I've found plenty of discussion regarding details of particular oil catch set-ups, but not much re their general use/necessity other than that they help with dreaded oil consumption issues...

My car has less than 50k miles, very mild engine mods (motordyne intake, plenum spacer, cat-back exhaust, K&N filter). I take it to autox practice days few times/year where it gets rigorous workout - 25-50 miles/day.

My engine doesn't yet consume oil - what benefit would I see from oil catch? I've been under impression primarily FI and direct injection engines benefited from oil catch. DE's are port injected, so crud shouldn't have chance to build up on intake valves. Could someone please explain to me where/how I'm not seeing the whole picture here?

 

The PCV system tends to let oil by when you start adding bolt-ons, even in a non-FI setup. I experimented with this on my Revup DE and was catching a good amount of oil (3-4oz) between changes with a baffled CC hooked up between the PCV valve on the passenger side valve cover and the intake manifold. I had similar bolt-ons as you. Motordyne MREV2 plenum + spacer, JWT pop-charger, exhaust headers, full catback, and Uprev dyno tune. Note that my Z was burning oil from the day I purchased it. It only started getting worse as the mileage piled on which is why I experimented with a CC. It's worth noting that the amount of oil captured was not even close to the amount that was being consumed. In the end I would wager I had worn out oil seal rings (compression was good when tested) or worn out valve stem seals. I still have the engine in my garage with plans to rebuild it in the future. I would really like to know the "root cause" of the oil consumption I was experiencing.

Do I think this is absolutely necessary? No, but it does add some piece of mind.

Hope this helps answer your question.
-Icer

 

Thanks Icer. Guess that's one vote for CC not being too important in my scenario. Though I'm guessing there are differing opinions out there...

 

05 non rev, 2 weeks and less than 300 miles on a brand new catch can.

 

From a purely technical standpoint, if your PCV system is letting oil-contaminated vapor out of the crankcase it is circulating into your intake and taking the place of fresh O2 and fuel, effectively lowering potential power.
From a practical standpoint, you'll never-ever notice that difference.

 

How would CC ever help with excess oil consumption?

 

It doesn't help fix the problem, only prevents it from reentering the combustion cycle.
It's like 98% aesthetic purpose especially on an N/A car with a functioning PCV system. But if you ask yourself, "would you rather put air with a fractional bit of oil vapor into the engine, or the clean "pure" air," you'd pick the pure air, and hence can justify the catch can. I wouldn't call it a requirement, especially if you are not burning much between oil changes to begin with.

 

I had my intake manifold polished and reinstalled. Had to take it off for repolishing after 3 years and ~12k miles. Went from clean to stained oil brown on the inside. What made me decide on adding an oil catch can. More than worth the price (some being cheap), one of the easiest parts to install, benefits outweigh for me.

 

Real world answer. Let it ride. honestly who really cares about a few ounces of oil going wherever. Waste of money. Put that time and money into something worth while. Like bushings or ball joints. Especially with the events you're running.