Oil catch can a "must"

Discussion in 'Dodge Challenger General Maintenance' started by soonercruiser, Jan 14, 2017.

  1. Cloverdale

    Cloverdale Full Access Member

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  2. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

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    Read this informative article.


    Oil Catch Cans | Dodge Challenger Forum
     
  3. Moparisto

    Moparisto Full Access Member

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    From that article: what is going on with the clear hose from this picture?
    [​IMG]
    It APPEARS to show a vent from the valve cover directly to intake tube. I posit that this would allow ambient (filtered) air pressure to flow into the driver's side PCV port, which would flow out through the passenger PCV, through the catch can, where it would be cleaned up before entering the engine right after the butterfly, a higher-vacuum area than the port on the intake tube.

    What is interesting to me is that the blow-by air that is getting into the crankcase past the rings would be some of the dirtiest with not-necessarily-complete combustion product in it. The black goop in the catch can is definitely something one would not want in one's engine, as valves have never been shown to flow more air if coated in what looks like road tar, to my knowledge. Some of the black goop could even be in atomized or vapor form in the air, and given a relatively cool and labyrinthine catch can path, has far more opportunity to dump its tarry, black payload like an Imperial Star Destroyer jettisoning garbage before a leap to hyperspace. There is no such thing as air that is too clean to enter your engine, or re-enter it.
     
  4. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

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    The vent tube, below the oil filler cap, is factory installed (see photo, below). As you stated, it allows engine air pressure to flow into the PCV port.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. Moparisto

    Moparisto Full Access Member

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    Helping engines breath a sigh of relief! A clean, filtered, cooled sigh of relief!
     
  6. fritzthecat

    fritzthecat Full Access Member

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    Resistance is futile. I've been assimilated.
    Well, not totally, but I finally got my catch can from Billet Technology! It's pretty sweet. Wicked easy to install. The rubber hose from the PCV valve to the top of the intake manifold came off easily. One bolt holds the "Z" bracket to the engine. Billet gave me a couple of length of rubber hose, which I trimmed a little, and pushed on to the connectors and done. Looks good. I paid extra to get the color anodizing. I know, no one's gonna see it but I sleep better at night knowing it matches the car. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
    Here's pix.

    00 Catch Can.jpg

    01 Catch Can.jpg

    Turns out Billet Technology is close to me. Lake Worth, FL, about 20 miles from Boca. So, I took them up on their offer to tour the factory, like it says on the web site. Thought you guys would like to see where all these cool parts come from. Here's the outside of the building. Pretty non-descript. That's my bike. The doors were open since it's February and the weather is pisser right now, so the guys working there all liked the 40-year-old superbike. 'Nuff said, this is a Challenger forum...

    02 Factory.jpg

    The people there were nice as could be. They were more than happy to show me around. I was introduced to a gentelman named "Nick" (as in Nick Billet?) who took me around and showed me the various machines and work areas. This is a shot of a couple of the NC machines. I was told the stock on the stand going into the machine with the blue base is going to make "Z" bars for the catch cans.

    03 Factory.jpg

    Here's another of their NC machines. Some of these are able to make multiple parts at once.

    04 Factory.jpg

    Here's another NC machine (in back), and the machine in the foreground on the left is their engraver. They showed me some cutting bits that are about the same diameter as a human hair. They are used to do some of the finer engraving work. Nick showed me some really cool cover art that he was working on. You can basically ask them for just about anything and they will try to make it happen. One was a set of two covers for the fuse box and ABS with an image of "Harley Quinn". They also do silhouettes of the Challenger, different animals like tigers or panthers, pretty much anything.

    05 Factory.jpg

    This is a rack of finished parts waiting to be shipped. They're a little backed up right now. Nick told me that 2 of their NC machines are down for service. The rack below has a cover for a customer in Australia that's been waiting almost a year! My little catch can took over 3 months. Special colors or finishes naturally take longer.

    06 Factory.jpg

    Here's a rack of parts before anodizing. Note the strut covers on the top left shelf.

    07 Factory.jpg

    Here's a bunch of washer fluid and power steering covers. You can get anodized or power coated finishes.

    08 Factory.jpg

    Nick also showed me the QC area. They have a measuring machine that can check accuracy down to .0001". (That's one-ten-thousandth of an inch). They're listed as Billet Technology on their website, but they are also known by the business name Vertex Precision, Inc. They originally made parts for military and NASA, but have since switched to mostly all Mopar accessories. Nice to see where these parts we all want for our Challengers come from.
     
  7. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

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    Your catch can looks great. Now you need more billet pieces for your engine bay, like me. Once you start it's hard to stop. I bought most of my pieces during their 50% off annual Black Friday sales.

    By the way, Billet Technology got its start by making parts for the aerospace industry. When its business dried up, it switched to making Mopar automotive parts.

    Also, here's a tip they gave me. To keep your billet parts looking like new, periodically wipe them down with WD-40 and a microfiber towel.

    EngineBay3.JPG
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2024
  8. HellKitten

    HellKitten Full Access Member

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    Does that catch can mist provide any lubrication at all to the pistons?
     
  9. SRT-Tom

    SRT-Tom Well-Known Member Staff Member Super Moderator Article Writer

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    The fluid that the catch can traps is a nasty brew of engine combustion by-products- acids, water, gasoline, oil, etc. Ideally, you don't want your engine to re-burn them. Check out the following article:

    Oil Catch Cans | Dodge Challenger Forum
     
  10. fritzthecat

    fritzthecat Full Access Member

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    Thanks, Tom.

    Question - and I think the answer's gonna be it doesn't matter, but I noticed that you hooked yours up opposite of how I hooked mine up. I was following the picture they gave me with the can. It's here:

    Billet Instructions 1.jpg

    The hose from the intake manifold goes to the port on the can that's towards the rear of the car. You crossed yours over. I didn't see a direction arrow on the can or in the directions, so it probably doesn't matter. I guess it's just whatever makes the routing easier?

    Also, they've changed from using WD-40 as a cleaner to Mineral Oil:

    Billet Instructions 2.jpg

    Just FYI.

    Rick