Well, it's condensed vapor almost for sure. It's very unlikely to be liquid wicked up the tube or something like that. So it had to come from somewhere. The assumption is that it's all oil too. I'd think coolant vapor would be very visible in the collection? So if it's all oil it's got to be vaporized or atomized first. I would expect the amount of oil vaporized and other stuff flashed off would depend on oil temps to some extent. Did it change when you changed oil? Are you running the same oil temp you used to? Side note: I've wondered if the oil squirters atomize some amount of oil making our engines a bit more prone to this. Like the LS engines. They got squirters?.
Hard to tell on the temps since I switched during a change in seasons. I'd say maybe 5 degrees cooler vs stock. Whatever was in the can was all oil (at least as was visible to the naked eye). No they don't (LS engines). The Ford GT does, but I'm not aware of any such issues (also uses dry sump lubrication).
That setup looks seriously wrong... I found a pic of the JMB (I think). Isn't that just an empty can with a sight tube on the side? I wouldn't expect that to catch much even if it was hooked up correctly. At least no where near as efficient as the ones with baffling, and stuff like stainless steel wool packing to greatly increase the surface area to condense on. Scroll down the page a bit and look at the diagram on this one. http://www.mckinneyraceworks.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=80
It reminds me more of a dry sump catch can than a pcv catch can. I would think that would have to cause a vacuum leak.
Now that is very interesting! .... and seems to make good since too! :beerchug: I'll have to check into this. ....
All of the decent ones have something to provide surface area for condensation and usually some sort of mechanism to keep trapped oil from wicking up the side. A mesh plate, stainless steel wool, baffles, something like that. Most also have a barrier, stepped sides, etc. to impede the trapped oil from wicking or sloshing out. Just the volume of the can being larger than the tube means that the velocity will decrease as it goes through there (more time) but the design can maximize that over the condensation surfaces. In my opinion the empty cans are not worth money.
Possibly, I haven't bothered to look at the filter portion of mine yet, I'll try to do that next time I drain it. If anything I would think some rubbing alcohol or carb cleaner sprayed into it (and allowed to drain out) would be sufficient.
Yea! Remember that the stuff condensing in there is kind of like distilled water. It's vapor, there isn't going to be much particulate matter of any size to clog a filter.
Hey Mr. Generous, can I get in on this too??? Hahahhahaaaa! You can be like the guy at the bar buying a round of drinks for the house. "Catch cans for everyone!" Lol!
