.