PCV jar not working as expected

[Flatland2D]

I made a PCV jar out of some PVC using silica and some BB's as the catalyst. The problem is the hose going from the jar to the PCV valve is collasped under vacuum. Shouldn't this line be under positive pressure? Also, air is coming out of the hose from the manifold to the jar. Essentially it's flowing backwards. Do I have the concept wrong? Shouldn't air be flowing from the PCV valve to the intake manifold? After a bit of driving the inside of the canister was pretty much spotless with no oily residue that it should be collecting. It smelled like exhaust but that was it. What's wrong with my setup?

[Matt Timion]

Hey Flatland2d, and welcome to the board.

Since I've never made the catch can using the BB method, I'm not totally sure. Would you care to post pictures?

The airflow should be going from the PVC to the intake manifold, and not the other way around. This is one of the reasons I'm going to get the water filter for an air compressor and use it. I should be leaving in a few minutes to get it. It has a directional arrow on it so people like me can't install it backwards.

As for the BBs being clean, not all people will have oil residue in their catch can. It really only happens when the seals are a bit worn out and oil creeps past them. If your seals are good, and your engine is in good shape, I wouldn't be surprised if nothing accumulated in the catch can at all.

I will think a little about your problem and hopefully come up with something.

[Flatland2D]

Thanks for the quick reply. I drove a few more miles (30, mostly highway) and checked the canister again. This time suction was coming from the right place. I have no idea what happened earlier. Maybe I had the inlet/outlet ports confused in my mind? The canister had a very small amount of dust at the bottom, most likely small particles of the silica I'm using (the crystal kitty litter). No liquids though.

I took some pictures anyway. The design is a lot more complicated than it needs to be, but being engineering minded I had to come up with something of my own. There's not much different conceptually. Air comes in the top barb, flows down a 3" nipple that connects to the catalyst canister which is filled with kitty litter and zinc coated BB's. They are held in place by window screen wrapped around a few times and in different directions so the grids don't line up. There is a small drain hole in the bottom of the catalyst canister for oil and sludge to drip into the main canister. The output is the side barb. The input, output, and drain hole are also filtered with the window screen to prevent any pieces of catalyst from leaving the canister. However, the kitty litter is not of uniform size and the very small dust sized pieces will fall through. The ring clamp is what holds it in the engine bay. I have it located against the firewall behind the intake (not the manifold), just to the right of the battery. It's the only space large enough (and close enough) where I could still get a screwdriver down there to install it. I can give better explanations and more pictures if anyone wants them.

<img src="http://www.morlinos.com/delsol/pcvjar1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.morlinos.com/delsol/pcvjar2.jpg">

I was expecting more sludge in there because my engine does burn oil and either the rings or head gasket or both are going out. The engine has a little over 70k miles. I'm also running Mobil 1 Sythetic and I've heard that's harder to break down. Maybe I just need to drive around more or test some higher rpm's where I really burn the oil. It's a good thing it doesn't fill up as fast as I expected. Dumping it requires a cool engine and some time. I was thinking of plumbing a needle valve to the bottom of the canister and some tubing so my car can "take a whiz" when it gets full.

Thanks again for the help. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the ideas out there. Specifically, hydrogen, EFIE and water injection.

[SVOboy]

Well, that is definately a beautiful thing there. I'm glad your problem got worked out, and welcome to the site, it'll be good to have you around here. Hopefully you can also help settle our water injection stuffness. I'd write more. I have a lot I need to post about, but I need to finish some homework first.

[Matt Timion]

your device looks nice. It really does. if you have the time, please do a writeup on how you built that and I'll include it in the article.

I've read two theories on this catch can. One says to put it in series with the PCV line, and the other says to put it on the line leading from the valve cover to the intake manifold. Some people put one on both. I've tried two hardware stores now and I can't find the air filter to make mine. I need to try Home depot now as it is my last hope.

People all around are interested in the PCV catch can, as turbo'd people use it too. More into is always better to help attract people here.

BTW, how is the B-series in the Del Sol?

[Flatland2D]

Thanks for the compliments. I haven't heard about the valve cover method. I did play around with that some today though. I removed the little filter that covers the barb on the valve cover. I had heard things like this filter doesn't allow the PCV valve to do its job properly because it changes the pressure inside the engine. Well, I put some duct tape over the barb, then put the filter on over it simply to hold it on better (heat kills the glue). I started it up and there was a weird noise coming from my engine. I took off the filter and the duct tape was being sucked in really bad, like a reverse bubble. I shut it off and put the filter back on and didn't mess with it anymore. Needless to say there is a strong vacuum there. The intake barb is also at a vacuum, so I don't see how that idea would work.

I will consider writing about it in more detail when I have the time. I may just model the device in SolidWorks instead of buying parts to make another that I wouldn't use. That way I could explain the construction better than showing a completed unit. There's a few things that have to be done in a certain order so it comes out right.

I will post back in this thread after I drive more to report any sludge buildup.

The B18C1 is awesome. I bought it about two and a half months ago. It already had all those upgrades listed below. It's such a fun car to drive. My previous car was a '91 Buick Skylark granny car that drove like a boat. Not to mention the gas mileage sucked.

<img src="http://www.morlinos.com/delsol/delsol2.jpg">
I've since removed those stickers put there by the previous owner

Tanabe Hyper Medallion full catback exhaust
Short air intake
Moroso aluminum oil pan
Carbon fiber hood (painted to match car)
14" MB Motoring wheels
Wings West Racing Series polyurethane body kit
Black tail lights
Stealth box with two 8" subs and 300W amp

[Matt Timion]

your car looks nice man. I used to hate del sols, but they've really grown on me. A lot of people don't realize that the "Del Sol" was marketed outside of the US as the CRX. I guess insurance companies were charging too much for the name "CRX" so Honda changed the name to Del Sol in the USA.

Correctly me if I'm wrong, but arn't Del Sols much heavier than their EF counterparts? I guess I could go and check myself, but what fun would that be?

Oh, I want to commend you for painting your CF hood. Too many people forget that the purpose of CF was weight reduction, not the "CF" look. a lot of people will get CF hoods that weight more than the stock hood just for looks.

[Flatland2D]

A lot of people seem to either love or hate del sols. I started looking at them because I wanted something more sporty than my Buick (though I completely understand it's not a "sports car") and really good fuel economy. The S model got up to 41mpg highway. Even though the engine swapped in mine brings in about 64 more horsepower, the drop in mpg isn't that much.

A del sol is about 2300lbs. I think it's kind of heavy for it's size, but it's really not that big to begin with. They could have been made lighter. That's the nice thing about CRX's.

Thanks but I can't take credit for painting the hood. I would have done it myself given I had the money for a CF hood and paint. The previous owner bought the car pretty much stock and made it into what it is. He's a general manager at a body shop so he at least knew what he was doing when putting on the body kit. The choice of polyurethane over fiberglass was a good one, too. He told me he was selling it to pay off an Impala he was fixing up. I think i got a pretty good deal out if it.

[Matt Timion]

2300 pounds is pretty heavy for that little car. I guess they did add a few features since the CRX to account for the weight. The engine is larger, and I'm sure it has some power features (locks and windows?) that the CRX does not.

My 89 four door sedan weighs in at 2200lbs bone stock. The more I see these CRXs cruising around the more I want one. Then again, I feel the same way about 92-95 hatchbacks. the more I look at them the sexier they are.

I'm essentially turning my 89 Sedan into a VX with my motor swap. The good thing, however, is that I'll have power windows, locks, and four doors where the VX didn't have any of these things.

[SVOboy]

It's awesome. This is my second time on the thread cuz I saw it first in C++ II with my friend and he also commented that it was "hot." In any case, I also like the painted cf, I'm not a big two-toner. Also, I think I might add that power steering prolly adds a bit of weight to the newer stuff, and I would say a little less fun. I dunno about a nice suspension with power steering to be honest, the damn crx is pretty nice except I need to do some more tie rod end work and prolly rack end bushing, and then tires cuz I totally hydroplaned and almost wrecked today my tires are so old and crappy. It's a nice looking ride, and the gas mileage beats most out there to boot.