Greetings everyone,
recently YouTube put in my recommended video about oil catch cans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-B4VRxAtbw
since in the video (or it may be another one I watched on oil catch cans after) they mentioned it is very useful on the VAG engines.
Since they vary in size and price, what are your thoughts on installing one for keeping the engine cleaner and lasting longer.
it seems very useful.
Oil catch cans! Any experience and thoughts on it ... is it worth it ...
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monkeyhanger
- Bling Bling Diamond Member
- Posts: 2643
- Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:58 pm
- Drives: Audi A4 Avant Quattro 40 TDI, Polo GTI+
- Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Re: Oil catch cans! Any experience and thoughts on it ... is it worth it ...
Depends on the engine and how long you are going to keep the car - if you PCP/Lease and change every 2 or 3 years, it definitely won't be your problem to deal with - any build up shouldn't be noticeably detrimental within (worst case) 30k miles.
Long term, carbon build up on the back of the valves is going to cause hot spot pinking and poor valve seating which is going to affect output and mpg.
Carbon build up is a real issue for engines that are purely direct injection. Not sure about the 1.0TSI variants, but for the EA888 Gen 3b engine in the Polo GTI, we have both port injection and direct injection, the port injection function washes fuel vapour over the valve backs and prevents carbon build up.
Oil catch cans only help to a small extent anyway, form what I've read, it doesn't stop the coking up, as there are multiple routes for engine breathers into the intake (rather than one that the catch can covers), sending a lot of oil vapour to the intake. With a port injection system above the valves, all of the oil gets washed off, rather than the oil cooking onto the valve backs and leaving its carbon content behind.
With direct injection, there is no fuel wash behind the valves, all of the fuel is injected directly into the cylinders.
This is a worry for some Golf GTI owners. The engine variant that the latest Golf GTI has - EA888 gen 3 (not 3b) has done away with the port injection and gone purely direct injection. So recent Golf GTI owners (WLTP compliant changes) have a worry for long term ownership.
It's not disastrous by any means - it's the difference between doing a £400 job every 50k miles or not needing to (valves blasted with walnut shells to take the carbon off without damaging the valves.
A catch can is one more thing to have to routinely empty every so often (I don't know how long it takes for a catch can to fill - larger capacity ones will need emptying less often.
Long term, carbon build up on the back of the valves is going to cause hot spot pinking and poor valve seating which is going to affect output and mpg.
Carbon build up is a real issue for engines that are purely direct injection. Not sure about the 1.0TSI variants, but for the EA888 Gen 3b engine in the Polo GTI, we have both port injection and direct injection, the port injection function washes fuel vapour over the valve backs and prevents carbon build up.
Oil catch cans only help to a small extent anyway, form what I've read, it doesn't stop the coking up, as there are multiple routes for engine breathers into the intake (rather than one that the catch can covers), sending a lot of oil vapour to the intake. With a port injection system above the valves, all of the oil gets washed off, rather than the oil cooking onto the valve backs and leaving its carbon content behind.
With direct injection, there is no fuel wash behind the valves, all of the fuel is injected directly into the cylinders.
This is a worry for some Golf GTI owners. The engine variant that the latest Golf GTI has - EA888 gen 3 (not 3b) has done away with the port injection and gone purely direct injection. So recent Golf GTI owners (WLTP compliant changes) have a worry for long term ownership.
It's not disastrous by any means - it's the difference between doing a £400 job every 50k miles or not needing to (valves blasted with walnut shells to take the carbon off without damaging the valves.
A catch can is one more thing to have to routinely empty every so often (I don't know how long it takes for a catch can to fill - larger capacity ones will need emptying less often.
Re: Oil catch cans! Any experience and thoughts on it ... is it worth it ...
Hello monkeyhangar,
first of all I would like to thank you, not only for this detailed view on the catch cans, but as a whole for sharing your knowledge here on the forum.
For a newbie like me, who is now catching up on the "know how" and the whole process of taking a good care and properly maintaining the engine you love, your information is priceless.
As in my example, I was fooled, because I failed to recognize the engine variant in the Polo was "b" and not Golf GTI one, as you also mentioned might have problems.
As this is my first brand new car, I think I might be tempted to not get rid off it after the warranty expires. Also I think the Polo GTI is the best car on the market in its segment currently and with all these electronic cars on the way it might be for a long time
(personal opinion), so I just want to look after it the best way, without breaking warranty.
So you might have saved me a fistful of cash with a 2 month interval of can drainage
Kudos for sharing your experience and knowledge !
first of all I would like to thank you, not only for this detailed view on the catch cans, but as a whole for sharing your knowledge here on the forum.
For a newbie like me, who is now catching up on the "know how" and the whole process of taking a good care and properly maintaining the engine you love, your information is priceless.
As in my example, I was fooled, because I failed to recognize the engine variant in the Polo was "b" and not Golf GTI one, as you also mentioned might have problems.
As this is my first brand new car, I think I might be tempted to not get rid off it after the warranty expires. Also I think the Polo GTI is the best car on the market in its segment currently and with all these electronic cars on the way it might be for a long time
(personal opinion), so I just want to look after it the best way, without breaking warranty.So you might have saved me a fistful of cash with a 2 month interval of can drainage
Kudos for sharing your experience and knowledge !