Home Depot Oil Catch Can DIY Writeup

[ryst]

Here's my write up on my home depot husky oil catch can.

Shout outs to westcoaST, Dave, and lessard.dcj for posting pics of their setup, so my first attempt wasn't a total disaster. I copied a lot of different member's ideas with this setup.

Parts:
Husky Catch Can: $23 http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-3-8-in-Standard-Poly-Bowl-Filter-HDA70603AV/100040942 (Sidenote Ford actually used this exact part as a catch can on their GT500 test vehicle http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199357 )
90 degree 3/8 NPT to 5/8 Barb $6.75: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008TT2P6G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (I have 8 extra )
5/8 to 5/8 brass hose barb $6
90 degree 5/8 to 5/8 barb (from garage)
5x hose clamps (from garage)
Lucky metal bracket find in garage
Extra PCV hose from Rock Auto $24.95 (inc shipping) http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=3298497&parttype=11784
Power steering fluid hose: $10

Something like $66, but more like $80-85 if you count buying the junk i already had in my garage

I'll start with what I'm least happy with, and would probably change.

#1 I'm not sure about the durability of the polypropylene 90 degree hose adapters on the can. They are rated like -20 to 150 degrees which may not be sufficient (PSI rating is fine and they are fine with oil/gas). I'm sure Brass would be better, or even nylon.

#2 the power steering hose, it's pretty thick, and re-enforced with fabric on the inside, but it's definitely not stiff enough to handle the vacuum when you're off throttle. It compresses down, although it doesn't totally choke off the flow, I wish I got something that was much stiffer. Under boost it's fine, I think it's rated for like 200 PSI.


The husky catch is really nice, it's baffled and filtered and rated for like 150 PSI.
I had to put jbweld over the valve on the bottom. The valve is super slick if you have it hooked up to an air compressor. When the canister is NOT pressurized, the valve is always open (regardless of which way the valve is turned). But in this application, it's worthless, and oil would leak all over my engine bay, and it would pull in air when under vacuum, so I sealed up the bottom valve with jbweld.


I cut the OEM hose, but getting it on the 5/8 barb is tricky, I had to put the hose in boiling water to get it to go on (no hose clamp required here!)




Mounting to the engine bay I got pretty lucky. I found a metal bracket that was used for mounting trailer wiring and it fit pretty good (after a bit of filing)



I drilled out holes in the bracket to get it to fit, I think I can trim the bracket down so it fits better, I'll probably do that if I switch out the hoses for something stiffer.



Here's what it looks like, with all the hoses routed and with it mounted. My biggest gripe with the mounting is that random stud sticking out of the shock tower. It is RIGHT in the way of where I want my OCC to hang. I haven't brought myself to breaking it off, but I'm close

Oh and the engine cover goes on just fine, it's pretty stealthy looking with the engine cover on. I'll probably trim up the hose clamps at some point too.

 

[westcoaST]

Great job Ryst! I'm going in for my 10,000 mile Dealer oil change (already changed my oil twice) so I'll need to pull mine. It has about 800+ miles on it since I installed my catch can, so we'll see how much oil it has.

 

[RAAMaudio]

That is great, I spent considerable time on my CC yesterday using parts on hand or I may of done what you did!

 

[rooSTer]

This is a great writeup...would be interested to see how much oil it catches.

 

[ryst]

Only 100 miles or so on it and I just see a little oily residue on the inside. The DSM, mustang, and Srt4 guys love this Home Depot can and say it catches a lot. It's baffled and has the copper looking filter that is suppose to go down to like 5 microns.

I'll update this when I see enough oil that it's noticeable in the bottom of the can.

 

[ryst]

Well, only about 250 miles on it, and it's catching visible amounts of oil. I didn't take it off, but it's at least teaspoon.

I'll report back after a few more fillups. But I just moved and my commute went from 34 miles a day down to 8 miles a day, so I won't be racking up the miles (I currently have 10k on my car after 8 months)

 

[BRGT350]

Nicely done! Glad you picked a catch can that uses the brass filter instead of descalent (spelling is probably wrong). When I was working for an air valve company, we would find remains of descalent from the air dryers inside the valves. I have seen people using the same type of air compressor dryer as an oil catch can, which always concerned me since particles of the descalent could be getting sucked back into the engine. I don't see that happening with the brass filter. One of these days I need to get around to installing a catch can on my Mustang and should do the ST as well. While I am at it, I should probably put one on my air compressor as well.

 

[ryst]

Yeah for some reason I was thinking it was copper but brass makes more sense (too much time in the copper country I guess )

In any case it's DEFINITELY working, here is 250 miles worth of oil. Makes me feel bad I waited 10k miles to do the catch can.

 

[Svvift]

i might have to do this.. awesome..

 

[ryst]

Update: I emptied it after 3000 miles during an oil change. I'm catching enough oil that I'm happy I did this mod.

 

[koozy]

have you had to add any oil during that time?

 

[ryst]

No, oil levels were fine, this is only a few oz at most, compared to the 4.3 liters of total oil it's not significant.

 

[koozy]

I wonder how much of what's caught may be water vapors vs. oil blow by.

 

[RAAMaudio]

If any water it should separate, oil floating on top and not to hard to see the different layers.

 

[ryst]

If any water it should separate, oil floating on top and not to hard to see the different layers.

Yeah I thought that too. I didn't notice any separation even after it's been sitting stagnant in the water bottle over 24 hours.

 

[Joszer]

Does this catch can have a built in check valve? Would the positive pressure coming from the intake manifold during boost damage the canister in any way?

 

[ryst]

Does this catch can have a built in check valve? Would the positive pressure coming from the intake manifold during boost damage the canister in any way?

It's a filter/catch designed for air compressors, so even on the can it says it can handle 150psi, so it's designed to be subjected to constant pressure. Shouldn't affect the canister at all. So there is no check valve.

 

[aballphoto]

notice less black soot/oil on the back of the car with this?

 

[Joszer]

Just got around to putting mine in. Trying to find a way to mount it is difficult. I used some strips of scrap metal and zip ties. Holds up surprisingly well.

http://imgur.com/qZm7EvV
http://imgur.com/ZfcDENC

 

[aar0n]

Thanks for this ryst.