DIY oil catch can

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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Tmontague
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:17 pm
Location: Hamilton ON

DIY oil catch can

Post by Tmontague »

Installed one of these this afternoon on my Vibe. I have one on my Vios to keep the throttle body and intake/valves clean and it works well. The engine is very similar to the 1zz so it essentially did the same thing.

I cut the pcv hose about 3-4 inches after the 90ndegree bend and then re installed it flipped. This allows more clearance from the engine. I then installed the Mastercraft air compressor filter ($30) with a 1/4 to 3/8 thread to barb sized fitting.

I slid the hose onto the barbed fitting, I had to heat up the hose with a heat gun and use silicone lube to help the hose slide onto the barbs easier,

The air filter has a valve in the bottom of it that will cause a vacuum leak if you don't seal it, the easiest way for me to do this was to unscrew the valve and then put the O ring onto a 1/4 npt bolt and then screw the bolt into the hole in the plastic filter housing, don't overtighen but make it snug so the o ring creates a seal.

I also removed the filter it came with and then put steel wool about 70% of the way down into the plastic housing. This will separate the oil from the air better than the filter it came with.

I plugged in my scanner and checked fuel trims. They were perfectly equal so no vacuum leaks. Easy to do and easy to access to empty when full.

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The Fun: Toyota Vios '08 5spd m/t heavily modified
The Family whip: '05 Vibe AWD
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vibrologist
Posts: 1598
Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 8:24 am
Location: Iowa

Re: DIY oil catch can

Post by vibrologist »

That's a cool idea! I've put it into the Maintenance Index.
Vibrologist
'05 Vibe

"It is important to know the difference between 'accurate' and 'precise' even if you are neither!"

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Derf
Posts: 529
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Re: DIY oil catch can

Post by Derf »

Very nice. I noticed when replacing the intake manifold gasket how much blow by collected in the intake manifold. This would have helped prevent the oil issue, plus kept oil off the intake gasket, which may have extended the gaskets life.
2005 #10,524 Neptune Vibe "Bandit" Auto, Moon & Tunes 235k :D
1991 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8L "Granny's Whip" 142k (33nd Anniversary :o )
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ImUrOBGYN
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Re: DIY oil catch can

Post by ImUrOBGYN »

Nice. And it's good you kept it inline instead of just throwing a breather on it and calling it a day.

I have a writeup on a Supra forum I did. I used a similar "catch can". Mine has a valve on the bottom and has held vacuum so no need for any extra bolt, etc. Haven't done one for the Vibe but I've been considering it. Should be far easier since I don't have to run as much hose and won't be doing any customization.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best
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Tmontague
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:17 pm
Location: Hamilton ON

Re: DIY oil catch can

Post by Tmontague »

I wanted to keep it inline as I didn't want to mess with the positive crankcase ventilation. Rather keep everything functioning as is and just have something catch the oil.

You'll find it a really easy install if you've had to run dedicated lines before. Just cut, flip and stick onto the fitting of the catch can. The toughest part for me was getting the hose to fit over the 3/8 barbed end as I had to use heat, silicone lube and some elbow grease. In the future I would've also purchased a 1/4 to 1/4 barbed end to use on the one end of the hose. The pcv hose is the same diameter throughout but the one end is pre stretched much larger from the pcv valve.

The valve mine came with seemed to be a check valve but somehow wouldn't hold negative or positive pressure so I just capped it with a plug and o ring. Surprisingly the threads bit into the plastic enough to crease a good seal.

It's slowly filling with oil at a rate roughly the same as my Vios.
The Fun: Toyota Vios '08 5spd m/t heavily modified
The Family whip: '05 Vibe AWD
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