First Round of Camaro Mods!

[Snuze]

The other night @flatisflat had an interesting discussion about vehicle mods, it got me thinking that I ought to go ahead and tell you all about upcoming Camaro mods. I am planning to add 3 things this weekend to help protect the Camaro; a set of all weather floor mats, rock guards, and a catch can.

The floor mats will be the 3DMATSUSA Kagu floor mats. I chose these because I've had less than stellar experience with Weather Techs in my Cruze - they are well built, but they don't stay put. The Kagu mats are supposed to have a better mounting system, and provide better coverage in the Camaro than the Weather Techs, which don't even reach the front seat. They are also significantly cheaper than Husky. The folks on Camaro6 swear by them, so I'm going to give them a shot and I will let you all know what I think.

The next mod is a set of RPI Deluxe rock guards. The 1LE package comes with some absurdly large wheels and tires - 20x10 up front with 285 series rubber and 20x11 out back with 305s. They are at best dead even with the fender at the top, maybe even out slightly. Because of this, and the sticky nature of the factory tires, they are prone to throwing up rocks and dirt, "sandblasting" the fenders, doors, and the sides of the rear bumper. A set of black plastic rock guards greatly reduces this and protects those areas without looking too intrusive.

The final mod is a Mishimoto oil catch can. It's the thing on the right in the above picture with the blue hoses going in and out of it. It's basically just a little reservoir with a baffle in it. The purpose is to trap oil from the crankcase gases that would otherwise go into the intake. This is done to prevent buildup on the valves.

All modern engines have some form of PCV - positive crankcase ventilation - that uses a combination of piston motion, intake vacuum, and usually an inline check valve, to keep the crankcase at a low pressure. This prevents pumping losses as the motion of the pistons would be working to compress the gases trapped in the crank case. Note, old engines have breathers, which allow piston motion to push gases out, but there's now check valve or vacuum source to maintain the crankcase at a low pressure, so breather engines see atmospheric pressure in the crankcase.

These crankcase gases have some small amount of oil vapor entrained in them. As air moves from the hot crankcase to the cool intake, the oil falls out of suspension and returns to a liquid state. These little oil droplets can get on internal parts; generally not a problem other than making things slick/gross. However, if this oily residue gets on the intake valve, which is warm due to the heat of the combustion chamber, the oil could bake on. In carbureted and port fuel injection engines, the air arrives at the intake valve with fuel mixed in, some of which is a liquid mist, which will wash the valves off. Direct fuel injection engines, such as the 6.2L LT1 V8 in my Camaro, have no means to wash the valves off, so over time the oil bakes on, leaving hard carbon deposits. These deposits build up, taking up space and reducing airflow, as well as adding mass to the valve, which means the valve spring is less effective at it's job. Both cause performance to suffer.

Early direct fuel injection systems had serious problems with this - the early R56 Minis come to mind. There are some other strategies to combat this, most involve altering cam timing and spraying extra fuel early in the intake stroke that will allow some back flow around the valves. This works fairly well but doesn't completely eliminate the problem and instead only slows the buildup.

So what is the fix? Well the best solution would be a system like Toyota's DS-4 as used in the Toyobaru twins, which features both port and direct injectors. However that's not really an option to backfit to the Camaro, so the next best answer is to prevent the oily gases from getting into the intake and reaching the valves in the first place.

Enter the catch can - it's just a little can with a baffle system in it. The can is relatively cool (compared to a hot crankcase or hot valve) and the baffles cause the gases to change direction. The oil has more momentum and can't change direction as quickly, and strikes the cooler baffles, condensing and dropping down into the bottom of the can. It sounds like, based on user information from the Camaro6 forum, it traps about 2-3 ounces of oil between changes (about 5-7k miles on this car using the oil life indicator).

So why don't the OEMs use this? I'm not sure. I've heard that it has something to do with esoteric EPA regulations about what gases and fluids can go where in an engine, in an effort to prevent pollution. For what it's worth it's very, very similar to Volvo's "flame trap" system, which works exactly the same way, but the "can" is a box bolted to the front of the engine, and has a second drain back port for the oil.

[HoustonRunner]

@Snuze I need to get the same for my Suburban, it has basically the same engine

With 130k on the engine and it running fine, I'm also looking into non-invasive cleaning methods. I'll probably just CRC Intake Cleaner for Direct Injection engines.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

I also have Weathertechs in my Cruze and I've not had problems with them moving around. True it stops right before the front of the seat in my normal driving position but admittedly I have it very far back on the runners.

The rest of the mods seem like great ideas. The rock guards will be great in the long run as will the oil catch can. Do you just empty it during oil changes?

[Snuze]

@HoustonRunner I should put one in my wife's Terrain as well. I want to see how the Camaro goes first, and then I may do it. There's a guy on Camaro 6 and he has 200k on a 2016 Camaro and tore the engine down and the valves were coked but not awful, so whatever strategy GM is employing is working fairly well, but it's still a nice little extra piece of mind. So based on a sample of 1, you have another 70k to go!

@WhoIsTheLeader The WeatherTechs in my Cruze keep coming undone from the little floor buttons. I've replaced them a bunch of times, even cleaning the surface, and trying other adhesives, and they never stay glued. The one on the drivers side is a pretty good fit and doesn't slide around much, but the one on the passenger side is awful. I'm going to give the 3D Mats a try and see how they go. And to answer your question, yes, you just empty the catch can during oil changes.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@snuze Odd, my buttons aren't very well attached to the carpet with a lot of wiggle room but I've always had the mats stay put. It probably is a problem with the mats' connection point.

[Snuze]

On mine the entire button assembly has come unglued from the mat. It's a pain in the butt. I'm just not impressed with that or the fit of the passenger side. I'll give something new a try and see how it goes.

[A Former User]

@snuze I have had those mats in my last two Volvo's. They are very nice. You can remover the '3D' badge thing if/when it bugs you too.

[Snuze]

@sovande I'm glad to hear you have them and like them. I'd never heard of them before but they look quite nice. I'd also heard about the logos coming off, which I think is going to happen immediately.

[MUSASHI66]

Did you get any discounts on those floor mats? From what I can see, they are actually more expensive than WeatherTech for my wife’s 2017 RDX.

[Just Jeepin']

3D: "Products are not available for your vehicle"

[flatisflat]

@snuze Between installing an oil catch can on my R55, switching to a slightly heavier engine oil, and performing oil changes more frequently than MINI's absurd 10k intervals, I do feel quite a bit more assured in the longevity of the reputedly unreliable motor in these Coopers (I do have the later version 1.6L avail. in the 2nd gen MINIs post-2010 which I hear helps too). But yeah, I'm all for the longevity / reliability mods.

[Snuze]

@musashi66 I'm buying through Amazon. I got the front and rear set for $120-130. On their site it was $170 for the same set.

@flatisflat I'm going to do a Camaro oil change at 500 miles, and again around 2500-3000. After that I'm going to look at the oil life indicator and compare to mileage and try to change it around 5-7.5k. I think this thing holds something silly like 10 quarts of oil!

[VincentMalamute]

@snuze said in First Round of Camaro Mods!:

So why don't the OEMs use this? I'm not sure.

The catch cans added to the Ford 3.5 Ecoboost seem to need emptying every 3000 miles or so. Empty two or three times in each 10,000 mile oil change interval. The average car owner can't be bothered to do that. Or maybe your EPA explanation is correct. The manufacturer's must have a good reason they don't do this.

Curiously, some Transit 3.5 EB owners add two catch cans. Apparently the EB's PCV system has two vent tubes going back into the intake manifold? I'm not clear on how it works on the EB.

Incidentally, Ford's 2nd gen 3.5 Ecoboost used in the F-150 for several years now have Toyota's port and direct injection system. For some reason, the Transits still get the direct injection only 1st gen engine.

[Snuze]

@vincentmalamute On the Camaro side it seems like the 2.0 turbo cars fill their catch cans up faster - boost means more pressure in the cylinders, therefore more blowby, and thus more crankcase gasses to vent.

I've also seen the dual can setup - again, I think it's a turbo engine thing - some of the 2.0 turbo Camaro guys do it. I don't know all the intricacies either, but I think it has something to do with not wanting to blow gas back into the crank case when the car is on boost. I know my 1.4 turbo Cruze has a weird, complicated PCV system that's a giant POS. The first gen is port injection though, so no coking issues, its only problem just generally being a piece of shit design.

I really think it's an EPA thing. If an OEM were designing this, they could make a catch can and size it for 10k easily figuring most people would either get their oil changes done at the dealer or a shop, or figure it out if they are DIY. The ones with problems would be the people who weren't changing their oil anyways.

[VincentMalamute]

@snuze First, you got a Camaro with a 2.0 turbo?!

That's really weird with two catch cans on an inline-4. I though the two catch cans were needed for the 3.5EB because of two cylinder banks or something or other. I'm not clear on the PCV routing on the EB.

[MUSASHI66]

@snuze Thank you!

[Snuze]

@vincentmalamute Nooooo... I got the 6.2L V8. I test drove a 2018 2.0 Turbo a few years ago and it was a great car, but I decided to go all in on a V8.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@snuze Factory catch cans are only a no go if they vent to atmosphere. PCV systems have been standard since the late sixties, with plenty of manufacturers utilizing oil separators and catch cans. It’s an added cost, so most now opt out. Technically, any modification made to the emissions system of a vehicle is illegal per the CAA, but the EPA doesn’t have a whole lot of teeth to enforce it against private vehicle owners, so it is up to state DEQ’s. CA is really the only state that actively enforced such things.

[Snuze]

@dipodomysdeserti I know of oil seperator systems, such as my Volvos "flame trap", but never seen a factory catch can that could be emptied. Not to say it doesn't exist, Im just not aware of it. You do have a point re cost to the manufacturer, but Im surprised we aren't starting to see them on direct inject engines.

[flatisflat]

@snuze said in First Round of Camaro Mods!:

I think this thing holds something silly like 10 quarts of oil!

Well that definitely helps with oil life! But dang.

[DipodomysDeserti]

@snuze Modern oil separators are usually a much better solution than a catch can. I believe BMW’s S55 engine uses an oil separator that sends the oil back to the sump. They actually trap the oil with no need for emptying. A good portion of what catch cans catch is actually water, as much of the oil doesn’t cool off quick enough to condense. It would be interesting to send a catch can sample off to Blackstone to see what it is actually catching.

[Snuze]

@dipodomysdeserti So I did a bit more reading, and it has a seperator, but apparently oil still gets through. But I agree that theres probably some condensation in there as well. Based on what Ive read, people doing more short trips tend to fill catch up faster, but usually with some water mixed in.