So Maudy Z28 taught me what "un-metered" air was when referring to PCV stuff. Thanks! The reason why I asked is because I stumbled upon a thread on another page about using a catch can and doing a PCV delete. I had never heard of a catch can before but now that I know what it is... it sounds like I need me one of those!

So anywho... sooooooo many different people are saying different things about what to do! Some say just install a catch can, others talk about installing a breather (or two) in place of the oil cap and deleting the PCV system. Blah blah blah like I said there are alotta opinions.

So I have a 2002 Z28 with a manual transmission. I have long tubes, 3 inch custom y-pipe to a single 3 inch exit with a Dynomax race bullet, KandN filter, SLP lid, SLP cold air intake, coolant bypass, and... uhhh that's it for the engine I think haha...

Basically... what do you all think my car needs when it comes to a catch can or breather or PCV delete?

Thanks friends!!!

 

ok, well i'll post what i've got, basically a catch can before the PCV valve into the engine, that way the crap from the rocker covers in sucked out and stays in the catch can and the PCV still does it's job locking off at high RPM (i think) to stop it getting into the intake. I can take some pics of my custom one when home but basically follows this design:

Input from valve cover goes in top, pipe but inside this goes to 2 inch above bottom of can and has perferations in bottom 2 inch also. Output to PCV (then to intake) is on side 1 inch from top, this only pulls air from top of catch can. Below the output pipe on inside are 3 layers of metal gauze used to catch the oil vapour and condence it to oil so it doesn't get sucked into the intake. Ill do a pic when I get home. Note, bad can design are hollow and dont do much as the only condensing surface is the can walls.

oh and they ARE worth having, mine has like 400 ml of gunk in when I did my oil change (after ~3000 miles of driving)

 

Leave the PCV in place. it's better for the engine. One of the functions of the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) is to help keep moisture out of your oil by constantly flowing fresh air through the crankcase. You don't get that action with using only breathers. Why do you want to remove it anyway? Catch cans are a popular thing to use on engines that have a lot of miles, for catching blow-by that would otherwise get sucked into the intake and gunk stuff up.

 

The PCV system was a HUGE advance in engine technology. This little ball in a can will prevent oil leaks, increase oil life, and it does not rob any horse power. This is used in conjunction with a breather on older systems. What happens is the air is sucked out of the engine through the PCV valve and into the intake. This is a small amount of unmetered air that DOES NOT effect the way the engine runs. If the valve is good then only the air will get by and keep the crank case vented and prevent excessive blowby gasses form building up pressure. This is a negative pressure system (used on most newer cars today) This systems is used on newer higher tollerance engines where blowby gasses are not as plentiful.

ON older systems there is a breather on the oppisite valve cover to allow fresh air into the crankcase through a small filter. This system maintains neutral pressure in the crank case. This was important on older engines where tollerances were not as tight and more blowby gasses were presant.

ON Pre PCV systems crankcase gasses were vented through a tube leading out the back of hte engine and onto the ground. This system left alot of oil on the ground from the vent and also caused oil seals and gaskets to fail from excessive pressure in the crankcase.

I hope this helps you understand the PCV system a little better. You are better off keeping it in place... You are just gonna have to trust us here!

Massey

 

Ok so it sounds like #1 the PCV system is good and #2 catch cans are good as well? ya? So basically if I left everything the way it was and installed a catch can like one from ws6project... it would be good?

 

And Camaro 69 I don't necessarily want to remove it because I don't know exactly what to do yet haha.

 

you leave the PCV in but put a catch can inline to half 'catch' any blow by crap that the PCV may not block

 

Hello, Catch cans are a good thing. I've been using them for a long time. For us there are 2 types of PCV's, the original ones that had a spring loaded ball in them ( check valve) and a revised one (2002) that had only a smaller orifice which was to fix oil consumption problems in pick ups.

IMHO you want the closed system because as the up and down travel of the pistons causes pressure, the vacuum from the manifold helps pull the vapors.
IMHO
1 you should have a PCV in line with the catch can, either before or after. In the case of Camaros and TA's you don't have much choice because of the PCV location. There was a company making catch cans with built in PCV's so with that you could delete your PCV. I think he only other time you can delete your PCV is if you install an 04+ LS6 valley cover. These were on 04 GTO's. The 04+ have the PCV built in and for me they really keep the blow by down
2 I wouldn't install breathers and delete the PCV because you'll eventually will have an oily mess because of the vapors that will come out of there

If you really gonna install a catch can you should do s0ome research on the different materials used to convert the vapor back to liquid form. And keep away from those E-bay one that are only empty canisters.

Here's an interesting and informative article
http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/PCV...oval%20102.pdf

Because of the limited space there is under a Camaro hood I mounted mine up front to keep it cool. For EGR equiped cars this is about the only place there i. For 2001 - 2001 Camaros the commercial ones get mounted to the front of the pass. side head, where the EGR pump on 98 - 2000 is mounted.

I made my own by using Home Depot air / water separators housings with my own modified innards. Because there's always some vapors escaping I run 2 in series.





This is my primary catch can accumulation after 1000 miles. I have the LS6 valley cover which has the PCV built into it


I sort of copied what I thought was a good design.

O


One last thing the PCV doesn't block anything. It regulates flow. It also is a check valve that closes if there is a back fire so thta no flame gets into the crankcase

 

nice one, my design was actually made like the saikou one

Although i dont have a viewing window I check it every few thousand miles and usually get some moisture/watery oil coming out, so it does work and less crap is going into the engine

 

Thanks for all the replies. I eventually went with a norris ( I think I remember that's what it's called) catch can and it works well. I check it every oil change and there is a little oil at the bottom. That's a good enough job for me!!!

And BTW I didn't delete anything I just put it between the PCV and the TB