Well I finally got around to installing my oil catch can on my TRD supercharged tC this past weekend. Well I noticed that I am running about 19-20 in-Hg at idle which is about 1 in-Hg lower than I used to be running. What I have noticed is that now under hard WOT acceleration, I see a cloud of black smoke behind the car and my exhaust tip is coated black. WTF? I never had that problem before. Here is how I installed.

1) I removed the hose from the intake manifold to the cam cover as well as the hose from the cam cover to the supercharger housing.

2) I put a vacuum plug on the manifold and clamped it so it doesn't blow off.

3) I mounted the catch can on the firewall just behind the engine and routed the two cam tower ports to a T-fitting.

4) The outlet of the T-fitting was routed to a port of the catch can.

5) The other port on the catch can was routed to the supercharger housing.

That's it. Now I did have to use a little adapter to step the 15mm ports (supercharger housing and front cam cover port) down to 9mm. It came with the can, but they seem to be crap. they are straight fit (no barb for the hose to hold and not pop off of). So they could leak there maybe.

i also removed the catch can and took all the port out, sealed them with teflon tape and put it back together and re-installed. It made no difference in the reading on my boost gauge and I still run filthy rich. I don't know if it always ran this way, but I doubt it seeing that I didn't put a coat of carbon on my exhaust every time I drove it like I do now.

What could be causing this? Also does anyone know of a place to buy those step-down adapters for vacuum hoses?? I can't find them at any of the local stores such as Autozone. Anywhere online??

Thanks in advance for any help that could be provided.

 

post some pics of the manifold plug and the setup.

 

man...that could take some time...first I gotta find a digicam.

 

bump... anyone else ?

 

anything?

 

watching

 

I am idling at 19 in-Hg still...so I don't have a vac leak. It just seems weird that now I have noticed when I floor it in 2nd and 3rd, once the rpms get up there, I look in the rear-view and see the rich black smoke...and then I have to clean off the bumper. I am watching my fuel mileage this tank to see if it is any different than normal. So far I have 110 miles and am at 3/4 tank...so it isn't any worse than normal. Perhaps I just noticed it and it has always been like this??? I doubt it though.

theories?

 

So you recirculated the PCV hose that go to the Intake Manifold to the catch can, since then you got the black smoke? Maybe the ECU is not compensating for the new clean air entering your engine. I think you should disconnect the battery for 5 minutes, and let it recalibrate on its own to compasate once more. The ECU maybe thinks that the air that entered the Intake manifold thru the PCV hose is still there so it's sending the same amount of fuel, but because its sending the same amount of air and MORE fuel its making you run rich. It does not know you blocked off the path to the intake manifold.

NOTE: All this is if you blocked off the Intake Manifold PCV path.

 

oh I blocked it off.. That is one of the main reasons I did this, so that I would not leak boost into the engine block through that port. Now all my boost is blasting into the manifold and into the cylinders and I am not putting pressurized air into the block. The problem with your theory I think is that under boost greater than 3psi is when I see the smoke, and at that point there would be no air entering the manifold there as the manifold is under boost. so...hmmmm. I can try to reset the computer again though.

If you think about it, the engine block was acting as a bypass for boost. the one port was connected to the supercharger housing sucking hot fumes out of the block, while the other port was feeding boost into the block...so boost is bleeding off into the block and being sucked back into the supercharger via the other port.

 

Buthow would boost escape when the recirculation PCV hose from the head to the Intake Manifold is for gases after the explosion inside the cylinder has happened. So you can't lose boost thru that place, since those gasses come AFTER the boost enters the cylinder. So I think you should reset the ECU, then we will see if it still does it. IF, then I suggest putting the Catch can where most people use it, in the PCV hose from the head to the intake piping, and reconnect the one from the head to the Intake Manifold.

 

I am confused with what you are saying. The two hoses from the cam tower are to vent gases from inside the block. One is connected to the supercharger housing, and the other is connected to the intake manifold. The one connected to the supercharger housing will always see a vacuum as it is before the blower, so that is pulling oil vapor gases out of the engine at all times. The other one is only in vacuum when the throttle plate is closed, when I am making boost, it is pushing boost through the port in the intake manifold into the engine. So I blocked that port off to prevent that. i routed both of those ports to the catch can, blocked the manifold port, and then connected the can to the supercharger housing so it always sees vacuum and pulls oil vapors out of the block into the can and recirculates the air into the intake stream less the oil.

I went outside before lunch and pulled the EFI fuse to reset the computer. I will put it in before I leave this afternoon. That will make sure the computer is reset. as it will have been out for 4.5 hours.

:D

 

I think the oil that the catch can is pulling is needed. But for now do the ECU. If nothing happenes just in case check hows your oil, and if its missing something. I'm NOT an super expert but I somewhat knoe something. So I'm just trying to help u, cause nobody else is doing it.

 

well there is nothing in the catch can, so it is not like I am filling it up. It just has a greasy residue on the inside of it. I am not blowing much oil at all, I just have the can on there to catch whatever vapor I can so it doesn't gum up the intake pipes and manifold.

My oil level is full.

I appreciate your help man, so don't think I am yelling at your or mad.

 

Don't worry, I had to specify that I'm just trying to help cause I needed to. You said you sealed off the intake manifold port, why not put the other exit of the catch can to the intake manifold and reset the ECU?

 

well, if you put the catch can outlet to the intake manifold, you won't always have a vacuum to pull the hot vapor from the engine block. You would end up pushing boost into the catch can and pressurizing the engine block which is BAD on seals. The catch can outlet must be hooked to a port that sees continuous vacuum such as the port upstream of the blower.

 

Well that's all I know I think. Unless you post some photos I don't think any much help will come. If you get around to it, post how you solved it.

 

yeah I was going to snap some pics of where I mounted the can and the connections, etc...but the darn camera batteries were dead...

 

well i tried it on the way home after having the IGN fuse removed for 4 hours. It does still smoke a little bit at WOT, but not near as much. I am thinking the TRD map is just dumping that much fuel on a normal basis. So perhaps it is normal??

Anyone else with the TRD supercharger experience this?