DIY Oil Catch Can (updated with pics)

[fred2ka4]

Since I started a thread about oil catch cans a few months ago but never did anything about it, I started doing research and found some interesting articles about DIY oil catch cans. Now what I have chosen to do is not new but I have decided to do a write up so if anyone else chooses to do so all the info is there.

I had a few left over pieces of 3/8" copper fittings and elbows laying around from a big project I had to do on my sweeper trucks watering system a while back so all I had to purchase was the filter and some high pressure line.

The filter is from Lowes and was $20 while the high pressure 3/8" ID line was .60 a foot, and I purchased 3ft worth.

Here is a list of the items needed for this install but this may vary depending on how you install your filter.

1) Kobalt (or other brand) compressor filter
2) 3/8" threaded to barbed adapters (4)
3) 3/8" threaded male to female elbows (2)
4) thread seal tape.
5) High pressure hose 3/8" ID (how much depends on where you mount you filter, but I purchased 3ft.)
6) hose clamps

EDIT: Updated pics on post #20 & #23



First I had to modify the filter bottle. It was meant for 150psi (10 bar) and 125 F (51 C) operation so this application should be ok. There is a brass pressure relief valve on the bottom of the glass that automatically relieves pressure and liquid once pressure has been lost. I did not want oil dripping out once the car was turned off so I removed the spring which is really easy. I just remove the C clip and pushed the barbed fitting out and removed the spring and then put it back together. With the spring removed the plunger always stays down, sealing the glass jar, but can still be pushed up to release pressure and oil.

Here are a few pictures of the glass bowl and the brass plunger.



Plunger down (sealed)



Plunger up (release oil and pressure)



I am going to add a length of hose to mine so that I can drain it from under the car and direct where it will empty into.

The filter will install under my coolant reservoir, which seems to be a popular choice for Audi's, so I installed the elbows so that the flow will come from in front of the filter.



Direction of flow.



The filter has little angled channels that force oil vapor down at an angle and to the edge of the bowl. As the vapor tries to rise there is another baffle to break the vapor up before it goes through a metal filter so the design seems good.





I remove the hard pipe that goes from the block to the pancake valve as it is going to be modified for this application, which I will post as soon as it is done. The pipe will have to be cut and the two adapter fittings will be welded into the places indicated by my fingers.





The first picture is where the pipe mounts to the back of the block by the fire wall and goes to the pancake valve. The second picture is where the line comes off of the block from underneath the intake manifold and will go to the filter.

I like the fact that the glass bowl is removable for cleaning as well as access to the metal filter, and I also like the fact that the oil level can be seen so that you know when to empty is as opposed to guessing.



I don't know how much oil will accumulate in what amount of time but I have four fingers before I reach the bottom of the first baffle and about four and a half before the maximum level is reached.



This is all I have so far but more pictures will be added as soon as it is completed in a day or two. Your input and opinions are welcome but don't be to hard .......

[AudiA4_20T]

awesome, how much did the whole thing cost? and you can just drain it out of the bottom?

[4A Play]

Now do one for the 2.8 and Ill love you forever :)

[fred2ka4]

awesome, how much did the whole thing cost? and you can just drain it out of the bottom?

I pieced together the parts and it will cost about $40 for all the parts shown not including the welding. I have a friend that is going to do this for me for free tomorrow so it only cost me $20 for the whole thing.

All you have to do is put a container under the car and push up on the hose from up top and the oil will drain out.

[fred2ka4]

Now do one for the 2.8 and Ill love you forever :)

I've never seen an 2.8 engine bay but when I was doing my research most of the cars that were doing this DIY were normally aspirated cars so it should work just fine. It will go somewhere in between your valve covers and your intake manifold.

All of the cars were four cylinder cars though ........

[SoFresh]

Nicely done Fred

[AudiA4_20T]

Now do one for the 2.8 and Ill love you forever :)

what do you need it for?

[Poopie]

nice. you always have good write ups. you also have sexy hands

[aytheory]

i did it for 20 dollars but it isn't that great - wished it was more planned out



saved for later my my thing falls apart

[gotaudi]

Thanks for this I am doing this for sure....

[fred2ka4]

nice. you always have good write ups. you also have sexy hands

Thanks for the write up props from all. Poopie, I'm still working on the sexy hands comment .......

I did come across one question on vacuum. The Kobalt filter adds some restriction and I was wondering if this was ok. I know the stock system was designed for a stock turbo and since I am running a gt28r at 22lbs I am pulling a lot more vacuum than a stock system so a little restriction should be ok in my opinion but I would like to hear from some other people and their thoughts.

The restriction is coming from the metal filter that is capable of filtering down to 5 microns and I am wondering if this is overkill, but I know no oil vapor will get through as it is designed to stop water vapor from getting through. Here is the filter:



I could either leave it the way it is and see how it works or drill a few tiny holes to reduce the pressure. I could also replace the filter with a less restrictive material like screen mesh or something along those lines.

Let me know what you think, and thanks .......

[Vreihenmotor6]

I think you should be okay with the restriction, but what I want to know is if the valve on the bottom will seal, you are using this think in reverse of normal and its gonna see a negative pressure inside, do you think that will be enough to unseat the valve at the bottom and cause a vac leak/ oil leak?

[fred2ka4]

I think you should be okay with the restriction, but what I want to know is if the valve on the bottom will seal, you are using this think in reverse of normal and its gonna see a negative pressure inside, do you think that will be enough to unseat the valve at the bottom and cause a vac leak/ oil leak?

When I removed the spring the plunger always stays sealed, but as a precaution I am adding a small T valve to the hose so that in case of negative pressure and the barbed plunger lifts it will not leak.

[4A Play]

what do you need it for?

The shattered/ brittle Crank case breather lines that audi wants $90 each to replace, If Im going to replace them I might as well run a catch can for the sake of my TB.

[djwimbo]

You bastard...

I did that like 4 months ago. I figured if I posted something about it I'd get called a cheap ass.

I used some .75"ID heater hose and an inline drier w/ some brass fittings. It sits up by the air box, and so far has been effective.

[fred2ka4]

You bastard...

I did that like 4 months ago. I figured if I posted something about it I'd get called a cheap ass.

I used some .75"ID heater hose and an inline drier w/ some brass fittings. It sits up by the air box, and so far has been effective.

Do you have any pictures? I was kind of concerned going down to a 3/8" ID line but I figured with the larger turbo it would be ok. After I looked at a majority of the oil catch cans out there, they are are all mostly running 1/4" - 3/8" lines but I did want to stay around 3/4" as a minimum.

I'll try it and see how it works and then make adjustments from there if they are needed. I just wanted to experiment and see what I could come up with while the car is still down.

This is the one that I wanted but it cost more than three times what I have into mine as of now. This may be a consideration later on down the line if the DIY one does not work out.

http://www.saikoumichi.com/951_page.htm

I was actually thinking of designing an Audi specific set-up after all of the research I did since our cars are a little different. Of course it would have to be an easy install and competitively priced.

[djwimbo]

Do you have any pictures?

None of my sexy hands, but here's what I have... I think I'm going to shorten the hoses a bit so it's level, instead of sitting up so high.

I also had to block off the bleed valve on the bottom, a 1/8" wide zip tie did the trick. I unscrew it to drain it, which has only been twice since I put it on. I don't go through much oil at all, so it's not a huge worry for me.

Mine still runs through the pancake valve, I just try to keep the gunk from going through there.

[fred2ka4]

Does that filter have a 1/4" or 3/8" inlet because from what I can see that is a pretty good size step down. From the research i have done it says that you should maintain the same size diameter piping or tubing when adding an oil catch can.

This was one of my concerns since our hard pipe is an 1" in diameter but the the larger turbo set-up should more than compensate for this.

Just curious.

[djwimbo]

It's 3/8"

Look at it this way, the pancake valve has an orifice in it about 1/8" in Dia. Or at least the one I took apart did. I don't think mine is 100% functional though.

[fred2ka4]

Well I got the parts back from the welder and I found out something new today. It's not easy to weld brass. Well actually you don't weld brass, it has to be brazed or braze welded. Either way it came out nice, so here is a layout of how the catch can will be set up. Install pictures will be added later.







No sexy hand shots in these pictures ...........

[mike-2ptzero]

Just make sure to put the trap up higher then the breather spot on the block.

[fred2ka4]

Just make sure to put the trap up higher then the breather spot on the block.

What breather spot?

[fred2ka4]

completed install pictures.



I had to throw in a couple of sexy hand pics for Poopie ........
















On the last one I had to do a little trimming of the bracket as the coolant reservoir sensor on the bottom was touching the bracket.

[Ewok_Fetus]

Just a little heads up... I would not recommend the use of pink teflon tape as that is designed for water... Yellow is needed for petrolium based systems...

[fred2ka4]

Just a little heads up... I would not recommend the use of pink teflon tape as that is designed for water... Yellow is needed for petrolium based systems...

Thanks for the heads up. I was looking at the case of the tape and I just noticed that it said it was for water. I have some white stuff to, but I will go and get some from my auto parts store.

[Ewok_Fetus]

Honestly, it *should* be good for a while... I used pink for an emergency fix and it has held up for about 2 years now... LOL! I just left it there... But it probably won't see too much oil on those threads depending on how well you tightened them...

[mike-2ptzero]

Could always just use the liquid teflon, thats all I ever use on the car.

[fred2ka4]

Honestly, it *should* be good for a while... I used pink for an emergency fix and it has held up for about 2 years now... LOL! I just left it there... But it probably won't see too much oil on those threads depending on how well you tightened them...

I got some teflon tape from Napa that says it is alkaline and solvent resistant. I also have the brass fittings on there very tight as I used the biggest crescent wrench that I had, and it took me a good amount of effort to get them where they are.

I'll see how it works out after the car gets up and running and if it starts to seep out, I have the right teflon tape to fix it.

[fred2ka4]

UPDATE:

I didn't like the fact that I was not always sure if the the drain on the glass bottle was sealed or not being that only a zip tie was holding the plunger down and it still had some play in it. I bought a threaded nipple and cap for $4.50 and I feel a lot more secure now and it is still very easy to drain ....... just unscrew the cap.











Now I know 100% that the system is sealed.

[milehighpilot]

this may sound kinda stupid but can you take a picture of it in the car? cause i would love to see where all your lines are running and before i cut into mine to be 100 percent sure im doing the right thing... or was there a spot where you got directions from?

the reason i ask is cause i was working on a MS6 and the guy had his worked up really wierd and he went through 1/4 of a quart every 300 miles...

[cmorse]

how often do you have to drain the can?

[fred2ka4]

this may sound kinda stupid but can you take a picture of it in the car? cause i would love to see where all your lines are running and before i cut into mine to be 100 percent sure im doing the right thing... or was there a spot where you got directions from?

the reason i ask is cause i was working on a MS6 and the guy had his worked up really wierd and he went through 1/4 of a quart every 300 miles...

I'll get some more pictures up later as it is raining right now.

how often do you have to drain the can?

I don't know yet as I haven't driven the car since I installed it. The car will be back on the road by this weekend at which time I will start to monitor the level.

[milehighpilot]

cool thanks in advance for the pictures...

[onemoremile]

The car will be back on the road by this weekend

Congratulations! I'll toast to that.

Here's to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold beer-and another one.
Give the Audi an honest run.

[fred2ka4]

I'll drink to that ............... twice ...........


Here are the updated pictures:













Hope that helps, but once you get the pipe out it will be easier to see were it goes. Just follow the reinforced hose to see where it goes.

[blmlozz]

Just a little heads up... I would not recommend the use of pink teflon tape as that is designed for water... Yellow is needed for petrolium based systems...

the old pink teflon tape I have says for use with water/petrolium based lines, the new roll I bought says for water only, and the yellow at lowes specificaly says for gasline use only too.

shouldn't matter between the two I guess, either can't possibly be worse than the white stuff.

[AudiA4_20T]

I may just do this, although the turbo will force me to get rid of that hardline so I may just hose clamp the fitting inside the stock pipe

[GotRice720]

Looking to install one myself however is the setup the same if I wanted to used a catch can with a open filter?

[fred2ka4]

Looking to install one myself however is the setup the same if I wanted to used a catch can with a open filter?

No it would not be the same as you would plug the line going into the intake inlet and there would not be a second line coming out of the catch can, only one going in. I wanted to maintain my factory setup and that's why I did it this way.

[AudiA4_20T]

just ordered a catchcan setup for $25 shipped on Ebay