oil catch tank - what type

[s2t]

When looking for an appropriate oil catch tank for my 2 litre Zetec breathers from crankcase and cam cover, not dry sumped do I need a tank with or without an additional breather filer?
Thnaks

[Justin S]

You still need to let it breath from the tank, as you done really want to feed it back into the inlet manifold. Zetecs arent really heavy breathers, never got much out of the tank in my Westfield. All depends on how you wish to plumb it in.

[snowmuncher]

Saikou Michi are pretty good

Probably does one to fit your requirements

[stevieturbo]

All a breather tank has to do is catch any deposits and allow air to pass without letting any liquid or other deposits escape.

As to the orientation of any inlets and outlets that does depend on your application.
But about 99% of the crap you see on egay, are simply that. Crap. Some dont even breathe. Some have no baffles, some have far too small pipes.

And ideally you want it to return any deposits back into the sump, below the level of the oil for a zero maintenance system.

A custom made tank wouldnt likely cost that much more than an off the shelf item from most fabricators.

[s2t]

stevieturbo said:

All a breather tank has to do is catch any deposits and allow air to pass without letting any liquid or other deposits escape.

As to the orientation of any inlets and outlets that does depend on your application.
But about 99% of the crap you see on egay, are simply that. Crap. Some dont even breathe. Some have no baffles, some have far too small pipes.

And ideally you want it to return any deposits back into the sump, below the level of the oil for a zero maintenance system.

A custom made tank wouldnt likely cost that much more than an off the shelf item from most fabricators.

A bit confused now, why would I wish to have baffles in the tank.
To my mind it is just to catch the oil (drips) that would normally drip onto the garage floor/road/track, for the amount of oil I expect to loose (engine done 3k miles) then I dont think it necessary to return to sump

[garagewidow]

baffles are to promote the oil mist/vapour to condense back to liquid,meaning less oil goes back through the engine.

they should be called oil seperater tanks really.
mine drains back down the dipstick tube with no problems at all.

[stevieturbo]

s2t said:

A bit confused now, why would I wish to have baffles in the tank.
To my mind it is just to catch the oil (drips) that would normally drip onto the garage floor/road/track, for the amount of oil I expect to loose (engine done 3k miles) then I dont think it necessary to return to sump

A catch can must be vented otherwise it is just a useless lump of metal in your engine compartment. Oddly, much like most of these cheap crap catch cans you see on egay which are of no use whatsoever.

If it was just a sealed container, nothing would ever go into it.

[s2t]

stevieturbo said:

A catch can must be vented otherwise it is just a useless lump of metal in your engine compartment. Oddly, much like most of these cheap crap catch cans you see on egay which are of no use whatsoever.

If it was just a sealed container, nothing would ever go into it.

But I still dont understand the need for baffles

[snowmuncher]

saikoumichi.com said:

The more blow-by a catch can collects, the better it is. Things that increase the filtering ability are: internal baffles and mesh filters. I prefer the mesh filter technique because it has alot more surface area to help collect the fumes into droplets. A standard empty catch will catch some, but it is allowing more fumes to go straight thru because there is nothing obstructing the path of the fumes. Unfortunately, no catchcan will filter 100% of all blowby fumes, but our intent is to create a design that helps trap the majority!

hope that explains it

[stevieturbo]

s2t said:

But I still dont understand the need for baffles

if there were no baffles. Then any fluids that went into it, would fly straight back out again ! to where ever the vent is.

[s2t]

So is the purpose of an oil catch tank to catch dribbles or wholesale dumping of oil? If the latter then some of the 750ml ones advertised would just not do the job.
Perhaps mistakenly I had presumed it was the former hence my numpty questions

[stevieturbo]

s2t said:

So is the purpose of an oil catch tank to catch dribbles or wholesale dumping of oil? If the latter then some of the 750ml ones advertised would just not do the job.
Perhaps mistakenly I had presumed it was the former hence my numpty questions

Ive already explained the purpose.

It's to allow the engine to breathe, for air to escape but not oil or any other deposits that might escape. To do this it needs some form of oil/air separation. Whether by baffles, mesh, volume, whatever. If it is a catch only, then it must also have adequate volume to allow for collected deposits not interfering with the actual filtering ability of the can.

And as I also said, most of the stty stuff you see on egay are absolutely useless. But they are shiny and cheap, and for sale in the internet with a little sales blurb attached, so idiots will buy them.

[davepoth]

Ahem.