Radium Catch Can Installed

[Raptorman5174]

Installed an oil catch can in ZHP today. Radium makes an awesome kit with a great mount in the drug bin. I completely removed the CCV to make it a true CCV delete but it took me all day. If you were just to install the kit and leave the CCV you could probably do it in a couple of hours.

1513815139

[danewilson77]

Well done Raptor.

The friendliest forum on the planet!

[rguti153]

Sweet

[cakM3]

Raptor, if you buy this kit does it come with installation instructions? Curious.....

[Raptorman5174]

Yes it does but the kit was designed for the M3. It can be adapted for the 330 but you have to buy a few more things. 3/4" hose, more 5/8" hose, assorted hose clamps, PCV valve, a couple of 5/8 elbows..... stuff like that.

[Smilez]

thats a good mounting spot.

[az3579]

thats a good mounting spot.

I disagree... it gets in the way of the drugs. :shifty

[Smilez]

I disagree... it gets in the way of the drugs. :shifty

I prefer to put my lunch box in there.

[rguti153]

Mmmm warm lunch mmm not bad lol

[Raptorman5174]

I disagree... it gets in the way of the drugs. :shifty

LOL!

[rguti153]

Hows the car

[CarbonZHP]

Ay he's over here too. Liking the drug bin/lunch microwave idea...

[Raptorman5174]

Hows the car

The car feels good, pulls strong and I didn't have the cold start systems that I have been having recently. Sometimes the car will start fine but when it idles down it start to shake very badly and the idle sits about 600 rpm. Once the car is warm it drives and functions normally. I suppose the added vacuum the can generates helped alleviate that problem. I have read that you get a slight increase in HP as well a gas mileage boost but it is to soon to tell. The car does feel stronger, revs freely and pulls nicely when I get on the gas. I will post about the fuel economy once I burn a few tanks of gas through it. All in all it was a good upgrade and I never have to worry about that dreaded CCV ever again.

[Raptorman5174]

Update
Took the car on the open highway last night for the first time since the catch can install and let me just say that my car feels like an entirely different animal. The car has what I feel is a significant increase in power and pulls strong in every gear. The increase in vacuum pressure that the catch can generates really does wake the motor up. I also believe that there is a fuel economy bump as well but I have no info on that yet. Is there anyone else that has done this mod with the same results? I am pretty sure that this is much more then the "placebo" affect. So far positive results from this mod and the can hasn't really captured anything significant yet but then again I did just install it.

[CarbonZHP]

I whole heartedly agree. The pull of torque when I go into 5 in unreal.

[az3579]

How often does this can need to be "emptied"?

[WOLFN8TR]

Interesting. So how much is the Radium CC?

[Raptorman5174]

How often does this can need to be "emptied"?
I haven't caught anything significant yet, but I'm going to assume every 1000 miles or so. The awesome thing about the Radium can is that it has a dipstick

Interesting. So how much is the Radium CC?
The package runs $300 not including the extra materials I needed to install, roughly another $50

[az3579]

I haven't caught anything significant yet, but I'm going to assume every 1000 miles or so.

Ugh. I guess that crosses if off my list.
Thanks for the info.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[328ioc]

Anyway you can do a DIY for adapting the kit to the M54?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Raptorman5174]

328ioc check these threads, the first one is a review of the Radium oil catch can, the second is Smolck thread on his OCC install. I routed my hoses a little differently to accommodate the Radium can and it's location where Smolck used a different can. But his tip on utilizing the stock vacuum/air distribution was exactly how I did it and in my opinion the best solution.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=990061

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?11474-Oil-Catch-Can-CVV-delete-mod-doityourself&highlight=delete

[328ioc]

Great thanks!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Raptorman5174]

There have been a couple of questions pertaining to hose routing and PCV location so I added a few pictures of the installation.

[Dave1027]

Thanks for posting.

What hose size was used? 5/8 ?

Is that the original connector to the valve cover with the CCV tube cut off? Looks like you had to use an adaptor there. What size is the valve cover connector?

[Raptorman5174]

5/8 hose size was used

That is the original valve cover connector, you need 3/4 hose and the reducer to 5/8

[Fenrir]

That looks awesome. I've looked at radium in the past and really like the design. Still on the fence with this ><.

[Raptorman5174]

Its a great mod, its one of those things when you say to yourself, "I should of done this a long time ago"

[slater]

thanks a ton for the pics - that is really helpful! i will be tackling this next weekend, using an OEM porsche 951 catch can.

peter

[CarbonZHP]

Its a great mod, its one of those things when you say to yourself, "I should of done this a long time ago"

This

[Raptorman5174]

Update:
so it has been about 600 miles or so now since I have installed the OCC and I have no complaints. The car has been running smooth with no oil consumption from what I can tell. I checked the contents of the catch can and what do you know, there was some oil in there. So I guess it is doing it's job but the oil in the can was basically just that, clean oil no moisture or condensation so that is also a good sign. The car itself is performing wonderfully. I did get a slight boost in fuel economy and a decent power increase from what I can feel on the butt dyno, you can really feel the power increase on the highway. Also another thing to note, the carbon build up inside your valve ports and combustion chambers will probably burn off now that oil vapor is not getting in there and being burned along with the air/fuel mixture. This would mean that the more I drive my car the cleaner the inside of the engine will be and the better the car will perform. So if there is anyone here that is on the fence about doing this mod all I have to say is Go For It! You won't be disappointed.

[NoVAphotog]

Update:
so it has been about 600 miles or so now since I have installed the OCC and I have no complaints. The car has been running smooth with no oil consumption from what I can tell. I checked the contents of the catch can and what do you know, there was some oil in there. So I guess it is doing it's job but the oil in the can was basically just that, clean oil no moisture or condensation so that is also a good sign. The car itself is performing wonderfully. I did get a slight boost in fuel economy and a decent power increase from what I can feel on the butt dyno, you can really feel the power increase on the highway. Also another thing to note, the carbon build up inside your valve ports and combustion chambers will probably burn off now that oil vapor is not getting in there and being burned along with the air/fuel mixture. This would mean that the more I drive my car the cleaner the inside of the engine will be and the better the car will perform. So if there is anyone here that is on the fence about doing this mod all I have to say is Go For It! You won't be disappointed.

Great to hear. In for further updates.

Also, would this mod help with short commutes? I started taking the bus to the metro in the mornings since I started getting the yellow oil light after driving a couple miles. Read up on it and it (short commute) basically is a death sentence for the CCV system and engine.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

[328ioc]

Great update. This is on my short list of items to do in the coming months.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[az3579]

Update:
so it has been about 600 miles or so now since I have installed the OCC and I have no complaints. The car has been running smooth with no oil consumption from what I can tell. I checked the contents of the catch can and what do you know, there was some oil in there. So I guess it is doing it's job but the oil in the can was basically just that, clean oil no moisture or condensation so that is also a good sign. The car itself is performing wonderfully. I did get a slight boost in fuel economy and a decent power increase from what I can feel on the butt dyno, you can really feel the power increase on the highway. Also another thing to note, the carbon build up inside your valve ports and combustion chambers will probably burn off now that oil vapor is not getting in there and being burned along with the air/fuel mixture. This would mean that the more I drive my car the cleaner the inside of the engine will be and the better the car will perform. So if there is anyone here that is on the fence about doing this mod all I have to say is Go For It! You won't be disappointed.

So in the 6 months you've had it, how many miles have you driven with it installed? How often did you have to empty the can?
I can't seem to get a concrete answer to this since catch cans are still a new concept in the E46 world... at least on the mainstream level.

[328ioc]

So in the 6 months you've had it, how many miles have you driven with it installed? How often did you have to empty the can?
I can't seem to get a concrete answer to this since catch cans are still a new concept in the E46 world... at least on the mainstream level.

Its in the first line.....600 miles it it hasn't been 6 months its been 10 days.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[az3579]

Its in the first line.....600 miles it it hasn't been 6 months its been 10 days.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Sorry I misread it for 6 months not 600 miles...

[WOLFN8TR]

For those of you that have done this mod do you have Smog checks to deal with? I would love to do this and I guess if you did a nice clean job and even hid the catch can a Smog tech wouldn't even know what he was looking at.

[328ioc]

For those of you that have done this mod do you have Smog checks to deal with? I would love to do this and I guess if you did a nice clean job and even hid the catch can a Smog tech wouldn't even know what he was looking at.

I don't have the mod yet or have any inspections to worry about.

But if you can do a clean install and make it look OEM or just not noticeable then I doubt you have much to worry about.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Raptorman5174]

Great to hear. In for further updates.
Also, would this mod help with short commutes? I started taking the bus to the metro in the mornings since I started getting the yellow oil light after driving a couple miles. Read up on it and it (short commute) basically is a death sentence for the CCV system and engine.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

Yes I think that it would, the problem with short commutes is that the engine oil doesn't get hot enough to evaporate the moisture with in it.


So in the 6 months you've had it, how many miles have you driven with it installed? How often did you have to empty the can?
I can't seem to get a concrete answer to this since catch cans are still a new concept in the E46 world... at least on the mainstream level.

So 600 miles not 6 months, I would say to check the can every 1000 miles or so. In 600 miles I had a little bit of oil in the can, maybe a shot full for comparison and the oil was clean with no moisture. You can tell if the oil has moisture in it because it will look like chocolate milk. My OCC has a dip stick in it so very easy to check the can. My commutes are average I suppose (30 - 45 min) and is a mix of highway and stop and go traffic so this could be the reason I don't see any moisture in my oil, which is a good thing of course.

[az3579]

Oh. I was hoping 1000 would be a guess and not an official figure. Would the amount of oil accumulating in there vary from car to car?
I ask because I'd love to do this mod but every 1000 miles is excessive, so I'm kind of hoping someone chimes in and says "I've gone x,000 miles before emptying".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Raptorman5174]

Oh. I was hoping 1000 would be a guess and not an official figure. Would the amount of oil accumulating in there vary from car to car?
I ask because I'd love to do this mod but every 1000 miles is excessive, so I'm kind of hoping someone chimes in and says "I've gone x,000 miles before emptying".
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would say to check the can every 1000 miles or so but it is unlikely that the can would fill up in 1000 miles. I would also say that it is safe to assume that every car would be different with this mod. One car would collect more oil in the can over another car depending on the condition of the car

[Hornung418]

Oh. I was hoping 1000 would be a guess and not an official figure. Would the amount of oil accumulating in there vary from car to car?
I ask because I'd love to do this mod but every 1000 miles is excessive, so I'm kind of hoping someone chimes in and says "I've gone x,000 miles before emptying".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Botond, with your driving habits and tank mileage, it's just as simple as doing a check up every third fill up at the pump. Doesn't seem that tedious to me...its just like checking your oil level. The Radium can has a dipstick, and the unit simply unscrews from the mount. If you're at the gas station, just dump the tiny amount of oil and gunk in the trash and use a paper towel to clean it out.

Sent from my GS3.

[Raptorman5174]

Update:
My cars CEL came on this week during my normal commute so I plugged in my laptop and got three codes.

p0300
p0302
p0304

Misfire codes for cylinders 2 and 4, now I have had the problem with cold start at idle since I purchased the car. I went through the whole list of vacuum leaks related items and parts and took care of them. I did find a bad vacuum leak at my DISA valve that I repaired, G.A.S. makes a great gasket to resolve this issue BTW. Since I have installed the OCC the problem has subsided substantially almost to the point where it was gone completely but it's still there a little bit. So today in further efforts of trouble shooting I decided to pull some coils. I initially was going to swap 1&2 and 3&4 clear the codes and see if the problem follows the coils but when I pulled coil #2 out the problem was evident. Oil was covering the bottom of the coil boot. I pulled out coil #1 and it was dry. Coil #4 was worse. coil #3 dry.

So what have I learned? The greater vacuum that the OOC generates has actually slowed down the oil leak into my spark plug wells, but if you think about it, it is also a very slight vacuum leak that seals up when the car gets to operating temperature. This is the reason why my car tends to stumble when I first start it in the morning and is worse on cold mornings and why the problem goes away when the car is hot. So it looks like I have a valve cover replacement in my very near future. At the same time I will be rebuilding my VANOS unit as I believe that it has never been done before on this car. I will probably start a different thread for this as it is not really Oil Catch Can related but I'll take some pics and wright about it for the Mafia's viewing enjoyment.

[CarbonZHP]

Thanks for the update. My vanos may need work in the future. If I push it really hard in the canyons and keep the revs up the whole time, at the bottom of the hill I have a really bad engine tick. Goes away after 5 minutes of regular driving.

[llll1l1ll]

I've heard that same problem with ticking in E36s. They say adding an extra quart of oil tends to help.

[Raptorman5174]

I don't think the vanos is the cause of the ticking sound, it comes from the hydraulic lifters. Adding an extra quart of oil will quiet them down by increasing oil pressure. The trade is that you may develop oil leak where you didn't have them before.