

You might ask why do car manufacturers revert this crankcase pressure back into the intake tract? Well, for starters there isn't anywhere safe to revert it, and you can't expel it into the atmosphere because it's not environmentally friendly and is considered to not be street legal.Īnother question that arises is why isn't a catch can included from the factory? Well it's pretty simple actually. It will contain some oil particles which cause the combustion process to be slightly less efficient.

This is mainly due to the fact that the air that comes through your intake system and goes into the combustion chamber won't just be air. Here is an image of carbon build-up on valves. Having oil caked onto your intake valves can cause the following symptoms: The oil never has the chance to cake on the valves in port injection engines. This action of the fuel flowing over the intake valves actually cleans the valves from any oil that may already be on there. For all other engines that use port injection, the gas is introduced before the combustion chamber which means it flows over the intake valves and enter the combustion chamber premixed with the air. The caking on intake valves is only a problem with direct injection engines. With the oil passing through the intercooler, it can actually coat the cooling fins which will hinder the intercooler's ability to cool the air therefore lowering the efficiency. This is what actually causes the oil to solidify on the valves. Just on the other side of these valves is where the combustion is taking place where the temperatures are extremely high. It will develop in the intercooler, boost hoses, intake manifold and intake valves. The oil will actually coat everything on its way back to the combustion chamber. This air and oil mixture is then entered somewhere after the intake system, passes through the intercooler (if you car is turbo or supercharged) and then re-enters the combustion chamber (cylinder) through your intake valves to be re-burned. It will also contain a very small amount of oil as well since there is so much in the oil pan at a high temperature. So the PCV system removes the pressure from the crankcase and reverts it back through the intake tract via crank case vents.
HOW TO INSTALL OIL CATCH CAN ON G35 CRACK
This would cause the crankcase to possibly crack under the pressure and create a huge mess of oil on the street. PCV or positive crankcase ventilation is necessary to ensure there isn't a build up of pressure in the crankcase.
HOW TO INSTALL OIL CATCH CAN ON G35 FULL
Inside the crankcase, you have the crank which is turning in the oil pan which is full of oil. Only the first 2 steps are relevant in regards to the catch can. A diagram of the 4-stroke cycle can be seen below. Obviously not all of the air escapes or else combustion wouldn't take place. Also, an engine with more cylinders will have more blow-by. The amount of blow-by increases as the engine RPMs rise. The pressure is so high that a very small amount of the air escapes around the piston and piston rings into the crankcase. The intake and exhaust valves are obviously closed as well.

The only things containing this high pressure are the cylinder itself, the piston and the piston rings that seat against the walls of the cylinder. This compression creates an immense build-up of pressure in the cylinder. The intake valves close and then the piston rises up towards the top of the cylinder. At the same time, fuel is injected into the cylinder. This draws in the cool dense air for combustion. The piston first goes down with the intake valves open creating a vacuum. This means that the piston has to go up and down a total of 4 times to complete a cycle. All internal combustion engines that run off gasoline are 4 stroke engines. This article is dedicated to providing a very detailed explanation showing why a catch can is highly recommended in direct injection engine applications.įirst, let's go over what is currently happening in your engine without a catch can installed. There is a large debate as to whether or not oil catch cans are worth the money or not.
