DIY Guide: The 'elephant hose CCV (catch-can) mod'

[NoSmokeNoPoke]

Anybody know what size the plug/bung needs to be?

If its 19mm like the hose, would one of these be ok?

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649

19mm hose, 25mm rubber 'cover' and 2x jubilee clamps. Sorted

[NoSmokeNoPoke]

[Ryy.P]

looks i'm gunna do this pikey mod to, why not! done the egr mine aswell do this to save anymore crap getting thrown threw my fmic and pipework!

[Chris Coates]

It's a good idea - and definitely works.

[niceyellow vrs]

Just done mine this morning. There's been oil leaking from the top 90 degree boost hose, joint is far to loose for my liking so I've ordered a new one. Thought I do this to prevent there being anything to leak out. Had a rummage in my garage and came across a handy bit of silicone pipe, that I used to have on my Octavia, which was the perfect length. Also found a blanking plug. 10 minutes, job done, no monies spent

Would probably preferred a black hose to keep it a bit more descreet, but meh, it's done.

[Ben90]

I've just picked up all the bits i need too, I decided to go for this catch can, some 19mm silocone hose and a wee filter. Total cost around £33, but judging by the amount of oily crap around my IC pipes it's definitely money well spent!

Does the catch can I just linked contain any kind of filtering material? If not I can prepare some but it would be good to know before it arrives!

Cheers

[Ben90]

The catch can is in. Fitting it was fairly easy, I went for the airbox fitting as it helps the pipework flow better and looks tidier overall. I used a walking stick rubber end cap to seal off the inlet side.

The catch can came with no filtering material inside so I picked up some wire wool and set about 'whittling' down a short length of pipe so it would fit into the 'inlet' of the catch can to let the oily air swirl around in the can before going through the wire wool filter to the outlet at the top (or bottom, as above it is pictured upside down) The blue hose comes from the engine.

I then modified an old Coke can to prop up the filter material so it wouldn't fall down. Now it works like a proper oil separator!

Edited 5 January, 2013 by Ben90

[MattH]

Can anyone link me to the pipe they used if bought online?

All the ones I found that I'd think suitable are costing £20 for 2m worth.

Ta.

[vRS19TD]

This is the pipe i used...

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=290610315267&index=4&nav=SEARCH&nid=87524291946

[Ben90]

That's the pipe I used too, it stretches over the 22mm CCV joint on top of the engine no problem. I even used the existing spring clamp.

[DSS199]

What's the advantage of the wire wool in the tank? Is it essential

[Ben90]

To allow the oil vapour to settle on the wire and filter it out before leaving the can, that's the theory anyway. I checked mine after 400 miles and it was about a 1/5 full of water and the outlet pipe was somehow clogged with oily emulsion, even with the wool :think: Not sure what happened there, when I get some time I might refine it or just pipe it to the floor like everybody else has and do away with the can.

Eitherway I'm amazed that after just 400 miles the amount of crap that gets forced back through the intake! I guess the water vapour isn't bad, probably steam cleans the internals! I'd rather it all gone though since the only reason it's recirculated is to satisfy some emissions law on the manufacturers, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the MOT.

Edited 17 January, 2013 by Ben90

[DSS199]

Where is the best location for the venting of the gasses, all my attempts have resulted in a hint of the smell coming from the air vents when turned on.

So far I have placed the pipe in the wheel arch (as seen on here) and in front if the radiator (sane as on here) both results in the bad smell in the cabin.

I was planning on venting under the car but my jack has broke, was just curious about if I'm the only one with smell issues.

[Ben90]

I got the oily smell as well, wasn't very pleasant! I vented mine behind the engine under the body. So long as the vapour can't simply rise back up into the engine bay, out of the bonnet and then sucked into the cabin through the scuttle panel. I found that a 1m length of hose is just enough to run down the right hand side of the engine and down just beyond the bulkhead. No more smell and no more can emptying. Wish I hadn't spent the money on the can now, I guess I saw so many good installs on here with no complaints about smell I thought It could only be a good thing!

That was just my experience though.

[pikachu24]

Looking to do this next weekend.

Going to buy a catch can:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-ALUMINUM-ROUND-ENGINE-OIL-CATCH-RESERVIOR-CAN-TANK-BLUE-AIR-BREATHER-/350662580308?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51a51e5854

I need to ask a stupid question though, theres 2 intake bits for pipe to go into, does one pipe go in from the crank breather on top of the engine and the other from the pipe that connects would connect at the T section which is normally blocked off with the elephant mod?

[Ben90]

Yep. Just be aware that the item you linked will be coming from China and will take a while to get to you.

[mr rooney]

Just done the elephant mod today! Used a regulation walking stick rubber end (in black ) with a Id of 24mm giving a perfect fit on inlet manifold.

Used 1 meter of black hose with 19mm id for a perfect fit on crank case vent. Ran pipe down to sub frame.

5 min job . Not been out for a run yet so hope it makes some sort of improvement.

[mr rooney]

This is the pic of my 5 mins of hard labour lol

[Ben90]

Haha nice job mate, exactly what I did. Even used the existing spring clip! Ultimate pikey mod. You may notice a bit of steam if you look underneath but it shouldn't come to much. In fact it may well slowly coat the bottom of the car in oil and keep it corrosion free!

Next job when it warms up is to clean the intercooler and pipework out as they won't be getting dirty again anytime soon..

Edited 23 January, 2013 by Ben90

[mr rooney]

Thanks! Not sure what will happen to 125k miles worth of oil vapour in the pipe work and FMIC . It might just blow its self clean??

Im going to add a bottle of forte turbo cleaner into the fuel on my next run out to help things along.{turbo benefit)

I've used millers diesel additive from zero miles so this mod will hopefully help keep my engines internsls even cleaner.

Just bought some diesel rhino additive to try too but not used it yet.

[Ben90]

It may do, but the only place it'll end up is downstream in the turbo and cat etc so best to keep it out. I think it's worth doing. Not in these temperatures though :think: I'ma wait til it warms up.

Edited 24 January, 2013 by Ben90

[pikachu24]

Another quick one. does the wire wool just sit in the bottom of the catch tank?

[Ben90]

The photo I posted was taken from with the bottom of the can taken off, so the wool is at the top, for some reason my design was flawed and oil got past anyway, maybe it just needs tighter packing. Another guy on here put his wool in the foot of a pair of tights (ask your girl first )

Just think that somewhere between the inlet and outlet there should be filtering material, easier said than done since they're so close together! I ended up bodging a bit of whittled-down pipe to the inlet of the can to distance them, then stuffed the wool in between.

Edited 25 January, 2013 by Ben90

[pikachu24]

fair enough i'll see what i can do. weird how they dont make them with a filter inside

[RKelby]

Just fitted it all up on my car, I'm not expecting to see huge benefits. Happy now that the engine will not be sucking through all of the crap that was being fed into my intake