I recently installed the Elite Engineering E2-X Catch Can system with Clean Side Separator (CSS) on my Vortech Supercharged 1992 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX. I wanted to provide those looking to do a catch can setup with some insight from my learnings. Feel free to ask me questions and provide your feedback!
http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/
When it comes to a catch can / PCV system, there are really two options – closed system or open system, and you can’t mix the two. I’ve done a tremendous amount of research on this topic and I chose to go with a closed system for a few reasons:
Brief Overview of How the System Works
Mounting the Catch Can
I repurposed the OEM Air Conditioning Accumulator bracket to mount the catch can. I experimented with some of the brackets supplied in the Elite Engineering cut, but ultimately felt this to be the best solution. I cut off the circular clamp part of the Accumulator bracket and drilled two bolt holes to mount the Elite Engineering supplied circular clamp. The studs for the accumulator bracket on the firewall are shown below and the nuts are ¼”-20.
Catch Can Inlet Port
This is the dirty air entering the catch can. The Catch Can inlet port for this vehicle will be the PCV valve located in the rear of the lower intake. The PCV valve will be retained, as well as the OEM mesh filter beneath it. The barb size on the OEM PCV valve is 3/8”. The hoses used on my catch can system are -8AN (1/2”). So, I routed the hose from the catch can inlet port to the PCV valve and used a ½”-to-3/8” barb splitter.
Primary Suction Port – Inlet Port #1
The first exit port on the catch can for this vehicle will be the Upper Intake (I chose the fitting on top of the catch can closest to the firewall for this). Basically, the catch can inlet port and the first exit port will be installed inline of the OEM PCV hose routing. For my specific application, I have a Trickflow Intake and so the port is on the driver side. This will be a 3/8” NPT to ½” hose barb 90° fitting. Inline of this inlet port #1 line is a check valve with the flow away from the catch can.
Secondary Suction Source – Inlet Port #2
The Exit Port #2 on this catch can will go to the Supercharger inlet. I have a cast aluminum Vortech inlet duct (P/N 7S400-000) here with a ¼” NPT fitting on top that I used. So this is a 1/4” NPT to ½” 90° barb fitting. Inline of this hose will be another check valve, once again with flow direction away from the catch can.
Clean Side Separator
The clean side separator will take the place of the oil fill cap. In this case, the OEM hose from the Oil Fill Tube port to the Throttle body must be removed and both nipples must be capped. The CSS is actually comprised of two parts: an adapter that threads into the oil fill tube, and the CSS itself. The other end of the Clean Side hose will connected to anywhere between the MAF and Supercharger, but at least 1-2” downstream of MAF. I utilized the port in my power Pipe which would have normally went to the bypass valve (I have a maxflow bypass valve mounted on the Supercharger discharge tube). This is a ¾” NPT to ½” 90° barb.
Completed Image
Follow-Up Notes:
It was recommended by Elite Engineering to connect the secondary/catch can exit port #2 to a venturi barb at the supercharger inlet. This would be a barb where the open end is in the airstream and is angled slightly towards the impeller (45° ideal) or if the barb is not angled, the opening in the airstream could be beveled at a 45° angle, with the cut side towards the impeller. This is to create a low pressure area inside of the barb and to ensure that this line is always an evacuation line. Right now I do not have that (upon a phone discussion with Elite Engineering, the engineer stated that a barb perpendicular to the air stream may work). I tried to take a crankcase pressure reading at either the dipstick tube or oil fill port tube and could not achieve a rating. I want to do this to verify the system is functioning as desired under boost, or, if not, I may need to make the necessary modifications to the supercharger inlet duct. I am using a Harbor Freight fuel pump and vacuum tester, P/N 62637. Any ideas here?
Review of the company, Elite Engineering
http://www.eliteengineeringusa.com/
When it comes to a catch can / PCV system, there are really two options – closed system or open system, and you can’t mix the two. I’ve done a tremendous amount of research on this topic and I chose to go with a closed system for a few reasons:
- to maintain the OEM operation of a PCV system;
- to not have any oil smell or oil drippings in the engine bay; and,
- My car is primarily a street car with occasional track use (not a drag car).
- McNally
- Team RXP
- Elite Engineering
- A coworker in the Camaro/Corvette side of things said that’s all those owners root and rave about;
- It is reasonably priced (out the door I was about $410); and,
- It appeared to be good quality.
Brief Overview of How the System Works
- Fresh, metered air enters the crankcase (in an OEM application, this is the hose between the throttle body and oil fill tube port)
- Dirty, contaminated air exits the crankcase via the PCV and gets recycled into the Upper Intake (in our application, PCV located in rear of lower intake).
- Forced induction applications have the potential to pressurize the crankcase, which may cause oil leaks though gaskets or the dipstick tube
- The goal is to maintain vacuum in the crankcase. With a dual outlet catch can, this is achievable.
- Condition #1 – No load/idle/Deceleration/light cruise
- The catch can system will function much like the OEM system with the use of check valves. The primary suction source/catch can exit port #1 will remain open while the secondary suction source/catch can exit port #2 will be closed. The dirty/contaminated air from the crankcase will enter the catch can and re-enter into the Upper Intake.
- Condition #2 – Load/Boost/WOT
- This is where a dual port system is beneficial. In this condition, the air in the intake manifold will be pressurized. If the OEM PCV system is left untouched, the pressurized air in the intake will make its way into the crankcase. The primary suction source check valve will close and the secondary suction source/catch can exit port #2 will open. The Supercharger impeller will create suction for the catch can to evacuate the crankcase.
- The catch can should take care of about 95% of the contaminated air in the crankcase. For the other 5% of air, a clean side separator is used. Inside of the CSS is a mesh filter.
Mounting the Catch Can
I repurposed the OEM Air Conditioning Accumulator bracket to mount the catch can. I experimented with some of the brackets supplied in the Elite Engineering cut, but ultimately felt this to be the best solution. I cut off the circular clamp part of the Accumulator bracket and drilled two bolt holes to mount the Elite Engineering supplied circular clamp. The studs for the accumulator bracket on the firewall are shown below and the nuts are ¼”-20.
Catch Can Inlet Port
This is the dirty air entering the catch can. The Catch Can inlet port for this vehicle will be the PCV valve located in the rear of the lower intake. The PCV valve will be retained, as well as the OEM mesh filter beneath it. The barb size on the OEM PCV valve is 3/8”. The hoses used on my catch can system are -8AN (1/2”). So, I routed the hose from the catch can inlet port to the PCV valve and used a ½”-to-3/8” barb splitter.
Primary Suction Port – Inlet Port #1
The first exit port on the catch can for this vehicle will be the Upper Intake (I chose the fitting on top of the catch can closest to the firewall for this). Basically, the catch can inlet port and the first exit port will be installed inline of the OEM PCV hose routing. For my specific application, I have a Trickflow Intake and so the port is on the driver side. This will be a 3/8” NPT to ½” hose barb 90° fitting. Inline of this inlet port #1 line is a check valve with the flow away from the catch can.
Secondary Suction Source – Inlet Port #2
The Exit Port #2 on this catch can will go to the Supercharger inlet. I have a cast aluminum Vortech inlet duct (P/N 7S400-000) here with a ¼” NPT fitting on top that I used. So this is a 1/4” NPT to ½” 90° barb fitting. Inline of this hose will be another check valve, once again with flow direction away from the catch can.
Clean Side Separator
The clean side separator will take the place of the oil fill cap. In this case, the OEM hose from the Oil Fill Tube port to the Throttle body must be removed and both nipples must be capped. The CSS is actually comprised of two parts: an adapter that threads into the oil fill tube, and the CSS itself. The other end of the Clean Side hose will connected to anywhere between the MAF and Supercharger, but at least 1-2” downstream of MAF. I utilized the port in my power Pipe which would have normally went to the bypass valve (I have a maxflow bypass valve mounted on the Supercharger discharge tube). This is a ¾” NPT to ½” 90° barb.
Completed Image
Follow-Up Notes:
- Per Elite Engineering Tech Support, the catch can system should be sized to your power levels. “The E2-X is fine up to 10-12# of boost and 500-600 HP. Over that the Ultra System is good to 1000 whp plus.” For my application of 460rwhp at 14# boost, I was told I am right on the edge of needing the ultra.
- Dimensions of the E2-X Can with fittings: 9.625” Height by 3.09” diameter.
- The check valves can be anywhere in their respective lines, insofar as the direction of flow is away from the catch can.
It was recommended by Elite Engineering to connect the secondary/catch can exit port #2 to a venturi barb at the supercharger inlet. This would be a barb where the open end is in the airstream and is angled slightly towards the impeller (45° ideal) or if the barb is not angled, the opening in the airstream could be beveled at a 45° angle, with the cut side towards the impeller. This is to create a low pressure area inside of the barb and to ensure that this line is always an evacuation line. Right now I do not have that (upon a phone discussion with Elite Engineering, the engineer stated that a barb perpendicular to the air stream may work). I tried to take a crankcase pressure reading at either the dipstick tube or oil fill port tube and could not achieve a rating. I want to do this to verify the system is functioning as desired under boost, or, if not, I may need to make the necessary modifications to the supercharger inlet duct. I am using a Harbor Freight fuel pump and vacuum tester, P/N 62637. Any ideas here?
Review of the company, Elite Engineering
- First and foremost, don’t expect to be able to get ahold of them via telephone. I tried more than several times with no luck. All communication and purchasing was handled over email, which was very frustrating at times.
- Not all components were included in the kit, even though they were requested. As my vehicle was not part of their drop-down list on their product website, it ended up being a custom order. Even though all necessary components were specified prior to purchasing, they were still left out. This delayed the install. A friend of mine ordered the E2-X Ultra system for his Camaro ZL1 at the same time as me and was also missing components.
- Quality was concerning.
- One of the mounting brackets in the box already had its paint flaking.
- The can’s c-clamp was already marred new out-of-box. I was told they were in the middle of a manufacturing process change. I was shipped out a new one with a superb finish, but I should have never been sent the original piece.
- The same friend as stated above had the threads on his can (again, new, out-of-box) so fubar’d, the can would not screw back on. Elite Engineering stated that the can is not meant to be unscrewed and they would not replace the can for him (so he returned the system, as I would have, too).
- The Engineer was surely great to talk to and certainly knew his stuff, so much that I stopped talking to the sales rep and only talked to the engineer (Jason). The CSS adapter in my kit had a helix screw type which is not correct for the Foxbody OEM passenger valve cover. He quickly had a new adapter milled with the correct screw type, which I was extremely impressed by his turnaround time and willingness to assist.
- My conclusion: Be cautious ordering from Elite Engineering. Request to speak to Jason.