What's an oil catch can....

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by Slickrick51586

The reason they route it back into your intake is because the positive air pressure that brings oil with it has already been metered by your ecu. Venting to atmosphere or even seperating it with a catch can means that the ecu dosen't have the exact amount of metered air at any given time (pressure drop from catch can)... There are plently of people that don't change their oil on a regular basis, but think about a catch can. A catch can fills at varying rates depending on your driving/engine/etc, im sure plenty of average drivers would forget to empty it leading to plenty of oil all over peoples engines.

Welcome to the forums! But I wanted to help answer these questions people had as well. You say the ECU meters exactly how much oil has been routed into your intake? Not sure I'm understanding this correctly. The purpose of the oil catch can is to take away the excess oil residue/dirt/debris from your charge pipes/intercooler pipes/TURBO. The idea is to keep the oil out of the intake, which helps keep the intercooler running at maximum efficiency. Also, you make a good point with your last sentence. Imagine if you don't have a catch can and don't know when it would be full. That means you have an entire catch can amount of oil/debris/blow by running through your pipes and have no idea about it. Thats when performance gets hindered. Smoke comes out of the exhaust. Car runs dirty. If the biggest problem of an oil catch can is to drain it because it might overflow, I think the benefits outweight the negatives, don't you think?

Also, there is a site tube on the side of our Riss Racing Oil Catch Can to show you exactly how much oil is being caught. Whenever you pop the hood, just take a look. If you need to empty it, take off the 2 bolts on the bracket and take off the drain plug at the bottom. Its almost too easy to have your car running more efficient!

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by Papito135

I check and or empty mines at every oil change which is every 5000 miles on 5w30 Mobil 1

Good system to follow. Never worry about over flow and you also get to see what is NOT running through your pipes! :w00t:

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by jkp1187

So are you saying that a catch can could reduce performance?

Our Catch can does the complete opposite. You'll gain performance in the long run.

[jkp1187]

Thanks for the clarification, Adam.

[Slickrick51586]

Originally Posted by Adam@Riss Racing

Welcome to the forums! But I wanted to help answer these questions people had as well. You say the ECU meters exactly how much oil has been routed into your intake? Not sure I'm understanding this correctly. The purpose of the oil catch can is to take away the excess oil residue/dirt/debris from your charge pipes/intercooler pipes/TURBO. The idea is to keep the oil out of the intake, which helps keep the intercooler running at maximum efficiency. Also, you make a good point with your last sentence. Imagine if you don't have a catch can and don't know when it would be full. That means you have an entire catch can amount of oil/debris/blow by running through your pipes and have no idea about it. Thats when performance gets hindered. Smoke comes out of the exhaust. Car runs dirty. If the biggest problem of an oil catch can is to drain it because it might overflow, I think the benefits outweight the negatives, don't you think?

Also, there is a site tube on the side of our Riss Racing Oil Catch Can to show you exactly how much oil is being caught. Whenever you pop the hood, just take a look. If you need to empty it, take off the 2 bolts on the bracket and take off the drain plug at the bottom. Its almost too easy to have your car running more efficient!

I was not clear enough in my explanation,

I was refering to the ECU metered air that passes from the crankcase to the intake, not the oil (the oil is a biproduct of removing the air pressure from the crank case), and explaining why BMW dosen't include a catch can. I agree that it is a good modification for aftermarket as long as you check it often.

Oh and the only thing getting in your catch can should be oil,air, and water from the condensation of the air.

If your catch can has "dirt/debris" that would mean that dirt and debris are coming out of your engines crankcase. If you see oily dirt in your intake that is the oil from the crankcase vent adhering to the dirt already in your intake. If dirt and debris are in your intake I would suggest changing the filter...

[mistermojorizin]

what can an oil catch can catch? j/k

[Papito135]

Just ordered the can and the kit.

[BMWDave]

Pardon my ignorance but i'm not sold on the whole necessity of a catch can on brand new engines. I've previously had turbo charged cars and the only time i ever collected any oil into my catch can was when the engine was worn (hence why i installed it in the first place). Once I rebuilt the engine, my catch can remained bone dry.

I'm certainly not an engineer but my understanding of oil blow-by is caused from the rings failing to seal into the cylinder bore and therefore allowing oil to "blow by" into the crankcase.

The fact that you guys have so much oil in your piping, as evidenced in your pictures, really concerns me as that says that your rings have failed to bed in properly.

I don't mean to discredit the need for your product, but i guess I'm confused as to why our brand new engines would be producing any blow by in the first place. I know when i got my car, and similarly to every new engine i've ever had, i ran in my engine, varying loads and speeds and keeping the rpm modest to ensure my rings bed in, even if they are tested on factory test benches.

If you could shed some light and correct me, i'm happy to listen. As I stated, i'm not an engineer/mechanic or similar so i'm potentially mis-informed.

Cheers

P.S. Keep up the good work, Riss are making some nice products and I look forward to maybe modding my car up with some once the bank recovers from the inital outlay price of my 135i :smile:

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by BMWDave

Pardon my ignorance but i'm not sold on the whole necessity of a catch can on brand new engines. I've previously had turbo charged cars and the only time i ever collected any oil into my catch can was when the engine was worn (hence why i installed it in the first place). Once I rebuilt the engine, my catch can remained bone dry.

I'm certainly not an engineer but my understanding of oil blow-by is caused from the rings failing to seal into the cylinder bore and therefore allowing oil to "blow by" into the crankcase.

The fact that you guys have so much oil in your piping, as evidenced in your pictures, really concerns me as that says that your rings have failed to bed in properly.

I don't mean to discredit the need for your product, but i guess I'm confused as to why our brand new engines would be producing any blow by in the first place. I know when i got my car, and similarly to every new engine i've ever had, i ran in my engine, varying loads and speeds and keeping the rpm modest to ensure my rings bed in, even if they are tested on factory test benches.

If you could shed some light and correct me, i'm happy to listen. As I stated, i'm not an engineer/mechanic or similar so i'm potentially mis-informed.

Cheers

P.S. Keep up the good work, Riss are making some nice products and I look forward to maybe modding my car up with some once the bank recovers from the inital outlay price of my 135i :smile:

No problem at all Dave. Thank you for the kind words. We will continue to bring new products out to this community as long as we can! I would recommend getting in contact with Andrew at SouthernBM. They've had a few 135i's in the shop. Maybe someone call pull off their charge pipes and take a pictures? This is our test 135i. 4k miles. We've seen 2 other examples of this so its not a one off. I encourage EVERYBODY to take off their charge pipes and inspect. I also put up a thread in the commercial section about different people who posted their own experiences with oil in the tracks.

[GemBm]

The truth is all vendors claim there product does this or that to get your money. You can find a expert anywere to agree with you for a price. I'm not saying this about cc but just in general. Honestly do you believe BMW would skimp on this even if it cost you a few extra dollars if it was needed?

[sp0nger]

you think riss racing or any other company makes thier profit off catch cans?

no... these guys know what there talking about.

[crzy4135i]

Originally Posted by BMWDave

Pardon my ignorance but i'm not sold on the whole necessity of a catch can on brand new engines. I've previously had turbo charged cars and the only time i ever collected any oil into my catch can was when the engine was worn (hence why i installed it in the first place). Once I rebuilt the engine, my catch can remained bone dry.

I'm certainly not an engineer but my understanding of oil blow-by is caused from the rings failing to seal into the cylinder bore and therefore allowing oil to "blow by" into the crankcase.

The fact that you guys have so much oil in your piping, as evidenced in your pictures, really concerns me as that says that your rings have failed to bed in properly.

I don't mean to discredit the need for your product, but i guess I'm confused as to why our brand new engines would be producing any blow by in the first place. I know when i got my car, and similarly to every new engine i've ever had, i ran in my engine, varying loads and speeds and keeping the rpm modest to ensure my rings bed in, even if they are tested on factory test benches.

If you could shed some light and correct me, i'm happy to listen. As I stated, i'm not an engineer/mechanic or similar so i'm potentially mis-informed.

Cheers

P.S. Keep up the good work, Riss are making some nice products and I look forward to maybe modding my car up with some once the bank recovers from the inital outlay price of my 135i :smile:

It depends on how they designed the area where the vent hose is connected to the engine. I'm not familiar with this particular engine's pvc setup but if it has a vent connection to the valve cover it needs to have a very good internal baffle. Otherwise, the valvetrain in the cylinder head will throw a slight amount of oil up that will get sucked into the vent pipe.. and end up in your intercooler. It doesn't have to be blow-by.

My S4 had three vent hoses that came off the engine and connected together.. one from the center area of the block and one from each valve cover. The valve covers had a known baffle issue that caused the messy oil issue.

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by Megbm

The truth is all vendors claim there product does this or that to get your money. You can find a expert anywere to agree with you for a price. I'm not saying this about cc but just in general. Honestly do you believe BMW would skimp on this even if it cost you a few extra dollars if it was needed?

Hi Megbm,

Just for the record, we are not a vendor with just a claim. This is the reason I would love for everybody to inspect the charge pipe themselves. If we are selling a product that doesn't work, that will be public very quickly. There are a ton of threads saying "I think it won't work, or probably won't work." But the truth of the matter is, everybody should check their own cars and make their own decisions. I know this for a fact because its been proven 100% of the times we've done inspections/customers done inspections. You can quote me on this as well. "There will be oil caked in the charge pipes." There are not many turbo cars/if any that come standard with oil catch cans. They will be more efficient for our cars and also give longevity to your turbo's and intercooler.

[Adam@Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by sp0nger

you think riss racing or any other company makes thier profit off catch cans?

no... these guys know what there talking about.

Thank you! We come from an extensive turbo background so we know the fundamentals of what will be good for our cars! :thumbup:

[AussieRacer]

Adam, with the most recent photo with oil in the diverter, did the car have an oil catch can already installed?

[BMWDave]

Thanks for your replies Adam and Crazy4135i. I appreciate your answers. I'll be sure to have a look at my charge pipe when i can next be bothered taking it apart. My car is fairly low km's still and isn't a daily driver nor track car so i'm not too worried about this issue currently but if oil is found, a RR catch can (in black) will be ordered :smile:

[Papito135]

Originally Posted by Megbm

The truth is all vendors claim there product does this or that to get your money. You can find a expert anywere to agree with you for a price. I'm not saying this about cc but just in general. Honestly do you believe BMW would skimp on this even if it cost you a few extra dollars if it was needed?

All automakers skimp on this. Get the catch can and you'll see the oil it catches. Without it, all that oil will be in your intake track.

[GemBm]

Originally Posted by sp0nger

you think riss racing or any other company makes thier profit off catch cans?

no... these guys know what there talking about.

No not all of it but some. I thought vendors were in business to make a profit off of the items they sell. Is that or any of the products advertised on this site free? For the record I'm not bashing RR this product or any product it's your money. I'm going to be devils advocate. My question is it necessary will the amount of oil cause you engine to fail in the long run? If items like these help protect the engine leave it on when you get your car serviced. Let these vendors like DINAN does cover your warranty if BMW voids it.

I'm just not one of those conspiracy theorist that believes BMW wants their cars to break down as soon as they are out of warranty. Here in Germany it's two years unlimited mileage that's it and no free services. before anything else BMW was a engine company. The master mechanic at the dealership where I go (over 35 years of experience) told me you don't need it. He said you can drive around with football gear on too it would probably make you safer but is it necessary? The key is regular maintenance IMHOP. Hey you never know I can be wrong.

[Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by Megbm

The master mechanic at the dealership where I go (over 35 years of experience) told me you don't need it. He said you can drive around with football gear on too it would probably make you safer but is it necessary? The key is regular maintenance IMHOP. Hey you never know I can be wrong.

Well your mechanic I'm sure knows what hes talking about. But a simple reply to this is you don't NEED an air filter. But to protect your motor you should probably have one don't you think? If you don't believe that you need a catch can its very simple. Go under the hood of your car. Take off your intake and remove your diverter valve piping. It's very simple should take you about 15 min. If you need help give us a call we will walk you though it. Make sure you have a clean rag handy to clean the oil out. I'm so positive there is oil in ALL of the pipes that I'm willing to let 5 local cars come down. We will remove the pipe. If there is no oil we will pay for a dyno or give you $150 cash :drinking:

[GemBm]

No need I'm not saying there is no oil present or your product is bad. I believe it does what it was design to do. When or if this turns out to be a problem later on down the road I'm sure someone will sue BMW and force them to fix it. I owned a VW that had the sludge problem (1.8t) and they had to repair it even though I was out of warranty. That being said who knows I might order one myself since I buy my cars and tend to keep them for more than five years. Plus I already change the oil more often than they recommend! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

[Riss Racing]

Originally Posted by Megbm

No need I'm not saying there is no oil present or your product is bad. I believe it does what it was design to do. When or if this turns out to be a problem later on down the road I'm sure someone will sue BMW and force them to fix it. I owned a VW that had the sludge problem (1.8t) and they had to repair it even though I was out of warranty. That being said who knows I might order one myself since I buy my cars and tend to keep them for more than five years. Plus I already change the oil more often than they recommend! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Same too you :drinking:

[Papito135]

Here is a picture of my catch can on my GTO