Someone on here crafted their own oil catch can and indicated that they were able to dramatically decrease their pinging / knocking in their 3.5. I am interested in doing this. I found this website http://www.dodge-srt4.com/howto/catchcan.html
It looks pretty easy. Whoever has done this mod; could you post some brief install instructions and fitting sizes. I'm not quite sure where I would place this in my car... Or maybe just direct me to the tread where it was discussed since I can't seem to find it.

Thanks.

 

I am also interested in doing one...to keep my air intake/manifold system cleaner

 

Unless your exhaust is blocked...it doesnt get dirty (maybe a tiny bit, but nothin major)

 

My concern is not really to keep the intake manifold clean. I read on here somewhere that motor oil introduced into the gas lowers the octane levels. I'd like to eliminate this oil contamination and hopefully stop my ping.

And Steven88. You're just down the street from me.....

 

from someone with experience in this...there is no oil in the IM. I have seen fuel residue, but no oil on a 5.5gen. HOWEVER on a vq30de/de-k i have seen oil. This is due to the difference in PCV design though...

 

I have small amounts of oil in my IM...took it apart many times....all I did was spray the IM with lots of TB cleaner....now its pretty much brand new....I think BlackBird can step in here and clarify....IIRC he said hes seen VQ35s with oil problems in the upper areas of the engine including the IM....

Spastic, you joined May 04 but only got 41 posts? where u been man? we should go meet up sometime..are you stick or auto?

 

Only ones ive seen with oil in the IM are the ones with melted precats

 

That was me that made the catch can. There is plenty of oil being passed into our IM via the PCV, all one would need to do is put a piece of clear tubing on to see. After 30k miles, removing the active part of the IM will reveal puddles of oil in the IM.

My pinging started as just a slight ping and got much worse from 30k miles to 40k miles.

E55,

I think you're thinking of the wrong side. Not the intake tube, but the upper manifold itself.

 

Pinging at 30k miles? Man that is odd.... are you using the proper type of gas required for our cars.? Supreme, midgrade,regular? I have 103k miles on my 3.5 and no signs of oil or pinging......

 

There is too much info to rehash here. DAS for pinging and low rpm and you'll find plenty of topics. Lots of us are suffering from it.

Suffice to say, this is not a HIGH RPM ping. The ping occurs at low rpm (1500 to 2000RPM) and most significantly when coasting down hill around 40mph. All the usual causes have been thrown out. Adding the catch can did work. Mine fills up every 400 miles of city driving. This is the time when the PCV vents the most. Highway driving resulted in little to no blowby.

The PCVs function is to push waste, built up by pressure, in the lower part of the engine into the IM to be reburned. The IM acts as a baffle and allows the oil to drip out, while the rest gets burned. Over time, these puddles of oil build up and eventually get blow into the cylinder. This lowers the octane and causes a ping.

 

After I saw the setup 2002 Max SE made, I went to Sears and got a similar filter from the compressor section and installed in the exact location. Mine has a slightly larger bowl and after 400 miles of city driving it is half full of oil, probably about 3oz of oil.
I have not noticed anymore of the annoying ping that I had before. The high vaccum during, stop and go traffic in the I/M creates this high suction from the pcv valve and it can really suck up the oil.
I would recommend this to any 3.5 and probably the 3.0 as well.
It will definitely keep the I/M cleaner over time and reduce/eliminate the pinging we have been plagued with.
Thanks for the idea 2002 Maxima SE.

 

I've recently switched mine out from the one above. Dumping my tiny catch can every 2 weeks started to get tidious not to mention the plastic bowl got increasingly difficult to put on the metal top.

I bought a catch can off of ebay and fabricated a metal arm to hold it. It is about the size of a coke can and should not need dumping for at least a year (or an oil change). I'm not completely happy with the arm. Its a piece of stock aluminum from Lowes for hanging garage door openers. If anyone can fabricate an aluminum hanger from a diagram I'd really like to replace it.

I'll take some pictures when I get home.

 

Hehehe.... yeah. I did a lot of reading no writing. Guess I was shy. I would be down with meeting up. I'm automagic.

 

2002 Maxima SE... Thank you so much for the post and the pic. Am I correct in guessing that this device sits on the same hose as the PCV and the brake booster? Would you happen to have install instructions and a parts list? That would be much appreciated.

 

No, i was referring to the IM itself, ive never seen puddles of anything in 66k miles on my 03

 

Did you remove the IM to look?

 

Do you think that a worn PCV might be part of the culprit? Mine started to ping at 70k and started losing oil pretty drastically at 100k. I haven't changed my PCV yet.

 

I changed the PCV at 30k. I still have the old one and it is fine. To check, remove and shake it...if it rattles there is nothing wrong with it. This is a normal process of waste management. I do question the 4.5qts oil change with filter change. Mine always reads above H. This last change, I did 4.25 and it still reads above H. Wondering if those of us with the ping aren't getting increased oil passage through the PCV due to that.

 

Parts listed here:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/...;f=24;t=000936

 

 

Yes...yes i did

 

Where can I get these products? and how much do each part costs? ballpark figure is okay with me if exact pricing cannot be said...

 

95-01 Get tons of oil in the manifold from the PCV and the front vavlecover breather hose. Now that I see it lowers octane levels, I will be fixing this problem by adding a breather filter to the front cover and using an "oil seperator" for the PCV line.

 

It looks like all the parts can be had at Lowels, Home Depot, Harbor Freight. I'm just wondering about fitting sizes, hose type and size, and if this device sits before or after the PCV. Pricing I'm not sure about. I think the separator is the costlier component... about $20.

 

To make the original one...about $20 at home depot. The new one cost around $40 for the catch can then another $10 for hoses.

 

It's in line with the PCV. There is a hose coming from the PCV back to the IM. Remove that hose and route the oil into the oil/water separator then back to the IM.

 

i went on ebay earlier...does anybody have experience with these catch cans? they come in a complete kit for about $35 shipped

but from the pictures...it doesn't seem like you can take them apart and dump it

 

Which one are you buying? I got mine off ebay.

 

You wouldn't be able to see it then.

 

I dunno there was 3 different kinds....one was a fake Nismo type for $38....then a SPEEDINDEX for $12....then another one thats no name brand

 

Depends on how much you want to put into it. The engineering is the same on all of them. Chrome tank with two barbs for inlet and outlet and a drain on the bottom. All you need to decide is round or square?

 

Well, I installed this mod and have put about 75-100 miles on it. It's already collecting a substantial amount of oil. The hose going back to the IM has a bit of oil residue in it. It still looks clean compared to the hose going to the separator. I was under the impression that this would completely eliminate the oil going into the IM. Regardless, I haven't noticed any improvements with my pinging problem. Maybe I need to give it some more time. Should I run some sea foam through the system to clean out the IM?

 

spastic, you should run seafoam....it works great....it won't give you any power gains...but it will make your engine feel sooo silky smooth....$5 will get you a bottle and you only have to use half of it...the other half you can save for next time....some pplz will say to throw it into the gas tank for fuel injection...but i personally would use another cleaner such as Chevron Techron, Lucas, BG44k...

 

Thanks Steven... I used seafoam once already, so I have a half can left. It didn't really do much for me that I noticed. I wasn't really happy about the dieseling issue I encountered after I turned the car off. But I assume it would probably clean out the residual oil in the IM, so I'll probably do it within the next couple of days. Have you done this catch can mod yet?

 

No I haven't....maybe in the future....I cleaned out my entire IM recently with TB cleaner....so I know it's still performing at it's best...maybe I'll clean it out one more time then add the catch tank so my IM STAYS clean....

dude you live in Downey and have a 2k2! We should go hang out sometimes....is your's stick or auto?

 

Yes, I live in Downey....and i'm driving an auto. Send me a PM...

 

How did everyone's catch can install go?

 

So to clear this up, i can use the nismo oil catch can off of ebay or is it model specific?

 

Yes, you can. A catch can, is a catch can, is a catch can.

 

of course of course. Just didn't know if the hose fittings were different