1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Oil Catch Can Installed!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Rebound, Aug 22, 2021.

  1. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    A few weeks back I cleaned my intake manifold again and ran a long hose from the PCV valve to the intake manifold. Today I mounted the oil catch can.

    I bought a bunch of cable ties, but at the same time, I bought a “10 inch Rivet Nut Setter” to install my cat shield. $45 at Harbor Freight.

    When I got home, I realized the Rivet tool would be perfect for installing the OCC as well. Here are photos of the install.

    Here is the Rivet Nut Tool. The colored boxes are the six different mandrels, which each insert a different size threaded rivet.

    IMG_5108.jpg


    This is where I installed the OCC. On the frame, near the oil sump. I can screw the OCC off to empty it, and I can reach the dipstick to check it.

    IMG_5074.jpg

    Here’s the rivet tool in place to set the threaded rivet. Tight fit, but it worked.

    IMG_5082.jpg

    Here’s one of the threaded rivets in place:

    IMG_5105.jpg

    I screwed the OCC bracket onto the frame, and attached the top of the OCC to the bracket. Next, I screwed the bottom of the can on, then cut my long hose and attached the hose to the OCC.

    And here’s the completed install. I finally managed to put the wire ties to good use! Tomorrow morning I’ll put the belly pan back on. I might need to trim to make it fit; I don’t know yet.

    IMG_5107.jpg
     
    #1 Rebound, Aug 22, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
    Mendel Leisk, xliderider and Raytheeagle like this.
  2. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Nice! I'm thinking of doing something something similar, but I am probably going to attach a piece of aluminum flat bar stock to the crossmember to raise the can up so there is no clearance issue with the under cover.

    You could easily do the same. ;)
     
    #2 xliderider, Aug 22, 2021
    Mendel Leisk and Rebound like this.
  3. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I think it’s great how we can build upon one another’s work. I’m sure you know, it’s no picnic working under a car without a complete lift. I have it better than most, because of my coated floor and my jack lifts the car pretty high. But drilling the holes sprayed hot bits of metal all over, and crawling around on them was pretty uncomfortable.
     
    #3 Rebound, Aug 22, 2021
  4. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I'll have to hit up Harbor Freight when I go to Seattle next month (no HF in Hawaii).

    Rebound, do you think the 10" tool you got has the leverage to set stainless steel inserts? What size inserts did you use?
    I'm going to use M5.
     
    #4 xliderider, Aug 22, 2021
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Yeah, I was going to ask if you had to do it under the car on your back, or if you had a lift. I also will be doing it with a jack and jackstands.

    I am not looking forward to drilling the crossmember with a largish diameter bit. I still have nightmares when I had to drill out several holes in the frame to mount my rear cat shield. That was four small diameter holes, but this time I'm definitely using some oil to lubricate the drill bit.

    Alternatively, there's already a nice hole up on top of the crossmember. You can see it if the airbox is removed and you look down. An insert could be mounted in that hole to bolt an L-bracket to hold the OCC. I think I'm going to explore that route first. Another option is to mount an inverted L-bracket coming off the steel bracket that the airbox is bolted to at the bottom.
     
    #5 xliderider, Aug 22, 2021
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,710
    38,247
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Whatever you bolt onto that bottom beam, sandwich something flexible in the interface: the underside of that beam has the front/central jacking point, and anything solidly bolted will cause creaks and groans when you use the jacking point, maybe stressing stuff.

    Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock! | Page 9 | PriusChat
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Aug 22, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2021
    xliderider likes this.
  7. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Mendel, thanks for the link. I remembered you mounted yours on the crossmember, but I didn't want to read through the whole thread to find the details.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #7 xliderider, Aug 22, 2021
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,710
    38,247
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Threaded insert RivNuts are tempting. If I was doing it again I'd consider them. Here's an interesting video, installing rivnuts where there's not enough room to use the tool:

     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Aug 22, 2021
  9. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Yeah, saw that video. I'll see if I can get by without buying a tool.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #9 xliderider, Aug 22, 2021
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  10. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    The HF tool includes a lot of inserts (about five of each of the six sizes). They are brass-colored, but I don’t know what they’re made of. I don’t have any experience with this tool except for yesterday, but I’d say it probably cannot support a rivet which is harder to crush than the ones they supply. The tool seems to take a lot of pressure to crush the included rivets. Maybe they have inserts with stainless threads but some other, softer “crush” metal?
     
    #10 Rebound, Aug 22, 2021
  11. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    That is GOOD!
     
    #11 Rebound, Aug 22, 2021
  12. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    They sell the tools on Amazon at the same price, if that’s an option for you.
     
    #12 Rebound, Aug 23, 2021
  13. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2012
    7,848
    3,102
    0
    Location:
    Honolulu, HI
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Yeah, I saw that. Was browsing through today, but the one you got doesn't include the 5mm size mandrel I want.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #13 xliderider, Aug 23, 2021
  14. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Yes, it has an M5 mandrel. That’s the yellow box.
     
    #14 Rebound, Aug 23, 2021
    xliderider likes this.
  15. Merv Himself

    Merv Himself Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2018
    71
    20
    0
    Location:
    Georgia, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Rebound, now that this has been in place for a while, what has been your experience with it? Also wondering about any mpg increase. I recently discovered a lagoon of oil when removing my air intake manifold, so I'm doing a lot of catch can research now.
     
    #15 Merv Himself, Mar 4, 2022
  16. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
    3,961
    2,609
    0
    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    It catches too much oil! Well… not exactly oil, more like a brownish tan watery sludge. It fills pretty fast. And it gives off an odor, because I think the little dipstick didn’t come with an o-ring. So I’ll need to address those things soon. I might replace my PCV to see if it reduces the amount of discharge.

    But my main conclusion is that the catch can is essential.
     
    #16 Rebound, Mar 4, 2022
  17. Merv Himself

    Merv Himself Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2018
    71
    20
    0
    Location:
    Georgia, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Definitely essential. Couldn't agree more. I talked to a friend who got one of those Tracy Lewis catch cans. A very serious catch can "system" from what I understand. NOT CHEAP, but I find it hard to believe the 25-dollar variety on amazon does much good. I don't know. Still shopping. I only want to do this once.
     
    #17 Merv Himself, Mar 4, 2022
  18. PatrickBrian

    PatrickBrian Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 27, 2022
    62
    38
    0
    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    III
    So what about winter? I just read from the product notes on this that mentioned a possible problem in winter, and it makes me wonder.

    EVIL ENERGY Baffled Oil Catch Can,Oil Separator Catch Can 300ml Universal Aluminum Black
     
    #18 PatrickBrian, Oct 30, 2022
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)