DIY: Dual Oil Catch Cans 370Z
 

Disclaimer: This is primarily for the extreme novice, like me, so hard core types will find this simple and rather boring. I spent alot of time researching this, so am only trying to help others with similar skill set as mine save time in the future. There are several good threads about catch cans, but none that were specifically dual cans on an NA motor with the stock intake manifold.

This is a photo showing all the parts I ordered to do this.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...cc1-custom.jpg

Why bother doing this ?

The 370Z has dual intake inlets that suck in blow by gases from the PCV valves. One for each side of the motor (annotated diagram below). These blow by gases can create damaging carbon and oil sludge build-up in your intake, including your intercooler for you FI guys. Even NA motors (like me) can benefit from using catch cans. I have read that NA guys trap just as much oil as FI guys, so not a bad idea for either platform. Less oil in your intake also reduces the risk of detonation. This is primarily due to less degradation of the octane rating of the gasoline you are using while it burns away. In theory, this would enhance performance. Improved reliability and health of the engine for increased longevity. I could find no cons to doing it, besides creating another routine maintenance chore and cost.

Props to wstar for some great information about how the entire PCV system works in his DIY-Oil Catch Can thread, and also for taking the time to answer some PMs from me while I was researching this. :tup:

There is another thread that talks to the advantages of catch cans along with some more PCV insight.


Why two cans instead of one ?

Being a retired military dude, I learned to never "half azz" anything. Either go big, or GTFO. Mainly I chose two because the motor has two separate closed breathing routes ... one on each side of the motor. You could combine those lines, and run one can, but I felt more comfortable letting it breathe the way it was intended. Also consider that the smallest opening in the system is what limits the flow of gasses to the can, which is why I stopped considering one can by using a T connection ... the T connection becomes a minor restriction as well as reducing two hoses into one. Also make sure the fittings on the can(s) are matched to your hoses. Plus, I am anal about things being "uniform" ... so if I do something on the right hand side of the engine bay, by golly we have to do the same thing on the other side to kind of balance things out and make it look pretty. I am also lazy by nature, so I figure I will have to check them and empty them two times less often as compared to one can twice as much. It is an added maintenance chore, but well worth the benefits.

Why Saikou Michi ?

Many catch cans on the market today are just empty cans with an inlet and an outlet. If you are going to use one of those types, you might as well empty out a coffee can, spray paint it black and hook up some NPT nipples to it and you are good to go. While they do trap some oil, they are not really as effective as a truly baffled can. The air entering the can is escaping fast and returning to the intake manifold, though heat and condensation do allow them to catch some oil. The cans I chose are truly baffled. On top of being baffled, they are also "micro" filtered ... so twice the opportunity to eliminate the oily nasties before they exit the can. I noticed a few GTR guys using these, along with many Lotus and Corvette owners. I figured if they are good enough for those rides, they are good enough for me. They are also made in the U.S.A., are priced at nearly the same price point as many of the empty do nothing can's out there, and are 100% custom made how ever you want it. This includes color, orientation of the inlet and outlet, how big it is, any custom bracket you want to mount them with and some pretty cool looking decals. I basically had to fill out a nifty configurator worksheet that they then used to manufacture the cans. There are other baffled choices out there, but I liked dealing with these guys ... they operate in a very personal, hands-on customer oriented way. The packaging and quality of the cans was top notch. Lead time from order placed to product shipped was about 2 weeks. I chose the Micro Style OCC, mainly to use up less space and they are super light. Saikou Michi also uses a "thin wall technology" they use to manufacture the cans, which results in a super lightweight end product. I have included a link to the cans below in the parts list.

What are all the parts shown in your picture and where do they go ?

At the same time I am installing the catch cans, I am replacing all the crankcase breather hosing with stainless steel. Therefore, this could obviously be done for a lot cheaper using either silicone, or some other rubber hosing. I opted for the bling affect that SS lines give me. :tup:

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...5-occ-flow.jpg

In the diagram above I used my mad paint skills to add a red circle on the left, and a blue circle on the right. These represent the left, and right oil catch cans. So for the right, or blue circle ... hose 11823 enters the right side "V" at the intake manifold ... this will come from the outlet of the blue can. You will enter the input of the blue can with another line, from where hose 11823 currently exits the motor.

For the red circle side, same thing, only the hose is 11823+B. From the left intake manifold "V" to the outlet of the catch can, out of the catch can to the nipple where hose 11823+B currently terminates.

These connections are all 3/8" ID at the intake manifold and where they return to the motor. I ordered my catch cans with the same size NPT nipples, so that makes a total of eight (8) 3/8" ID connection points.

As such, I ordered four (4) 3' lengths of hose with eight (8) 3/8" clamps. You actually get two clamps with each 3' hose so it worked out a little better to get the 3' sections as opposed to 2' bare sections and then buying the clamps separately. Better to have too much hose, than not enough, so I plan on trimming it down all pretty once everything is in place where I want it.

Now, as I mentioned, I am replacing the other breathing hose as well. These have nothing to do with the catch cans, but in case you want to change them out I am including what I did. These are hoses 11826 on the right, and 11823+A on the left. These both go between the motor and to either your stock intake boxes, or to your CAI. In my case I have a Typhoon, so these go from the motor to the underside of my CAI. They are 1/2" ID at both connections. So, I ordered a 4' (was the shortest I could get in half inch) hose section and four (4) 1/2" clamps. I will trim it up to do both sides. This stuff is supposedly easy to cut, tho I have not actually cut any yet. It's rated up to heater hose, so maybe I can use the left over to do something else.

I ordered all of the hose and clamps from Spectre Performance directly. I liked the AN style connectors that are just AN look alikes with a worm gear clamp built inside of them. Because of the plastic nipples on the intake manifold, there was really no way to go with a true AN style connection, and that would have been much more expensive anyway.

Complete Part List

(2) Micro Style OCC with 3/8" NPT fittings from Saikou Michi
(4) Spectre SS 3/8 ID 3' Hose 29490
(8) Spectre SS 3/8 ID Clamps (comes with part number 29490)
(1) Spectre ½ ID SS Hose 4' 39504
(4) Spectre SS ½ ID Clamps 3160

...now I will move onto mounting location considerations, and start planning the line runs.

Mounting Location

In order to be uniform, I wanted to mount both sides in the same location. When I removed the stock air boxes and put the Typhoon's on, I had pretty much settled on the fact I was going to use the ear tabs that were now vacant as the mounting location for my catch cans. One concern I had with this mounting location was interfering with the air flow to the Typhoon, but once fitted the can is not blocking the air coming into the bay from the fang vents. I don't feel it is disturbing normal air flow enough to worry about. The two mounting locations are shown below.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...unt-custom.jpg
I went to Home Depot and got a couple 3/4" aluminum spacers, and used the stock bolt that used to hold the air box on the ear tab. The spacer gave it just enough lift that made clearance all around perfecto. I test mounted one can (below is the driver side) to make sure clearance was good, and also that it would not interfere with the hood closing.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...100-custom.jpg

Trimming the Lines

According to the packaging, using electrical tape you bind where you want to make the cut. Then use a fine hacksaw blade. I opted to whip the Dremel out with a metal cutting wheel to speed things up. The tape keeps the SS braiding in place. Blow out the line with an air hose to remove any stray fibers. The tape stays in place, and is covered and hidden when you slide the clamps on.

I did discover that cutting the lines as recommended, with a fine tooth hacksaw blade, sucked. It creates to many stray fibers, takes forever, and the cut I ended up with was raggedy looking. I had much better luck using a metal cutting wheel with my Dremel. Tape the cut area tightly with some good quality black electrical tape. The tape will stay behind after cutting to keep the SS sheath in place, and is covered up by the Magna Clamps. The resulting cut was nice and neat and the cutting was much faster, so I ended up using that method to cut all the lines. It does create some mess inside the tubing when the cut is done, so I had to make sure I blew out the residue and had nice clean tubing.

Line Runs

I decided on 26" lengths for my can outlets (clean air back to the intake) and 18" lengths to feed the cans from the PCV valves. With these lengths, I actually could have ordered one less 3' section. The two 18" runs can be accomplished by cutting a 3' section in half. :tup:

At first I had them laid out to go under the intake, but bailed on that due to the fact the hoses exiting the valve cover were getting kinked a little too much to my liking. After settling on a route going over the intakes, I actually liked it better cosmetically as well. The nipples coming out of the intake manifold are actually offset (up and down) more than I thought. This throws off the lengths being equal on both sides a little bit. If I had it to do over again though, the passenger side can outlet hose would have been 27", and the driver side can outlet hose 25".

Another advantage I accidentally stumbled on by ending up with the routing I chose is that it will make it easier to empty the cans. Just remove the mounting bolt, and there is enough play in the lines to raise the can upward to get access to the drain plug and empty. No need to unhook any of the hose connections, which for a lazy guy like me ended up working out great. If I had routed the hoses under the intakes, as originally planned, that would not be possible.

For some reason, the valve cover outlet nipple on the passenger side seemed a little bigger than the opposite side. I got the driver side on fairly easy, it was some muscle power to get the passenger side hose to go on.

...all done with the catch can connections. Need to finish up my 3/8" connections, but no need to post that progress in this thread. These are the hoses (11823 and 11823+B in the diagram above) that are eliminated, essentially replaced by four (4) hoses.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...222-custom.jpg

Couple shots of the finished can set-up. I had previously used a Dremel to cut down my engine cover. The SS hoses are a little thicker than the stock hoses, and they lack the custom bends to be short and fit nice. So there was no way the cover was going to seat all the way down.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...c88-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...c77-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...c22-custom.jpg

...and of course had to put my Saikou Michi decals on them for added powah, though I wish they were white instead of chrome :tup:

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...er1-custom.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...er2-custom.jpg

sub'd. Links of where you got the hoses and hose ends would be nice, also what is the I.D on them?

Thanks for posting this!

...updated and thanks !

:tup: +1

Very nice set up. Great job!
:tup: +1

Thanks !


Thanks !

Very detailed and great write up! And a great read! Thank you for sharing. :)

Great write up. Rep to you

Nice job. :tup:

Thanks for sharing...

Thanks !

Thanks !

Thanks !

Welcome ! :tup:

Awesome!

excellent write up.

So what was the total cost if you don't mind?

Thanks !

Thanks !

... a little over $200 ... could be done for much less with regular rubber tubing.

Very nice. Sub'd.

Thanks ! :tup:

So totally new at this, can anyone recommend where to find all the Spectre hoses? I can find some of them and not others, some on amazon, some on autozone, and can't find the
(4) Spectre SS ½ ID Clamps 3160 anywhere

3160 ... click on that takes you right to it.

thanks!!

Welcome ! I just bought them all directly from them so they came in one box :tup:

Definitely a good call! Awesome write-up too!

Thanks !

sub'd for future mod reference.

Thanks sixpax! Nice DIY

+Rep :tup:

... back in March at roughly 7,035 miles I had installed this dual oil can catch set up ... today at 7,915 miles I decided to empty both of the cans just to see how much was in there. Was more than I expected, but more unexpected was the fact that the driver side can probably accounted for about 70% of what is in the bag ... 30% from the passenger side can. Weird, I would have thought they would be somewhat even.

http://www.the370z.com/members/sixpa...pty-custom.jpg

Very nice write up! :tup:

Those are excellent OCC's -- I had one for my old SC'd Celica, and it worked beautifully.

Subscribed

sent from my SAMSUNG- SINGLE TURBO SGH-1717

I like them ... I think his design is great. Way better than just an empty can. :tup:

[QUOTE=sixpax;1787627]... back in March at roughly 7,035 miles I had installed this dual oil can catch set up ... today at 7,915 miles I decided to empty both of the cans just to see how much was in there. Was more than I expected, but more unexpected was the fact that the driver side can probably accounted for about 70% of what is in the bag ... 30% from the passenger side can. Weird, I would have thought they would be somewhat even.


Any update on the amount of oil from each of the oil catch cans is appreciated. Is the passenger side oil catch can routing a cause for this oil catch can to trap less oil compared with the driver side one?

Tip: Add a hose from each of the oil catch can drain valves to the bottom of the engine. When you change your engine oil, drain the oil from the oil catch cans.. no need to remove the oil catch cans!

PS: Another oil catch can setup is Speed Force Racing - Your forced induction specialists that was designed for a twin turbo 350Z setup with custom dual intake plenum with dual throttle bodies. I am not sure they are still in business though.

I am not sure why the volume captured on each side is different. Great tip, but I assume you would have to drill some holes in the motor to attach the lines ? Not really hard to drain them the way it is now. Nice set up on that 350Z !

No need to drill holes in the motor! Add a hose of sufficient length the the bottom of the plastic engine belly pan cover. Route the oil catch can drain hose to an opening through the engine belly pan cover.

that is an awesome idea man!!!! ^^^^

That's not what the original set up called for?

Super interested in this since I think I am getting tons of blow by and there is a good possibility Nissan will be giving me a new short block due to severe oil consupmtion, which I think is just blow-by and will happen with the new short block. Was talking with a good friend who is into the STI scene and he was saying that they experience severe oil consumption once built with higher HP in mind. Same thing I think the motor I have is doing since it has already been replaced once, and looking like for the third time. If I am getting severe oil consumption again I am going to go this route with a dual catch can system.

1: How much volume do these hold?

2: You stated after ~900 miles you were surprised by the amount of oil caught. How much was there exactly in each one?

3: How hard are you driving this car honestly? (Comparing to my driving style so I kinda gauge an increase or decrease in total consumed volume)

4: My friend mentioned he knows of several kits that are designed to recirculate the caught oil back into oil pan so it is not wasted, most important point so as not to run low, and no need to constantly empty, another plus. Have you thought of that, and if so do you a possible way, ie: tapping a bung on the oil pan? Only reason I ask is because I was talking to another friend who is a mechanic on some trick cars and suv's and I think he going to do this for me if a: the dealership changes the short block and the consumption is not corrected or b: they figure out som skeezy way of avoiding the replacement (which I dont get the vibe they will attempt after talking with them about it)

Nope ... the original post, pictures and installation are only trapping the blow by, not feeding it anywhere. It's a great idea, and seems like a few different ways you can do it. I have not done it, and am content at the moment with just emptying mine every 1,000 miles or so.