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I have been reading this with interest lately and just out of curiosity has anyone noticed a difference in how much the catch can collects depending on the brand of oil used, or in other words has anyone noticed one brand produces less by-product than another? I'm new to the Ecoboost so I'm trying to soak up any information I can.
It is mainly blow-by products the catch can filters out...this is the crud from the PVC system. It not only contains oil vapors but also gasoline vapors, water and sulfuric acid and maybe other by products of combustion. Being a boosted engine, there is considerable blow-by. Under hard acceleration, vacuum drops to near zero and the pressure increase in the cylinder causes these by products to blow-by the rings and pressurize the crankcase which, in turn can blow these by-products backwards through the oil filler pipe. I have an RX Speedworks "can" and it has hoses connected in front of the turbos. When the vacuum drops under hard acceleration, the turbos spin up creating suction which continues to evacuate the crankcase pressure, so essentially, it's keeping the engine cleaner and the "can" filters most of the bad crud out before it can be reintroduced into the intake manifold to bake onto the intake valves and theoretically onto the spark plug electrodes. So the air coming from the "Can" to the intake manifold is much cleaner so combustion should be better. The "can" filtered out about 6-7 ounces of crud in 600 highway miles on my last trip.. mostly 65-70 mph. That was a few weeks ago it moderately hot weather so not much water was in it. When the air temp drops below about 45 degrees more water is produced in the engine and more liquid appears in the "can". The problem with the original design was Ford used basically a normally-aspirated PCV system in a boosted engine and pumped lots of nasty stuff back into the intake manifold which is/was causing intake-valve "coking" and short spark plug life. The intake valves are not "washed" with any gasoline but they get rather hot and this crud can burn onto the back sides of the valves. Not so good for the long-term. Some of the problem also comes from "grandpa driving" the engine as I tend to do. People who drive a lot of highway miles at relatively high speeds appear to have better luck with the engine...maybe. This just my experience with the "Can". if you drain the can into a jar, in a few days the crud separates into 4 or 5 different layers and has a pretty nasty aroma.
What are the best option for catch can kits made for the EB trucks?
Originally Posted by tetvet68
It is mainly blow-by products the catch can filters out...this is the crud from the PVC system. It not only contains oil vapors but also gasoline vapors, water and sulfuric acid and maybe other by products of combustion. Being a boosted engine, there is considerable blow-by. Under hard acceleration, vacuum drops to near zero and the pressure increase in the cylinder causes these by products to blow-by the rings and pressurize the crankcase which, in turn can blow these by-products backwards through the oil filler pipe. I have an RX Speedworks "can" and it has hoses connected in front of the turbos. When the vacuum drops under hard acceleration, the turbos spin up creating suction which continues to evacuate the crankcase pressure, so essentially, it's keeping the engine cleaner and the "can" filters most of the bad crud out before it can be reintroduced into the intake manifold to bake onto the intake valves and theoretically onto the spark plug electrodes. So the air coming from the "Can" to the intake manifold is much cleaner so combustion should be better. The "can" filtered out about 6-7 ounces of crud in 600 highway miles on my last trip.. mostly 65-70 mph. That was a few weeks ago it moderately hot weather so not much water was in it. When the air temp drops below about 45 degrees more water is produced in the engine and more liquid appears in the "can". The problem with the original design was Ford used basically a normally-aspirated PCV system in a boosted engine and pumped lots of nasty stuff back into the intake manifold which is/was causing intake-valve "coking" and short spark plug life. The intake valves are not "washed" with any gasoline but they get rather hot and this crud can burn onto the back sides of the valves. Not so good for the long-term. Some of the problem also comes from "grandpa driving" the engine as I tend to do. People who drive a lot of highway miles at relatively high speeds appear to have better luck with the engine...maybe. This just my experience with the "Can". if you drain the can into a jar, in a few days the crud separates into 4 or 5 different layers and has a pretty nasty aroma.
It is mainly blow-by products the catch can filters out...this is the crud from the PVC system. It not only contains oil vapors but also gasoline vapors, water and sulfuric acid and maybe other by products of combustion. Being a boosted engine, there is considerable blow-by. Under hard acceleration, vacuum drops to near zero and the pressure increase in the cylinder causes these by products to blow-by the rings and pressurize the crankcase which, in turn can blow these by-products backwards through the oil filler pipe. I have an RX Speedworks "can" and it has hoses connected in front of the turbos. When the vacuum drops under hard acceleration, the turbos spin up creating suction which continues to evacuate the crankcase pressure, so essentially, it's keeping the engine cleaner and the "can" filters most of the bad crud out before it can be reintroduced into the intake manifold to bake onto the intake valves and theoretically onto the spark plug electrodes. So the air coming from the "Can" to the intake manifold is much cleaner so combustion should be better. The "can" filtered out about 6-7 ounces of crud in 600 highway miles on my last trip.. mostly 65-70 mph. That was a few weeks ago it moderately hot weather so not much water was in it. When the air temp drops below about 45 degrees more water is produced in the engine and more liquid appears in the "can". The problem with the original design was Ford used basically a normally-aspirated PCV system in a boosted engine and pumped lots of nasty stuff back into the intake manifold which is/was causing intake-valve "coking" and short spark plug life. The intake valves are not "washed" with any gasoline but they get rather hot and this crud can burn onto the back sides of the valves. Not so good for the long-term. Some of the problem also comes from "grandpa driving" the engine as I tend to do. People who drive a lot of highway miles at relatively high speeds appear to have better luck with the engine...maybe. This just my experience with the "Can". if you drain the can into a jar, in a few days the crud separates into 4 or 5 different layers and has a pretty nasty aroma.
This is the best explanation of WHY you would need one. Convinced me, so it is on my list of projects for when I get the money.
Update: 9/8/2016
I just emptied my RX can after driving from Southern California to Minneapolis, then light driving for 10 weeks here. It's rained quite a few times but has been hot/humid.
Photo below:
Originally Posted by Plasticsteak1
*UPDATE*
08-09-2016
I recently purchased a 10 foot enclosed trailer. I was returning home from the dealer with the trailer in tow and I was climbing a large hill (hwy 241 South), the same hill that originally caused me to notice the misfiring in my original post above. I had the SCT "performance" tune enabled. I was charging up the hill at 90MPH, passing people like they were standing still when my truck demonstrated the classic misfire and limp mode symptoms. I had to quickly pull off the road. I was crushed. I thought the problem had been eliminated. I turned off the truck and proceeded to upload the "performance tow" tune. After a few minutes I was able to start the truck and proceed up the remainder of the hill and on my way home (about 15 miles remained) without incident. This made me very worried as I had a cross country trip planned for the next week.
The next week I proceeded to pack the trailer heavily and then drive from southern California to Minnesota over 4 days. I HAMMERED my truck on this trip. I mean I really made it work, and work hard. I screamed up Ike Gauntlet just like you can see in this Youtube truck challenge video:
Ford F-150 EcoBoost takes on Nissan, Chevy & the Ike Gauntlet 2.0 Mega Tow Test (Episode 2) https://youtu.be/QR-gMWRzvOg
In the video, they keep it at 60MPH in the interest of safety. Well... "safety third" is my motto. I was passing people like they were stationary! I was very impressed. In retrospect, I think I was trying to expell any doubts that had been building in my mind about the condition and reliability of my truck. I have since reverted to the "performance" tune and been driving in Minnesota for almost 2 months without a problem. I'm now pretty confident that with the correctly designed aftermarket tune in place that the truck will behave like a champ. I've been regularly emptying my catch can at about 3000 miles and, as expected, it is catching quite a bit of liquid. Also, if I remember correctly I think I got about 10.1MPG over 2000 miles.
Below is a photo of the fluid that I emptied right before the cross-country trip. I have not emptied it since I arrived in MN.
About 2500 miles; from SoCal to Minneapolis plus a 10 weeks of local driving.
I am majorly regretting my purchase. Purchased a used certified 2011 F150 FX4 with the 3.5L Ecoboost and 61,000 miles on in. 1.5 years later, I am at 112,000 miles. On Friday my check engine light came on. Drove it about 20 miles Saturday due to a work emergency. The Sunday right after, I decide to get it looked at. On the way, I am accelerating from a stop sign and hear a quiet clank. My oil pressure drops completely and my truck immediately shuts itself off within two seconds. Have it towed to the dealership I purchased it from and Ford takes 3 days to even manually try to turn it over. Long story short, my engine is locked up and has to be completely replaced after only 112,000 miles. Oil was changed by Ford regularly and their was oil in the truck when they checked it. Thats crap to have an engine lock up at 112,000 miles. Probably my first and last Ford.
I am majorly regretting my purchase. Purchased a used certified 2011 F150 FX4 with the 3.5L Ecoboost and 61,000 miles on in. 1.5 years later, I am at 112,000 miles. On Friday my check engine light came on. Drove it about 20 miles Saturday due to a work emergency. The Sunday right after, I decide to get it looked at. On the way, I am accelerating from a stop sign and hear a quiet clank. My oil pressure drops completely and my truck immediately shuts itself off within two seconds. Have it towed to the dealership I purchased it from and Ford takes 3 days to even manually try to turn it over. Long story short, my engine is locked up and has to be completely replaced after only 112,000 miles. Oil was changed by Ford regularly and their was oil in the truck when they checked it. Thats crap to have an engine lock up at 112,000 miles. Probably my first and last Ford.
not trying to put salt on a wound but... There's at least 5 good reasons why that could have been a previous owners fault. Have you seen any of the tune threads? You make it sound like it is fords fault. But honestly most don't fail at 112k. So it's likely there is an external issue. The only way I would buy a used ecoboost is if I KNEW the previous owner. I'm sorry about your loss but buying used is always a crap shoot.
not trying to put salt on a wound but... There's at least 5 good reasons why that could have been a previous owners fault. Have you seen any of the tune threads? You make it sound like it is fords fault. But honestly most don't fail at 112k. So it's likely there is an external issue. The only way I would buy a used ecoboost is if I KNEW the previous owner. I'm sorry about your loss but buying used is always a crap shoot.
Agreed but the previous owner seemed sharp. Stayed on top of oil changes and had them done at the dealership I purchased it at. I know flukes happen but still aggrevated to lose an engine at 112k. That just shouldn't happen to a well maintained vehicle. I have yet to ever blow an engine and all of my trucks have had 200,000+ miles with no major issues. Maybe I was just lucky
Either way, I know stuff happens, but it doesn't make me anymore ok with it
Agreed but the previous owner seemed sharp. Stayed on top of oil changes and had them done at the dealership I purchased it at. I know flukes happen but still aggrevated to lose an engine at 112k. That just shouldn't happen to a well maintained vehicle. I have yet to ever blow an engine and all of my trucks have had 200,000+ miles with no major issues. Maybe I was just lucky Either way, I know stuff happens, but it doesn't make me anymore ok with it
make no mistake that same thing could have cooked my goose easy. I do feel your pain 100%. Know any mechanic that can put a nice used one? It will be an insane amount of cash ford will want to "fix" it. Just hope you can get what you need somewhat reasonably to get you back on the road.
make no mistake that same thing could have cooked my goose easy. I do feel your pain 100%. Know any mechanic that can put a nice used one? It will be an insane amount of cash ford will want to "fix" it. Just hope you can get what you need somewhat reasonably to get you back on the road.
Thanks buddy I appreciate it. The good news is Ford has a pretty reasonable offer. $8,600 out the door for a new engine with a 3 year unlimited mile warranty.
Most used options I have seen are 6-7500 installed with only a 12 month 12,000 warranty which would only last me 4 months.
Bad news is, I cant afford either so looking into my options:
1. Put the used motor in and try to offload it immediately which might be tough because I would obviously tell the purchaser what happened
2. Put the new engine in and run the absolute hell out of it for 3 years
3. See what they would do for a tradein towards another new Truck
Going to the dealer tomorrow to see what I can negotiate.
Learned in 2001 that extended warranty on Fords pay for themselves. My 2012 F150 ECO is covered 125000 miles, 7 years and it's paid for already with 4wd fixes.
Here is a $7-10,000 repair that should never be required.
Did you know Fords reliability is so low Consumer Reports doesn't bother to report it any longer?
09-06-2016, 09:53 PM
