Catchtank install Wrangler jk diesel

[MazeVX]

After a costly repair earlier this year I started researching about how to reduce carbon build up and sludge accumulation in the intake area and oil pooling in the intercooler.

Two things immediately showed up, EGR valve delete/blocking and oil catchtank. EGR valve delete is obviously illegal for emissions controlled vehicles but closed loop catchtank is not or at least shouldn't be as long as the pcv system stays closed.
This is not a full installation guide but a bit of information, the install was done on a 2012 jku 2.8L crd LHD, I used roughly 30cm of oil resistant rubber hose with 19mm ID and a 180° pre bend reinforced silikon hose with 150mm leg length, hose clamps suitable for the hose and a generic Chinese catchcan from ebay made of solid aluminum and pretty good quality, catchcan was marketed for BMW 335i...

For those of you who aren't familiar with the system here's a link to explain a bit:

Crankcase ventilation system - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

I picked up some lesser expensive components to give it a try and see how it works, at first I measured the hose diameter, found a catchcan that supports the stock size hose, ordered some hose and clamps and something to make a bracket.
Made the bracket a few days ago but had to order a pre bend hose as the radius was to small and the tube kinks something you really want to avoid also you want to have the hose always sloped to avoid any oil pooling in the hose.

Getting the bracket right, took longer than expected, the install itself went pretty smoothly with the 180° hose. Now we wait and see if and how much it will catch.
Took a few pictures as well, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

[El-Dracho]

Looks good and makes sense.

This is a good writeup, which I'm sure can help others. Thanks for the effort you put into writing this! That's what makes this community besides other things, sharing experiences and learning from others.

 

[El-Dracho]

@MazeVX Hi Mathias, I know that you are working diligently on the rust control on your Jeep, but how are the first experiences with the catchcan? Does it collect a lot?

 

[MazeVX]

Yes but looks like I won one more battle on the rust front...

Regarding catchcan, let's say I'm still collecting data ;-)
It does something but not really sure, probably need to drive a longer stretch and check if the exit hose gets oily or not.
I do have oil residue on the inside walls maybe need to add some sort of stainless steel wool... Seems to be a way to improve it.
The last weeks were extremely dry that might plays a role.
Have seen other catchcans of this type working perfectly, so I just need to drive a bit more.

 

[El-Dracho]

Yes but looks like I won one more battle on the rust front...

Regarding catchcan, let's say I'm still collecting data ;-)
It does something but not really sure, probably need to drive a longer stretch and check if the exit hose gets oily or not.
I do have oil residue on the inside walls maybe need to add some sort of stainless steel wool... Seems to be a way to improve it.
The last weeks were extremely dry that might plays a role.
Have seen other catchcans of this type working perfectly, so I just need to drive a bit more.

Thanks for the update. I just looked at the photos again, the hose coming out of the connection to the crankcase runs slightly uphill towards the catchcan. Do I see that correctly in the photos? Maybe it's better to put the catchcan a little lower so nothing can run back in the hose?

 

[MazeVX]

Yes the hose points down but that is intentional because this way it can't freeze in the hose or the entry of the catchtank.

 

[MazeVX]

Quick update, after some more miles and different weather and load situations, catchcan doesn't work, there is residue on the inside but no liquids. I still have a few options to try but we will see.
The installation as shown does not work as intended.

 

[El-Dracho]

Quick update, after some more miles and different weather and load situations, catchcan doesn't work, there is residue on the inside but no liquids. I still have a few options to try but we will see.
The installation as shown does not work as intended.

Thanks for the update. Mmhh, strange, so no oil in it?

 

[MazeVX]

No, no liquids.
I guess it just doesn't condensate because to little surface area and to hot in there. Catchcans like mine do work reportedly just maybe different circumstances longer tubes whatever.
I know they work in natural aspirated engines, so maybe to much flow with the turbo or so.
I will do some investigating through winter and we'll see what I come up with next time.

 

[El-Dracho]

No, no liquids.
I guess it just doesn't condensate because to little surface area and to hot in there. Catchcans like mine do work reportedly just maybe different circumstances longer tubes whatever.
I know they work in natural aspirated engines, so maybe to much flow with the turbo or so.
I will do some investigating through winter and we'll see what I come up with next time.

Any news on the catchcan, Mathias? Have you tried to enlarge the condesation surface with such a metal sponge?

 

[MazeVX]

No not yet, had other stuff to do and I'm going to get different tubes and so on, maybe add a sintered filter into the catchcan as well just takes time as there is a lot going on right now.

 

[Todd Jackson]

"there is residue on the inside but no liquids"

Mattias,
your comment leads me to believe that your engine is running efficiently. In only a few months of usage I wouldn't expect more than what you found, thats why I check my oil catch cans only once every 8 to 10 months. I have 2 versions of the catch can, the first like yours and the second a Provent 200. The one like yours, I check only once and a while on a LR 300tdi that has well over 250000km, which does have some water (condensation) and oil blend in it. The provent is on another 300tdi but has less mileage at 124000km and that one has no more than you said, some residue on the inside.

"I started researching about how to reduce carbon build up and sludge accumulation in the intake area and oil pooling in the intercooler"

The catch can is not neccessarily the singular correct solution to the above research unless you have an excessive blowby but the catch can is showing that you don't. Oil in the intercooler which then creates sludge buildup in the intake would seem to me that you may have bad seals in the turbo. If the vehicle doesn't have high mileage or is still performing as it did "before", I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. My experience with turbo's on our vehicles anyways is that there seems to be some oil in the intercoolers and always sludge build up. How you want to manage it depends on you. Firstly a catch can is a good addition to any engine, but a thorough cleaning of the intake manifold and intercooler would be more beneficial.

The final thing that you did touch on and I'm a firm believer in, it's the egr blanking. I have it on both of my Land Rover's and both of the engines have cleaner reading at the vehicle inspections. On the older 2012 jeep I think you could get away with installing one. A friend did a simple hack on his Disco, he simply unplugged the egr valve. Can you do that without any warning lights?

Anyways that's a lot of writing for now, I believe a combination of several things mentioned above would get the results that are looking for.

Todd.

 

[MazeVX]

@Todd Jackson I appreciate your comment on this topic.
So we know pretty well where the "condensate" comes from and generally speaking it's not a problem, it becomes one with the soot from the EGR.
But it took 150000km to build up significantly.
I can not simply blank the EGR but it can be solved via software, we might look at that...
So where does my concerns coming from? I took more than 20 work hours from experienced mechanics in a workshop to take this stuff apart and back together including some pretty involved stuff as the common fuel rail, ac compressor and so on, so there is no way to repair anything on trail and I'm simply interested in avoiding problems with the EGR cooler and some other components.

Edit:
Yes the engine has very low blowby and very good oil retention because it is built as a engine with dpf and not a retrofitted engine like some others and it's oil consumption is very low with less than 0,5L/10000km.
Usage of high quality oil and almost always running semi premium or premium diesel might as well help with reduced condensate.
I assume you know how the type of catchcan works so temperature is a key factor, my placement is less than ideal for that and the volume is pretty low for the engine size, that's the 2 main reasons why I believe it is a problem with the catchcan itself.
I'm going to try out a few more things until I discard the project.