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Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by danlatu, May 22, 2017.

  1. m3pare

    m3pare Senior Member

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    I am also interested in purchasing a OCC bracket @danlatu (y)
     
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  2. 12voltman

    12voltman Member

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    #502 12voltman, Jan 9, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2018
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  3. m3pare

    m3pare Senior Member

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    Great choice @12voltman !! I also got the same black OCC, but branded Ruien from Amazon for around the same price as well.

    481CA289-1E23-46A6-9103-9817A01085F7.jpeg
     
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  4. 12voltman

    12voltman Member

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    (y)

    Box is exactly the same as mine too, right down to how they taped the box . ;) Fit right inside my mailbox !
    Must be quite a few of these getting rebranded , and selling through different online vendors.
    I wont complain .... $35. works for me !
     
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  5. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    I got the same one too.

    I made a few modifications:

    1 - I cut a piece of stainless steel scrubber to fit in the inlet "chamber" as a baffle.
    2 - I bought a second length of hose so I could install the catch can behind the driver's side headlight.
    3 - The catch can fits perfectly in a foam can cozy holding it firmly in place.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG][/QUOTE]
     
    #505 tvpierce, Jan 10, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2018
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  6. StarCaller

    StarCaller Senior Member

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    engine compartment gets kinda hot in the summer, so I really don't know if that's a good idea/
     
  7. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

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    The animals would just love this!

    Screen Shot 2018-01-10 at 7.53.13 PM.png
     
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  8. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    It doesn't get all that hot in that location. I imagine the foam will begin to break down after a couple of years -- at which point I'll replace it with another 99 cent cozy.

    I like the fact that it's not hard mounted to anything, so it's easy to check and empty the contents. This time of year I have to empty it once a week -- it's mostly water.
     
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  9. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    In Maine you could worry about freezing, especially if the contents is mostly water.
     
  10. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Yes. Emptying the OCC was a bit of a chore the last couple of weeks. There was a layer of oily/milky sludge on top of a frozen-solid water.
     
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  11. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

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    Did you empty your occ before or after you drove it, engine still warm?
     
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  12. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    First thing in the morning after it had sat for 12 hours in -10F overnight temperatures. So not surprising that it was frozen.
     
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  13. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

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    I empty mine on friday at the end of the week right when I get home from work while it is still warm and check oil levels. So everything in the occ is still wet and not frozen.
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The gases coming from the PCV valve are invariably going to be pretty hot. Hopefully there's not a time span when the car's still warming that would be problematic, say a solidly frozen OCC. The frozen bit would typically be the OCC's "sump" too, not impeding the flow of gasses above. Hope hope...
     
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  15. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

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    Anything frozen will be at the bottom of the occ and will not interfere with the hoses. That is why I mentioned that the occ should be emptied more often in cold weather on the first page of this thread. As the temp of the engine rises, it melts anything frozen. That is why I empty mine after I am done driving on friday. Both of our prius have not seen any negative Fahrenheit digits yet. That is what is so awesome about this thread, hearing what prius members living in Maine, Michigan, Finland etc. have to say. This thread is here to pull the experience we have together to end the knock issue and I am very happy with everyone's participation. All of you get an "A+" for no knock at start-up!
     
    #515 danlatu, Jan 11, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2018
  16. danlatu

    danlatu Senior Member

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    I did have an idea to move the pcv valve to the catch can. From the out and into the intake plenum. In theory, you would have anything in the hose oil/water/fuel drain back to the crankcase. I need to go and find out the thread and pitch of both catch can and block to see if it would work with my current set up.
     
  17. 12voltman

    12voltman Member

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    Got around to installing the OCC this afternoon. For the record , this is for my 2011 , with 69,250 miles on the clock . Not too hard of a job if one is fairly mechanically inclined. Its a little intimidating due to all the wiring and hoses that have to come off if removing the intake manifold . But it all came apart very nicely. A long needle nose pliers is about mandatory for removing some of those spring clamps ! Antifreeze loss is very minimal when removing the throttle body coolant lines. I plugged the lines when I pulled them, but later found out I really didn't need to .
    Anyway, pulled the intake and cleaned it out. There was a significant amount of oil residue/mucus in it. :eek::eek::eek:
    EGR down tube was surprisingly clean with just a light coating of some carbon build up . Cleaned it up quickly anyway , and decided to forgo the much harder job of cleaning the EGR cooler since the tube was so clean .
    Got it all done in about an 1 1/2 hours time , although I did have to run out to Lowes quick to get the 3/8" barb fitting and the 10' clear braided hose (which was MORE than enough to mount the OCC behind the drivers side headlight) .
    Everything went back together perfectly, but did have something odd happen that I cant quite figure out. Car was warm , inside the heated shop all night/day . After It was all done, I started it up to check it all out ......and the damn thing knocked again for maybe 10 seconds . Not sure if there was some residual oils in the intake plenum ,fittings, passages or what . Its fine now and runs like a champ . Could be my imagination , but it seems to run smoother .........could be a little placebo effect ! :whistle:
    I have the OCC installed in a small piece of corrugated ribbed hose for now, until danlatu gets done with the PriusChat OCC holder bracket ......... (y);):whistle::) .

    Here are some quick pictures ............

    Oil residue in PCV inlet to intake.
    [​IMG]

    Oil residue in intake manifold ! :eek::eek::eek:
    [​IMG]

    OCC install location .
    [​IMG]

    Temporary OCC holder (until danlatu gets the brackets done !)
    [​IMG]
     
    #517 12voltman, Jan 11, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2018
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  18. mjoo

    mjoo Senior Member

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    When my OCC has been filling lately it hasn't frozen yet. And it's been darn cold lately. I had just emptied it again a couple days ago and it was 80% full. Maybe it's the ethanol fraction in my fuel...

    I do a lot of short trips at speeds under 50 mph. Very easy on the throttle to be easier on the engine when it's cold. So the manifold has high vacuum and there's more EGR.

    Pixel XL ?
     
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  19. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Where'd you get the corrugated ribbed hose?
     
  20. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Did anyone else with this particular OCC add part of a stainless steel scrubber (or anything else) to the inlet "port" as a baffle?
     
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