Oil Catch Cans- Did I Mess Up?

[Tscottok]

Hey MTC,

I have a 2022 EB AWD with 4k towing. I installed a pair of oil catch cans according to the Cuban Redneck DIY Guide (great info FYI).
However, I haven't seen much if any fluid in my cans and am worried I installed them wrong. Please let me know if I should re-do anything or if I stuck Maverick lottery and my engine/maintenance is just that good at holding pressures.

Background
Catch cans are designed to "catch" the oil, sludge, and other material that is released by the engine from blow-by. Essentially, this is where some of the pressure from normal combustion makes it past the piston rings and other mechanical seals. It builds up in the engine and is purged by a pair of Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV). These valves are connected to the intake so any purged gasses/material is run back through your cylinders as required by emission laws. (more info).

These purges are directly from the crankcase and valve cover of the engine. They contain a small amount of oil, and other material that will build up on valves and other components of your intake, possibly even the inter cooler tubes (not sure if it's reintroduced before/after the inter cooler). Normally, this sludge would be cleaned by the detergents and corrosive nature of gasoline going into the engine, but Mavericks are fully direct injection. This means the fuel is shot directly into the cylinders and there is only air (and PCV discharge) upstream of the valves.

Catch Cans are designed with baffles that "catch" (condense) this sludge vapor and hold it in a container so it doesn't make it back into the intake.


My Installation
Below are some pictures of how I installed mine. I put in 2 cans to separate the vacuum pressure created by the engine (Checkout the DIY guide to learn more). I even used brand new hose connectors for both cans as I kind of destroyed the old ones when getting them off. I followed the instructions pretty closely, but haven't had much if any material in over a year.

I run the truck pretty hard (towed ~3,300 lbs for ~2,000 miles) and my previous older cars that had cans produced a decent amount of liquid with much less stress. Both my cans have little to no liquid and just a little build up. Even the upper, low pressure can that's harder to mess doesn't seem to have any liquids. The cans do smell like something is going through them, and I added some steel wool to help the vapor stay in the can. I change my oil every 5,000 miles or less, used Prolong Engine treatment once @~1,500 miles, but don't think that would this great of an impact.

Because of the lack of fluid, I'm worried I did something wrong, or the vented vapors aren't making it or the can, or something else.


Pictures
Both cans look like this after running for about 15k miles

Steel Wool I added to 1 of the cans. Shows that SOMETHING is going into the can, even if it hasn't collected fluids.
I removed the steel wool from 1 of the cans, still no fluid.

Upper can
Not sure how I could have messed this 1 up, but it also has little to no fluid

Lower Can
Hard to see, but it's connected to the out/in sides of the front of the engine. This 1 was really tough to get the connecting parts on the hose.

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[Dodeboost]

I’ve had dual cans like yours on for over a year and haven’t caught anything either. I can also smell a fuel/oil smell when I open the cans up to check. On a few occasions, immediately after a 5-6 hr road trip I will check and there will be a tiny amount of liquid in the can, but next time I check it’s gone, like it’s re evaporating or something. There’s a little oil residue when I take the hose ends off the engine side but it hasn’t made it up to the cans yet. Makes me wonder how crucial catch cans are on these.

 

[Tscottok]

I’ve had dual cans like yours on for over a year and haven’t caught anything either. I can also smell a fuel/oil smell when I open the cans up to check. On a few occasions, immediately after a 5-6 hr road trip I will check and there will be a tiny amount of liquid in the can, but next time I check it’s gone, like it’s re evaporating or something. There’s a little oil residue when I take the hose ends off the engine side but it hasn’t made it up to the cans yet. Makes me wonder how crucial catch cans are on these.

Exactly! It could be that it has a lot of water and it's evaporating, but there still is very little.

On a side note, I had a 2012 Kia SX (direct injection 2.0 turbo, 275 hp, 50k miles) that I also put a catch can on. That thing picked up a good amount of liquid every gas fill up.
Obviously they are different engines and 1 is much older, but the cans really can work.

 

[Master Blaster]

There is a catch can already on the engine from the factory. Its bolted onto the side and the pcv tube comes out of it. Adding a second catch can is only going to be marginally useful if you always run at the redline, like in a racecar. Its also useful if you cracked a ring and have extreme blow-by. Also if you are not using the correct oil and have lots of volatiles in your oil, you will have more blow-by.
The bottom line is simple - its a marketing gimmick that does nothing for 99.9% of the drivers.

 

[Superg0]

Eagerly waiting for the .01% rebuttal

 

[Bwicka]

A lot of it depends on your climate and driving habits while on the boost.
Just keep monitoring .

 

[Bn1970]

There is a catch can already on the engine from the factory. Its bolted onto the side and the pcv tube comes out of it. Adding a second catch can is only going to be marginally useful if you always run at the redline, like in a racecar. Its also useful if you cracked a ring and have extreme blow-by. Also if you are not using the correct oil and have lots of volatiles in your oil, you will have more blow-by.
The bottom line is simple - its a marketing gimmick that does nothing for 99.9% of the drivers.

You're being too polite. Performance aftermarket automotive industry= very few genuinely good companies, rest are cretins who confidently spout absolute bullshit as if it's a scientific fact.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

There is a catch can already on the engine from the factory. Its bolted onto the side and the pcv tube comes out of it. Adding a second catch can is only going to be marginally useful if you always run at the redline, like in a racecar. Its also useful if you cracked a ring and have extreme blow-by. Also if you are not using the correct oil and have lots of volatiles in your oil, you will have more blow-by.
The bottom line is simple - its a marketing gimmick that does nothing for 99.9% of the drivers.

That would explain the relatively clean can shown by the OP. Is there a diagram or image of the factory arrangement? They seem to keep a lot of things kind of "close to the chest" so to speak.

I have seen plenty of people gathering all kinds of crud in their catch cans on other vehicles, perhaps with older designs that didn't have this feature. Makes a lot of sense to get as much of that crap out as you can on a direct injection motor to keep intake valve fouling to a minimum.

 

[surfstar]

Eagerly waiting for the .01% rebuttal

ProLong

(as in, if you believe in prolong, you'll believe in catch cans - proof be damned)

 

[CurtisB]

Ok, I'll dive in. In my 2015 Prius, the engines design (and connecting tubes) allowed for massive sludge to be forced back into the intake port and causing this excess to pool in the throttle body. This would cause an occassional "knock" when the ICE would fire up. Each one of the knock situations would loosen the head and eventually cause a head casket leak. Because of how the pcv tubing was routed, the way to avoid this was to install a OCC (oil catch can). The OCC would suck out the sludge that would build up in the throttle body.

I did this on my 2015 Prius as a precaution. This problem was specific to the Prius for 2010-2014 only, but I did it anyway in my 2015. Since 2016, Toyota re-routed the pcv system to eliminate this issue.

When I heard about the Maverick being a hybrid, the FIRST thing I researched was the engine. I read that this engine has been used in the Ford focus. I did not see in my readings any issues with the engine knocking or having the need to have an OCC installed.

Having said all this, in my Prius, I picked up sludge between oil changes. If the OP hasn't seen sludge in his, it may be due to the Hybrid Maverick having its own OCC installed, or, the engine simply doesn't collect it the way the 2010-2014 Prius engine did.

I don't know if this is different for the Ecoboost crowd.

 

[Tscottok]

Yeah, I've personally had catch cans pick up a lot of liquid in previous cars. It was sludgy and hard to wipe out of the catch can. At least some of that will end up on your valves, intake manifold, and intercooler.

We'll see in few years if it's enough to make a difference on this engine, or if something else goes first.
----


My fear, is that the hoses for the "dirty"/high pressure?/lower side are too long. When the PCV valves opens, there could be too much material in the 2 ft of hose and it can't purge. This could end up like @CurtisB's prius issue.
But, there's also nothing in the can for the "clean"/high side of the engine...


Anyway, just checking if anyone else is catching something

 

[Superg0]

Not sure what my can is catching, but I’m glad it’s catching. Whatever it is it sticky. This was at 700ish miles

 

[FHFR3Maverick]

I have had the UPR 2 can kit installed a little over 2k miles. I check them every 1K and have drained out an ounce or 2 from both cans every time so far.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

Not sure what my can is catching, but I’m glad it’s catching. Whatever it is it sticky. This was at 700ish miles

I know it isn't, but it kind of looks like orange juice!

 

[bbhaag]

That would explain the relatively clean can shown by the OP. Is there a diagram or image of the factory arrangement? They seem to keep a lot of things kind of "close to the chest" so to speak.

I have seen plenty of people gathering all kinds of crud in their catch cans on other vehicles, perhaps with older designs that didn't have this feature. Makes a lot of sense to get as much of that crap out as you can on a direct injection motor to keep intake valve fouling to a minimum.

Yes there is although it is not called a catch can. It is called a crankcase vent oil separator.

It can be found in all Maverick 2.0L direct injected forced induction engines from model years 2022 to current.

You asked for pictures. So here they are.

This the separator

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