Automotive oil changes

[PaulOinMA]

We are fairly low miles also with most of our trips being local. Why I love our Volt. All local miles are electric. Distance driving is on the ICE where it gets a chance to fully warm up.

Two neighbors were senior executives for a chemical company. Their office was a couple of miles from our homes. One drove a 500-h.p. BMW M6 convertible. The other had an Audi A8L, but got a Volt after that. Said it was great for his commute.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

We are fairly low miles also with most of our trips being local. Why I love our Volt. All local miles are electric. Distance driving is on the ICE where it gets a chance to fully warm up.

This is why i would love a gas electric pickup truck with a range extender. A Volt style truck. All those trips i can measure in tenths of a mile, no warmup not to mention horrendous MPG. Plus in my line of work im in the drive up at the bank almost daily. Sure i can keep turning the engine on and off to move thru the line but low speed electric propulsion would solve that too.

 

[Ashful]

it's funny how these so called catch cans are starting to be made for spec vehicles from the factory. i bought one about 30 years ago from a back of a magazine called the condensator and been using on my vehicles since it goes inline with the pcv line and filters out the junk that is flowing out the vent then back into the manifold.

Naturally-aspirated cars today really don’t benefit much from them, there is so little crankcase flow thru the PCV valve. Where you’re seeing them on factory vehicles, it’s likely cars with big turbos or superchargers, there is good justification to have them there.

I have one installed on a modern naturally-aspirated vehicle that I drive fairly hard, and it doesn’t even collect a half ounce in 3000 miles of hard acceleration driving. That same can on the supercharged version of my car will fill completely full (half quart?) in just 2000 miles.

Two neighbors were senior executives for a chemical company. Their office was a couple of miles from our homes. One drove a 500-h.p. BMW M6 convertible. The other had an Audi A8L, but got a Volt after that. Said it was great for his commute.

I drive a 500 hp car 7 miles to work, each day. Given the displacement of that engine and the short commute, it isn’t even at full operating temperature when I park and shut it down. Mileage is horrendously bad, as a result, think close to 10 mpg. It gets mid-20’s on longer drives. I could see replacing it with a Tesla... but never a Volt!

 

[begreen]

Naturally-aspirated cars today really don’t benefit much from them, there is so little crankcase flow thru the PCV valve. Where you’re seeing them on factory vehicles, it’s likely cars with big turbos or superchargers, there is good justification to have them there.

I have one installed on a modern naturally-aspirated vehicle that I drive fairly hard, and it doesn’t even collect a half ounce in 3000 miles of hard acceleration driving. That same can on the supercharged version of my car will fill completely full (half quart?) in just 2000 miles.

I drive a 500 hp car 7 miles to work, each day. Given the displacement of that engine and the short commute, it isn’t even at full operating temperature when I park and shut it down. Mileage is horrendously bad, as a result, think close to 10 mpg. It gets mid-20’s on longer drives. I could see replacing it with a Tesla... but never a Volt!

Some Ford F150 folks say their gas mileage actually decreased with a catch can added to their newer F150s. .

 

[blades]

that makes some sense as the programing is optimized for reburn .

 

[fbelec]

right now i have my condensator hooked up to my 04 e350 stretch van with a 5.4 v8. when i didn't have it the truck was 10 to 11 mpg after hookup there is two ways to run it third line comes into it with cool fresh air or plug the 3rd line and it still does it's job. with this truck i plug the third line and it gets better mpg i run 12.5 to 13 with it on. my last truck i had it running on a 1996 e250 with the last year of the 5.8 351w. it boosted the mileage from 11 to 12 to 14 to 15 mpg and had to dump the jar every other oil change. with this truck it doesn't collect much in the jar but mpg is slightly better. but this truck is running synthetic oil and the old truck was running regular castrol oil 10w40

 

[fbelec]

also the man who invented the condensator said that they work well with turbo motors and depending on the size of the motor that two would work better like the ford 3.5 TT that has two pcv lines. and over the road diesel would need two also. he advertises that these condensators would double engine life.

 

[blades]

from what I have read on DI eng. the problem with EGR is it collects on valves and turbo fins basically getting cooked in place like a glass coating. some of the new eng have addressed this with a combined direct and indirect system there by washing the valves a bit, turbos still get coked up. pretty much a 100k pull the heads and turbo, blast clean- very expensive maintenance.

 

[SpaceBus]

from what I have read on DI eng. the problem with EGR is it collects on valves and turbo fins basically getting cooked in place like a glass coating. some of the new eng have addressed this with a combined direct and indirect system there by washing the valves a bit, turbos still get coked up. pretty much a 100k pull the heads and turbo, blast clean- very expensive maintenance.

Yes, valves and turbos get loads of varnish buildup in a DI engine. Most MFGs suggest a walnut media blast on the valves. I don't know about turbos, maybe they just replace them now? Either way a filtered catch can prevents most of the issues. Everyone I know that races on track or autocross (I was one of these folks as well) uses a catch can. Some are as rudimentary as putting a breather filter on the crank intake side and a tube into an empty soda can for the pressure release side while capping the old inlet on the intake. Old cars just had a venturi off the engine and the oil just went on the ground.