Just picked up a 2014 F-150 ecoboost and checked out some of the F-150 forums and there is a huge debate over installing an aftermarket catch can due to a "PCV flaw" in the engine. Does anyone run a catch can on their ecoboost? Just wondering if it's worth the $300.

What is this catch can of which you speak?

LOL.

I have a boosted VW that I have a catch can on. Direct Injection engines are bad about carbon deposits and the CC helps keep the "bad" oil out of circulation, theoretically helping keep the internals cleaner.

Not sure of any "flaw" in the PCV system on an Ecoboost, but 1Ags' laughter would tell me that it's not really something to worry about.

Never heard of them being placed on the F150 and my buddy doesn't run one on his highly boosted 'BOOST.

Like BigRob, I've seen them routinely placed on the BMW N54 and N55 motors when heavily modified and tuned due to the tendency to have increased deposits. Some run them on stock N55 motors as a precaution, but it also isn't $300 for the parts.

The 300 dollar part is hysterical.

You can build your own for less than 50 dollars.

If you're really lazy buy the UPR one.

If you're going to spend $300, spend $50 on the CC, and $250 on a methanol injection kit.

Your internals will be clean as hell!

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What is this catch can of which you speak?

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Thanks for the info, doesn't seem necessary but some folks are swearing that there is a flaw and this is the only fix! As you guys stated, I can't justify $300 for it even though it is quite intriguing. If anyone is interested here is one of the many links regarding these things.

http://www.f150ecoboost.net/forum/6-f150-ecoboost-chat/7111-cool-weather-coming-proof-you-need-rx-catch-can.html

So it catches water vapor (humidity) which would evaporate in the combustion chamber anyway......

Haha, true. If 1Ags gives it 2 thumbs down then I'm definately out!

Let's get to he real question at hand.....how big of a turbo can I swap into mine?

YUH

Can someone please summarize what the heck this is all about for a guy liked who is not a motor head and is considering an f150 ecoboost V6?

So the best explanation I found on a catch can is that it "catches" the unburnt gases and junk that comes up from the crank case and that normally goes into the intake. My understanding is that during normal engine operation, without a super/turbo, there is engine vacuum that keeps sucking that stuff into the engine where it is burnt off. When you add the turbo/super, you force extra air into the intake, which decreases the vacuum, and results in that unburnt gunk not getting sucked into the intake, and accumulating in the tube, and then when you let off the gas and the butterfly valve on the intake closes the vacuum increases -> this gunk that built up now gets sucked in at an excessive rate and the engine won't burn it off (similar to a car running rich). And because it's coming in at a high rate, it starts depositing on surfaces. So this can is like a filter for that junk.

At least, that's how I understand it. I've never heard of it before this thread.

This should help with the basics. Essentially anything that doesn't go out the exhaust line (small leakage by the rings, stuff picked up by oil, etc.) that end up in the oil sump get sucked out through the PCV valve. The valve itself can get gunked up over time, hence why you change it.

When the engine is at idle (or low loads), the intake is a lower pressure than the manifold (the rest of the engine). So vapors from the engine can get sucked into the intake and burned. This is water vapor, hydrocarbons either from oil or unburned fuel. This is done to reduce emissions of the engine. Other cars (off-road/racing) can use a venturi tube on the exhaust to suck out the vapors from the manifold and inject them into their exhaust stream.

With a turbo system, when the engine is going decently, you now have a higher pressure on the intake than the manifold (due to a compressor). So either you raise the manifold pressure so that you can keep the same system in tact (high mani pressure vs. intake pressure to get "flow") or have it sort of "hold up" until the load/RPMs go back down to "low" and the system "reengages" to the above picture.


Essentially a catch-can will allow for water vapor to be condensed, some gases to be absorbed the water and other items to condensed (HC and the likes) due to a "cooling off" area, a.k.a. "catch can".

Some cars (like my wife's old neon) had a bad habit of picking up oil, injecting it into the intake and burning it (or having bad seals as well), so in the air filter area there was a small filter that would get filled with oil. Installing a catch can would "catch" the oil and save the filter.


I would think that Ford would have figured this out if it really was an issue. If the engine is designed with a turbo, I would think that a catch can would be unnecessary. If you put a turbo on an engine that wasn't designed for it, you might consider putting one on.

Others can probably enlighten more than I did (the small knowledge I have of the topic).

~egon

So many words

Direct Injection engines should come with a catch can from the factory, but they don't. They're inherently going to dirty the internals moreso than a port injection system. Adding a turbo to the mix just makes it worse. But, since most people can't change their air cleaner, adding one from the factory would probably end up breaking sh/t down the road with oil being removed from the engine in the process.

But, there's no reason, barring some fancy-schmancy, overly-engineered "doohickey" (sorry for the uber-technical lingo, here ) preventing a simple catch can setup from working, that you'd need to drop the coin on something like mentioned above.

I had one on my TBSS (wasn't "needed", but it DID catch a lot of crappy oil/gas mix that would have gone back into the engine), I have one on the GTI (turbo DI engine) , but I don't on the Audi or the Silverado. They're not DI, nor FI, and I bought them both, used, with 200k and 156k (resp.) so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.