Oil Catch tank on 4.2
Discussion
Has anyone fitted a catch tank on a 4.2?
I cant be the only person who has experienced oil running out and down the air inlet pipes onto the front grill. so next track day i intend on having a catch tank fitted to help relieve the pressure!
Good or bad idea?
Just wanted to know any feedback on whether i should fit one or not.
Thanks
Peter
I cant be the only person who has experienced oil running out and down the air inlet pipes onto the front grill. so next track day i intend on having a catch tank fitted to help relieve the pressure!
Good or bad idea?
Just wanted to know any feedback on whether i should fit one or not.
Thanks
Peter
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but you may have a knackered engine if it's alot of oil dripping out through the front intake. mine did that 2 years ago and it was a rebuild job. i would get it checked before you drive it again. I hope yours isnt that serious however-good luck.
To the best of my knowledge the oil catch is just to releive the built up pressure from harder driving, like on trackdays, i overfilled last time which didnt help 
The engine has been fully rebuilt 5k miles ago so i know its sound in that respect, just want to sus out any opinions on what the catch tank is likely to do! or not do.
Why would it be important to vent the tank back to air intake? how does that balance the pressure?
The engine has been fully rebuilt 5k miles ago so i know its sound in that respect, just want to sus out any opinions on what the catch tank is likely to do! or not do.
Why would it be important to vent the tank back to air intake? how does that balance the pressure?
Hi,
Thinking of the best way to do this at the moment on mine. Nitro cerb has a Mocal oil catch tank to go on his but he's lost his air con to make room for it. I'm thinking of modifying a cossie aftermarket separater tank to do the job. Where to fit it and make it look right is the problem at the moment. They're alloy cylinders with internal baffles to separate the oil from the air. The cossie one drains the oil back to the sump. I think this is a bit questionable so I'd probably add a drain valve and some sort of sight glass similar to the Mocal unit.
Did wonder if the ajp would benefit from improved crankcase ventalation, maybe a couple of breather pipes from the rear of the rocker covers would lower the crankcase pressure???
Rich.
Thinking of the best way to do this at the moment on mine. Nitro cerb has a Mocal oil catch tank to go on his but he's lost his air con to make room for it. I'm thinking of modifying a cossie aftermarket separater tank to do the job. Where to fit it and make it look right is the problem at the moment. They're alloy cylinders with internal baffles to separate the oil from the air. The cossie one drains the oil back to the sump. I think this is a bit questionable so I'd probably add a drain valve and some sort of sight glass similar to the Mocal unit.
Did wonder if the ajp would benefit from improved crankcase ventalation, maybe a couple of breather pipes from the rear of the rocker covers would lower the crankcase pressure???
Rich.
Oil carry over is a buy product of large amounts of crankcase gas movement and oil mist caused by movement of parts in the engine.
Not always a bad thing if over filled or using high engine speed etc say on a track etc, high engine speeds promotes increased crank whip and hihg corner speeds can cause surging.
A catch can will help prevent carry over and any potential damage that this will cause.
However, it's important that crankcase gases are 'sucked' up by the engine as the acids etc that build up in gas can cause damage to internal engine parts. It's ok for track use to vent to atmosphere but for general day to day driving it's better for it to be burnt off by the engine.
Not always a bad thing if over filled or using high engine speed etc say on a track etc, high engine speeds promotes increased crank whip and hihg corner speeds can cause surging.
A catch can will help prevent carry over and any potential damage that this will cause.
However, it's important that crankcase gases are 'sucked' up by the engine as the acids etc that build up in gas can cause damage to internal engine parts. It's ok for track use to vent to atmosphere but for general day to day driving it's better for it to be burnt off by the engine.
Ressurecting an old post..... After looking at the pathetic attemp by TVR to create a much needed oil seperator in the drivers side airbox (GRP cup stuffed with wire wool) and also as a cure for my dipstick popping off after a hard drive, I've commisioned a custom air/oil seperator from ms-engineering which I hope to fit next weekend.
The tank will bolt onto the Aircon pump mounting plate (so you would need no aircon to fit it as I'm going to!) and will have a single feed directly from the timing cover outlet. Internal baffles will catch the oil in the crankcase gases which will drop to the bottom of the tank, and there will be two exits, on each side, going into the airboxes. As a result, any residual oil in the gas will be spread equally between the two banks (I had a look inside the drivers side airbox and saw traces of oil on the throttle bodies, mostly toward the front two cylinders. As there are two exits, the 'pull' on the crankcase will be higher and should resist the dispstick popping out. I'm also going to put a clip on the dipstick to keep it seated.
After doing some research, it seems nearly all race cars have catch tanks/oil seperators for exactly this reason, so as the Cerb is basically a racing car it should too. Also I might be wrong, but I think the single 22mm exit might be marginal at best, a possible effect of the AJP being designed as a dry sumped engine and thus not requiring more breather ports.
All the parts are arriving next week, so should have it all plumbed in by Sun and will post pics as usual. But the main reason I'm posting is the 'kit' only costs £65 delivered, so if you are interested, get in touch with sm-engineering as they have the technical drawings I submitted.
I always love the custom made stuff!!
The tank will bolt onto the Aircon pump mounting plate (so you would need no aircon to fit it as I'm going to!) and will have a single feed directly from the timing cover outlet. Internal baffles will catch the oil in the crankcase gases which will drop to the bottom of the tank, and there will be two exits, on each side, going into the airboxes. As a result, any residual oil in the gas will be spread equally between the two banks (I had a look inside the drivers side airbox and saw traces of oil on the throttle bodies, mostly toward the front two cylinders. As there are two exits, the 'pull' on the crankcase will be higher and should resist the dispstick popping out. I'm also going to put a clip on the dipstick to keep it seated.
After doing some research, it seems nearly all race cars have catch tanks/oil seperators for exactly this reason, so as the Cerb is basically a racing car it should too. Also I might be wrong, but I think the single 22mm exit might be marginal at best, a possible effect of the AJP being designed as a dry sumped engine and thus not requiring more breather ports.
All the parts are arriving next week, so should have it all plumbed in by Sun and will post pics as usual. But the main reason I'm posting is the 'kit' only costs £65 delivered, so if you are interested, get in touch with sm-engineering as they have the technical drawings I submitted.
I always love the custom made stuff!!
Edited by longbow on Monday 19th November 11:06
Nice one Windsor, can you post or email me their contact details, sounds like another 'winter addition' to me, will tie it in with my Accumate installation, after the new fuel pump, pressure regulator, etc. etc. 
I have a/c but I'll just have to adapt it.
Tim
PS: Still have your torque wrench here!
I have a/c but I'll just have to adapt it.
Tim
PS: Still have your torque wrench here!
Edited by TT Tim on Sunday 18th November 10:48
Hey Tim, the website is www.sm-engineering.co.uk and I'm sure they can modify my design to squeeze around the aircon compressor. As well as the tank I'm having a pair of 22mm OD flanged pipe sections that will tap through the front of the airboxes, with 45 deg slash cut tips to minimise the turbulence at the end of the pipe.
Don't worry about the wrench - it only has one possible use anyway and if I need it back then things have gone horribly wrong, so fingers crossed. Keep it as long as you need..............
Don't worry about the wrench - it only has one possible use anyway and if I need it back then things have gone horribly wrong, so fingers crossed. Keep it as long as you need..............
Edited by longbow on Sunday 18th November 15:20
TT Tim said:
Nice one Windsor, can you post or email me their contact details, sounds like another 'winter addition' to me, will tie it in with my Accumate installation, after the new fuel pump, pressure regulator, etc. etc.
I have a/c but I'll just have to adapt it.
Tim
PS: Still have your torque wrench here!
Tim, if you get anywhere with this you might want to see if more of the Cerb audience want one. I for one would be interested, so if you are getting the engineering company to manufacture this, count me in for one.I have a/c but I'll just have to adapt it.
Tim
PS: Still have your torque wrench here!
Edited by TT Tim on Sunday 18th November 10:48
Cheers
Mr F
Woo hoo... Job took around 3 hours in total and mega pleased with the results....
First start off with the standard item (gulp)
This is all the parts you need;
The adaptors that mount in the air boxes;
And the finished setup;
Also, replaced the o ring on the dipstick and it stayed put after a good thrash, so no worries over that.
I can't believe I didn't do this sooner to be honest, very happy with it and a big thumbs up to sm-engineering who were excellent, and very cheap!
First start off with the standard item (gulp)
This is all the parts you need;
The adaptors that mount in the air boxes;
And the finished setup;
Also, replaced the o ring on the dipstick and it stayed put after a good thrash, so no worries over that.
I can't believe I didn't do this sooner to be honest, very happy with it and a big thumbs up to sm-engineering who were excellent, and very cheap!
Edited by longbow on Friday 4th April 20:42
another a/c car needing one here... let me know if you find out anything. 
Yes, did consider it and you could do it either way. My thoughts were though that there is quite a lot of blow-by at high rpm under full load (its a racing V8 venting through a single 22mm outlet!), and so any 'pull' that could be created from the intake would reduce the pressure in the crankcase which apparently is better for the engine oil seals etc. I ran a K&N filter on the outlet on the timing cover and it didn't take long to oil up the area around it, but I guess if you routed it via the catch tank this would solve that problem. I've stuffed the can full of stainless steel scourer pads too, to catch even more oil in the gases and I unplugged the hose from both intakes yesterday and there was no identifiable trace of oil in them which means its doing its job. A catch can is more for track use, where rpms are high for long periods - I'll be giving the car a good thrashing on Wednesday at North Weald, so hopefully will see then how much oil gets pulled through into the can. So far very little, which is nice.....
Thanks Windsor.
Feeding back to the inlets it is then.
What are you upto at North Weald?
My only visits have been in March when it is colder than the Arctic!
I spent the whole day hiding in my tow car, only venturing out to try and drive a sprint course that was constantly changing due to the hurricane force winds moving the cones all over the place.
Tim
Feeding back to the inlets it is then.
What are you upto at North Weald?
My only visits have been in March when it is colder than the Arctic!
I spent the whole day hiding in my tow car, only venturing out to try and drive a sprint course that was constantly changing due to the hurricane force winds moving the cones all over the place.
Tim
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