oil catch can

[atomizer]

My oil catch can on the ecotec motor looks like a custom unit. it has only one line in from the valve cover and the top of the catch can has two vents. the bottom has a butterfly valve to drain any oil.
Has any of the ecotec motors suffered from this design? Meaning....there is no return hose from catch can to motor.
this question came up after looking at the catch can design. wondering of all the ecotec motored AA, was the design changed on the later models?

[Lane]

Has any of the ecotec motors suffered from this design?

What do you mean by suffered?

Meaning....there is no return hose from catch can to motor.

I've always thought it was typically a vacuum connection, not a hose for return of any of the oil back into the engine.


The set up you've observed sounds like exactly what's on my car. I'd be surprised if any of the Ecotec models were any different than this.

[MadMaxAtom]

The brammo designed catch can on the Ecotec works very well.It is actually a vent (air inlet) for the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system primarily,and a catch can second.When crankcase pressure (blowby gasses)overwhelms the PCV system,the can "catches" any oil/vapor before it is forced out the vents. If the engine is overfilled,it will force oil into the catch can,where it is easily drained if you add a remote drain setup to it. (I did a thread on this..somewhere) The system works very well.


The only factory catch can design that I know of that returns trapped oil to the sump came on the 2004-2005 Mazda Mazdaspeed Miata (MX5) and it was a dismal failure,as under high boost (higher than the stock 7 psi) the sump oil would be forced up the can return line,into the can and out the vent line, into the intake inlet,making smoke and a mess in the intake/turbo/intercooler system. Once converted to a catch can like the Ecotec Atom utilizes,the MSM stops smoking and using oil.
I own 9 vehicles currently with forced induction and every one uses a catch can similar to the brammo Ecotec with 100% success,so there is nothing wrong with the design.