Catch Tanks

[m.i-man 0]

I have an mi on carbs, I bought a catch tank to stop my engine bay from gettine even dirtier than it is now!

 

After reading thread after thread on cach tanks, I am some what confused on how to plumb them in.

 

Some people say you should only use the oil pipe from the filler, and others say use the pipe from te filler AND the pipe from the rocker that goes to the sump.

 

Myquestion is, if you use the breather hose from the rocker cover, what do you do with the hole that is left from the removal of this? Do you just block it up with a bolt and jubilee clip or something similar (at the sump end)?

[m.i-man 0]

Anyone? Before I go blocking off pipes that I maybe shouldn't be this weekend!

[Anthony 1,003]

The ones I've seen/done have retained the standard breather setup, but vent to the catch-tank from the filler rather than going into the manifold. Seems to work, but whether it's the best way of doing it I don't know...

[m.i-man 0]

Is that for the mi aswell Anthony?

[Anthony 1,003]

Is that for the mi aswell Anthony?

Yes.

[shine 0]

If you take;

* one hose from cam cover to top of catch tank

* one hose from crank case outlet to top of catch tank

* one hose from oil return in sump to bottom of catch tank

* vent to air on top of catchtank (small filter)

 

Then you only need one hose in bottom of oilfiller into the sump.

 

By this way it would not be any presure build up in either bottom or top of the engine.

 

Espen

[m.i-man 0]

I think the catch tank I bought only has two inlets at the top, a filtered vent on the very top and a drain in the bottom.

 

Could I just use a tee on one of the pipes?

[shine 0]

I think the catch tank I bought only has two inlets at the top, a filtered vent on the very top and a drain in the bottom.

 

Could I just use a tee on one of the pipes?

 

You could use a T from cam cover and crank case into top of catch tank.

[m.i-man 0]

Brilliant. Cheers for the help guys.

[miamistu 1]

I think the catch tank I bought only has two inlets at the top, a filtered vent on the very top and a drain in the bottom.

 

That's enough for what shine suggested, you don't need a T, this is exactly what I've done on mine (apart from the drain plug, which I've not bothered returning to the block)

Edited February 9, 2007 by miamistu

[Edd-XS 0]

The Burton catalogue have a really good diagram of doing a catch tank set-up as Espens described, I would scan it in but dont wanna upset anyone!

Edd

[tom_m 0]

having seen what collects in my catch tank (a vittel bottle) there is no way i would return it to the sump, its generally mucky emulsified oil and water, and more water that oil (that being the point of the breather, to remove water form the oil)

 

i'd use the set-up espen suggests bar the return to the sump.

 

Tom

[m.i-man 0]

 

I know the image is far from perfect, but in all tense and purposes, is that they way I can set it up? (just checking I am understanding this right!!).

[tom_m 0]

you'll need to block off the pipe to the throttle body too otherwise it will be a source of unmetered air and your car will run like a bag of sh*te and not hold an idle

 

other than that it looks fine.

[madvalver 0]

having seen what collects in my catch tank (a vittel bottle) there is no way i would return it to the sump, its generally mucky emulsified oil and water, and more water that oil (that being the point of the breather, to remove water form the oil)

 

Tom

 

 

Not really. The idea of a crankcase breather is to stop crankcase pressure from building up, which in turn would cause oil leaks and also sap engine power. This is one arguement for running a closed breather system as it can put a vacuum into the crankcase(I,ve heard this can also be good for ring sealing).

 

Some water/emulsified oil is quite normal, particularly if the car does lots of short journeys and dosent get a chance to get hot. Your normally find it under the filler cap, as this is a cold point and it will condinsate here.

 

The water would quickly boil off once it got back down in to the engine, Venting through the breather, not really doing any harm.

 

If your getting lots of water in you catch tank-breater lines it could be due to headgasket etc.

[madvalver 0]

 

I know the image is far from perfect, but in all tense and purposes, is that they way I can set it up? (just checking I am understanding this right!!).

 

I think i would keep the line going from the rocker cover to the lower end of the fill pipe as you might be surprised at the amount of oil that gets thrown out of here. For a simple set up run the pipes from the top of the filler cap to the catch tank. Or what was surgested to me by longmans( for my Mi but dont see why it would be any different for an 8valve) is to run the rocker in to the catch tank the from the bottom of the catch tamk to the sump.

 

The main thing is to vent off as much pressure as possible while collecting as little oil. More oil in a catch tank means less in the sump!!!!

[m.i-man 0]

I think i would keep the line going from the rocker cover to the lower end of the fill pipe as you might be surprised at the amount of oil that gets thrown out of here. For a simple set up run the pipes from the top of the filler cap to the catch tank. Or what was surgested to me by longmans( for my Mi but dont see why it would be any different for an 8valve) is to run the rocker in to the catch tank the from the bottom of the catch tamk to the sump.

 

The main thing is to vent off as much pressure as possible while collecting as little oil. More oil in a catch tank means less in the sump!!!!

 

 

That does make sense. I'll have to modify the catch tank to do this, but it just means finding a nozzle that I can tap to the same thread as the drain plug.

 

Will get some pictures up when I have managed to do it!!

 

Cheers everyone.