inter cooler pipes, catch can installation

[Rods]

hi all, was wondering on how hard it is to replace the hot side (leaking the most) and the cold side piping and which are the best at a reasonable price on the market. have been looking at a plazman brand and was thinking of changing them all at the same time.
Also i have been told to install a catch by work mates who have them, the vehicle has 150,000kms , but my mechanic said that it it isnt worth it for the kms on the vehicle, who is right.
regards rod.

 

[Old.Tony]

If you install a catch can, it will catch oil from the PCV. Regardless of how many km. Diesels just do it. Catching that oil just means that some of the oil vapour coming out of the PCV isn't going to enter the intake manifold and be burnt in the normal combustion cycle. The amount of oil varies depending on the age and state-of-wear of the pistons, bores and rings. Burning the oil isn't really a problem. It's what the oil coats on the way that IS a problem. And the inside of the intercooler is a prime candidate for the oil vapour to condense and return to liquid (and stay).

So you have a choice here. Don't use a catch can, but clean out the intercooler very regularly, or use a catch can and clean IT out very regularly and clean the intercooler out very rarely.

Replacing the piping, if necessary, could be done with any decent hosing. Plazmaman has a good reputation.

 

[OldManBeard]

I've recently done that work. Most hot pipes I've seen being sold only have a solid pipe between the turbo and the bend at the front, where it goes around the corner to the intercooler. The set I have is an aluminium pipe, in two sections, from the turbo to the intercooler, except for three short joining hoses. Installing proved a bit problematic, as it was quite a job to remove the original bend. It may not be too hard if you're able to gain more maneuvering space by removing, or at least loosening, the number bar. I have a bull bar and didn't care for the effort involved in removing and refitting it, so I ended up bending that mounting tab until I was able to pull the bend out of the car. One thing I did have a little trouble with after installation was some vibration, causing the pipe to knock against existing metalwork. This was solved by cutting a spare joining hose, wrapping the affected area and holding it in place with a hose clamp. It now can't really move at that spot any more, so it can't rattle. This is important because, if it does rattle, it will be only a matter of time before it wears through.

That pipe kit is available on eBay for my Thai build.

For the cold hose (I don't think you can get a solid pipe for that one) I bought a replacement from Forefront, which is about twice the thickness of the standard hose. That's simply a straight swap.

I also fitted a catch can (Provent from Western Filters), for the same reasons Tony laid out. It has a drain hose, terminated with a tap, that you route to some convenient location lower down on the car, preferably somewhere it's protected from stone damage. As it's a clear hose, at least when it's new, I should be able to see the oil level. It's then a simple job to drain it into a suitable container.

 

[MANNING]

nothing at all against the plazmaman gear - personally i hated the setup.. found the kit would not stay sealed..
not long after replaced the lot with the forefront industries gear.. Jamie is an absolute champion - would buy the gear again if i did the car again

 

[Old.Tony]

^ I will say that (having experience with the guy before), Jamie is great to deal with.

 

[Tappet]

personally i hated the setup.. found the kit would not stay sealed..

Ok. I fitted a Plaza Man hot pipe years ago. Never leaked from day one. As for the cold side I left stock pipe. I did wrap some thick wide heavy duty Cable Ties around that hose. The're spaced quite close together. I don't believe there is any noticeable difference in lag/throttle response but it looks cool.

As for the catch can, conceptually great idea. I bought a Provent being a slack bastard had it sitting on the shelf for ages till I cleaned and flushed a huge amount of oil out of the intercooler. That made a difference to throttle response. Fitted it straight after that. Thing is it seems to catch bugger all oil. I've checked the plumbing and all good, blow though it, no restriction at all. It does sit in the hottest part of the engine bay. I wonder if this does affect the performance of it. Like the oil stays in suspension. Dunno

 

[Old.Tony]

I mounted my catch can (which has now been removed) just near the left hand headlight. I don't think that's the best place for it, I really think a catch can should be mounted somewhere that gets ambient air more than engine bay heat.

The reason is simple - you're basically asking the catch can to trap oil in it, so that it doesn't pass into the air intake. That oil is in hot vapour form, and the ONLY way to catch it (without using a filter medium that won't allow oil to pass through) is to cause that oil to cool down so that it becomes a liquid again.

I had an idea (and modified my catch can suitably) that if the intake side of the catch can had a pipe extending it to the bottom, with a metal plate separating the intake and outlet all the way to the bottom where a small gap existed and there was a suitable quantity of stainless steel mesh on the "up" side, then as oil began to be caught by the mesh, it would pool, and the incoming gas would bubble through it, forcing the oil vapour to condense even quicker. Move the can to the front of the intercooler (just behind the grille) and it should work at optimum level.

I built it, and then broke the sight glass. I haven't bothered with it since.

Construction method:

1.6mm aluminium plate cut to the inside diameter of the catch can with a 1mm deep slot cut in the bottom for most of the width. Place this inside the can. Attach a piece of aluminium tube to the inlet side (marked appropriately so I couldn't stuff that up when connecting the hoses), bend this tube so that it goes straight down into the can and cut it so that it sits about 1mm above the bottom of the can. At Woolworths/Coles/whereever, purchase stainless steel dishwashing scourers. Insert 2 into the can's "outlet" side. Reassemble, connect, task done.

And if you do it completely right, you won't break the sight glass like I stupidly did.

 

[OldManBeard]

That oil is in hot vapour form, and the ONLY way to catch it (without using a filter medium that won't allow oil to pass through) is to cause that oil to cool down so that it becomes a liquid again.

You are quite correct of course, which is why modern catch cans do in fact use such a filter medium. This allows them to be installed in the engine bay without loss of effectiveness. It's also why the filter will need to be replaced at some point, depending on how much oil it needs to process, something that is not made clear enough at the outset.