I messed up, what is the damage done?

[locktyght]

Preface, I put a catch can on my car over a year ago, since then I have run multiple autoX events and drive pretty spirited on the street, never had a drop in the catch can. I live in a stable climate, so I didnt think anything of it. (most of what I have read about full catch cans is from colder climates due to condensate)

Part 1-Yesterday, I took my car to a track night at NOLA motor sports park, running the 2.75mi configuration. The first 3 laps, I was following a guy in a miata who had been to the track before and knows the line, so I was driving hard to keep up and learn the line, then on the straight, he pointed me past, so it was wide open track from there. I got another complete lap in giving the car all that it had, and into turn 1 it went into limp mode I looked at my gauges and my oil temp (digital) was showing 270, so OH SHIT mode kicks in and I get it to the pits. We get a fan and cool it down.

While standing around I notice a sheen if you will, on the drivers front inner fender, seems oily........convince myself its not oil, too far away from anything that has oil.

After cooling it down, the stabilitrack warning is still on, so I disconnected the Neg terminal on the battery and got it cleared. Car started up, all seems well.

Part 2- Run half throttle for 2 laps at the back of field, goes into limp mode, repeat fix from above. temp never got above 230???

Part 3-Paced laps are offered for anyone in the paddock, I decide to go ride the pace laps to check the status of my baby, leave pit lane, back to limp mode instantly. Repeat the above processes, but notice more oil this time, and see a drop on my washer fluid bottle ( I have CAI inc Cold air).

Undo the clamps, pull the filter and tube, and the tube is COVERED in oil, and the filter is saturated as well, thus coating the MAF, and causing limp mode issue. Remove catch can hoses, place on OEM PCV U bend hose that I still had in the trunk.

Part 4- leave track, limp mode. limp to parts store, clean MAF, drive 2 hours home, no problems.

If you are still reading thank you. now to the questions

if the check valve on the catch can line is backwards, or clean/dirty sides hooked up wrong, would it cause that much pressure to blow oil back through the intake/TB, or is it likely that it was blowing into the line on the elbow of the cold air tube (which comes from the pcv on passenger side I think)?

would the above issue cause the oil temp to hit 270? that one really worries me, especially since it was first session out

what damage have I done/not done with regards to force feeding oil into the intake manifold?

any other thoughts from the experts?

[Soybeanrice]

Your oil temp gauge is not a true reading. Instead, it is an estimated temp based on some factors that GM thought were relevant. So going by your estimated oil temp is probably not a good idea for future use.
I use coolant, however I'm wondering if the coolant temp is also estimated.

Upside, your engine is probably fine .. It ate some oil. Get some new lines if you want to use that catch can again. My opinion? Theyre pointless.

Edit: I've had to pull off a track before because I had an overheat and my engine is entirely fine.. just had to replace the spark plugs because you could tell the ceramic portion was brittle from the overheat.

[1Coopgt]

I would keep an eye on your seals for leaks . Plugging off the PVC system increases crank case pressure which can cause problems if not caught in time.

[locktyght]

Originally Posted by Soybeanrice

Your oil temp gauge is not a true reading. Instead, it is an estimated temp based on some factors that GM thought were relevant. So going by your estimated oil temp is probably not a good idea for future use.
I use coolant, however I'm wondering if the coolant temp is also estimated.

Upside, your engine is probably fine .. It ate some oil. Get some new lines if you want to use that catch can again. My opinion? Theyre pointless.

Edit: I've had to pull off a track before because I had an overheat and my engine is entirely fine.. just had to replace the spark plugs because you could tell the ceramic portion was brittle from the overheat.

Coolant was fine at just over 200.

I'm thinking that the check valve in the catch can system created pressure to the PCV hose and blew back into the intake tube

[christianchevell]

Not collecting any oil in the catch can you would think you have noticed it earlier not just though your car was special..... A good catch can will capture a few ounces over a few thousand miles...... Unless you are supercharged a catch can does not usually have a one way valve/ back flow also. Though there is a small amount of pressure but only enough to be like a fart...so you may have fouled things a little......



The line that goes to the top of a catch can comes from the bottom port tube exiting just in the back of the throttle body, the top has the filter media to form oil droplets from the vapor. The line that comes out of the catch can on the side goes to the top port tube exiting behind the throttle body and returns the now filtered blow by into the intake stream on top. Good Luck, your oil temp does sound high. My car runs best with oil around 200-210 as far as engine sound and ideal area for temp just driving.

[paul84043]

You've never had a drop in your CC? That in itself is a red flag that something is hooked up wrong. Even under normal driving conditions you should get a few ounces every 5000 miles or so.
In DI engines catch cans are a valuable and affordable add on.

[qcman]

While 270 is high for the oil it would be fine at that still especially if it's full synthetic.

[Drgamble76]

Don't want to derail the thread, but I have been wondering about that track for sometime. I live pretty close to NOLA Motorsports and was wondering what you thought of the track? How much do they hit you up for to run it?

[yzark99]

Oil in the intake is from the "clean" side of the PCV line. Oil migrates up this line at WOT. Since you have been racing your car, you might want to install a trap on that line also. The OEM one is pretty much worthless at stopping any oil.

[Soybeanrice]

Originally Posted by yzark99

Oil in the intake is from the "clean" side of the PCV line. Oil migrates up this line at WOT. Since you have been racing your car, you might want to install a trap on that line also. The OEM one is pretty much worthless at stopping any oil.

This is offtopic, but did you put the intake spacer as one of your top LFX mods? I got one from jacfab when he first made them, but I never got to test it out. How is it? Butt dyno approved?

[Camaro Dude]

Originally Posted by locktyght

Preface, I put a catch can on my car over a year ago, since then I have run multiple autoX events and drive pretty spirited on the street, never had a drop in the catch can. I live in a stable climate, so I didnt think anything of it. (most of what I have read about full catch cans is from colder climates due to condensate)

Part 1-Yesterday, I took my car to a track night at NOLA motor sports park, running the 2.75mi configuration. The first 3 laps, I was following a guy in a miata who had been to the track before and knows the line, so I was driving hard to keep up and learn the line, then on the straight, he pointed me past, so it was wide open track from there. I got another complete lap in giving the car all that it had, and into turn 1 it went into limp mode I looked at my gauges and my oil temp (digital) was showing 270, so OH SHIT mode kicks in and I get it to the pits. We get a fan and cool it down.

While standing around I notice a sheen if you will, on the drivers front inner fender, seems oily........convince myself its not oil, too far away from anything that has oil.

After cooling it down, the stabilitrack warning is still on, so I disconnected the Neg terminal on the battery and got it cleared. Car started up, all seems well.

Part 2- Run half throttle for 2 laps at the back of field, goes into limp mode, repeat fix from above. temp never got above 230???

Part 3-Paced laps are offered for anyone in the paddock, I decide to go ride the pace laps to check the status of my baby, leave pit lane, back to limp mode instantly. Repeat the above processes, but notice more oil this time, and see a drop on my washer fluid bottle ( I have CAI inc Cold air).

Undo the clamps, pull the filter and tube, and the tube is COVERED in oil, and the filter is saturated as well, thus coating the MAF, and causing limp mode issue. Remove catch can hoses, place on OEM PCV U bend hose that I still had in the trunk.

Part 4- leave track, limp mode. limp to parts store, clean MAF, drive 2 hours home, no problems.

If you are still reading thank you. now to the questions

if the check valve on the catch can line is backwards, or clean/dirty sides hooked up wrong, would it cause that much pressure to blow oil back through the intake/TB, or is it likely that it was blowing into the line on the elbow of the cold air tube (which comes from the pcv on passenger side I think)?

would the above issue cause the oil temp to hit 270? that one really worries me, especially since it was first session out

what damage have I done/not done with regards to force feeding oil into the intake manifold?

any other thoughts from the experts?

Unless I missed it, which model catch can are you using?

[Camaro Dude]

Originally Posted by yzark99

Oil in the intake is from the "clean" side of the PCV line. Oil migrates up this line at WOT. Since you have been racing your car, you might want to install a trap on that line also. The OEM one is pretty much worthless at stopping any oil.

Well since the OEM one, does install on the clean side, and not the dirty side, how have you concluded that it does not collect oil at WOT and/or @ high G turns?

[yzark99]

This is offtopic, but did you put the intake spacer as one of your top LFX mods? I got one from jacfab when he first made them, but I never got to test it out. How is it? Butt dyno approved?

I can't say if I would put it in my top 3 mods. While it did make the exhaust and idle louder, I installed it too soon after upgrading to hi-flo cats, so I have no idea if it made any noticeable difference in torque.

Well since the OEM one, does install on the clean side, and not the dirty side, how have you concluded that it does not collect oil at WOT and/or @ high G turns?

While this is my experience with the V6 LFX engine, I am sure that GM took shortcuts with designs on the other Camaro engines also. I am pretty sure that this same scenario is how the excess oil found it's way into the OP's intake.

The OEM trap on the LFX engine is a bulge in the driver's side hose that connects between the intake and the PCV inlet on the rear of the engine. I have never raced my car, and only do WOT pulls occasionally. If I hadn't been modding and evaluating things in the intake area, I may have never noticed this problem. After I installed my CAI, I then installed the race scoop, my custom wash bottle, and black hose clamps over several months. Each of these required the removal of the intake piping between the filter and the throttle body.

I started to notice an oily film in the CAI intake pipe, and traced it to the clean side PCV connection in the CAI tubing. Since it has been proven that the air flow can reverse at WOT and flow from the engine connection on the clean side into the intake (as well as on the dirty side at the same time), this meant that the OEM trap was not stopping the oil fumes coming from that area. Since there is no way to drain the oil that the clean-side trap catches, it must have been saturated and allowing the fumes to pass it. They were condensing back into oil droplets before they got to the CAI. This is one of the reasons why GM puts an oil trap well behind the throttle body on the LFX engine.

This oil problem didn't happen immediately, but it did happen eventually. If I had been racing my car, the build-up of oil in the intake could have been much higher, and have easily flowed back into the filter during high G turns. On a V8 engine, there is that much more flow through the PCV system, and more oil vapor to contend with.

I installed a second smaller catch can to be able to drain this excess PCV contaminated oil from the clean-side line before it could make it into my intake. Others have installed the Apex or the new 1LE clean-side separator to essentially do the same thing.

[Ccl412]

We did have a member who's under warranty repairs were denied by GM because he had a catch can system on his car