Oil Catch Cans - Another Side To The Saga

[1RADKIA]

A close call for me... as I was almost convinced this was necessary. If you want another opinion, I suggest you watch “the truth about oil catch cans; should you fit one to your car” hosted by Autoexpert.com John Cadogan on YouTube. Afterwards, you may find it fun to watch his review on the Kia Stinger. You can HEAR whatever you want to listen to... deciphering fact vs. fiction is always another whole challenge. ..just sayin. Cheers, db

 

[Wan El Guapo]

I've watched a few of his vids. More often than not I disagree with John and he often misses the details or over simplifies and makes pretty bold assumptions without offering any real data/research to back it up. Mostly I find his videos are his opinions stated as facts (kinda like this post). So what makes him an expert anyway?

 

[1RADKIA]

Wan El Guapo:
My post is truly an opinion. Facts vs. opinions are for those who care, to decipher. In the oil catch can topic, as I see it, here are some facts;
* catch cans were NOT engineered into the Kia Stinger design. * Oil catch cans DO catch oil. * oil catch cans will cost the consumer additional money. * oil catch cans are NOT installed by authorized Kia dealerships and WILL void the vehicles mechanical warranty * oil catch cans MAY somehow lesson or alleviate a problem that has been perceived yet not proven (at least with this engine). I’m sure there are more as well.

Fact is, WE can prove all day long this chip or that exhaust will make your Stinger faster/louder and so much more. Even more than it was designed to be. WE can back these facts with quarter mile run sheets and dyno results. This can and will continue...

My post is because I’m finally settling in with why I bought this car to begin with. It’s design is excellent. It’s look is flattering. And it’s likelihood of safe/reliable performance is almost assured by Kia’s exceptional warranty (vs. other manufactures). The kid in me starts falling by way of this re-engineering and race/performance stuff.... and sometimes, the maturity sets in and I start thinking things through. I’m jUst trying to remind the folks out there, there’s much more to this than on the surface. It’s OK to like the Stinger for what it is - an awesome GT car.

On the downside, the parent/grandparent in me fears the day I read a headline where some Stinger owner racing on the streets hurts themselves or even worse, someone innocent. I’m just a bit tired of seeing this forum turning more and more into a “I Beat This” or “I raced This” spot. Maybe I’m too old.... too mature... or have finally stopped in the “I’ve got a bigger ____ game. Once again - purely my opinion.

To all my fellow Stinger owners; drive proud - drive safe.... and drive with a smile. Cheers, db

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Well said & as an older bloke I couldn’t agree more with your complete above statement....cheers to you....

 

[Wan El Guapo]

Wan El Guapo:
My post is truly an opinion. Facts vs. opinions are for those who care, to decipher. In the oil catch can topic, as I see it, here are some facts;
* catch cans were NOT engineered into the Kia Stinger design. * Oil catch cans DO catch oil. * oil catch cans will cost the consumer additional money. * oil catch cans are NOT installed by authorized Kia dealerships and WILL void the vehicles mechanical warranty * oil catch cans MAY somehow lesson or alleviate a problem that has been perceived yet not proven (at least with this engine). I’m sure there are more as well.

Fact is, WE can prove all day long this chip or that exhaust will make your Stinger faster/louder and so much more. Even more than it was designed to be. WE can back these facts with quarter mile run sheets and dyno results. This can and will continue...

My post is because I’m finally settling in with why I bought this car to begin with. It’s design is excellent. It’s look is flattering. And it’s likelihood of safe/reliable performance is almost assured by Kia’s exceptional warranty (vs. other manufactures). The kid in me starts falling by way of this re-engineering and race/performance stuff.... and sometimes, the maturity sets in and I start thinking things through. I’m jUst trying to remind the folks out there, there’s much more to this than on the surface. It’s OK to like the Stinger for what it is - an awesome GT car.

On the downside, the parent/grandparent in me fears the day I read a headline where some Stinger owner racing on the streets hurts themselves or even worse, someone innocent. I’m just a bit tired of seeing this forum turning more and more into a “I Beat This” or “I raced This” spot. Maybe I’m too old.... too mature... or have finally stopped in the “I’ve got a bigger ____ game. Once again - purely my opinion.

To all my fellow Stinger owners; drive proud - drive safe.... and drive with a smile. Cheers, db

An OCC is added by owners that want to prevent a problem, it doesn't do anything for immediate horsepower or performance. Here is another opinion from YT, a well known automotive personality

I do not claim to be an expert, in fact I've never done anything more complicated than a brake job.
It is impossible for the average car owner to prove that an OCC is required as you'd have to have at least two (preferably more) cars driven under the same conditions with the same engine oil and gasoline. But there are signs to indicate that turbocharged Direct injection engines do suffer from intake valve carbon buildup especially since these types of engines have been around for at least a decade. Audi, VW and BMW owners know about carbon buildup and the costly cleaning process. A quick search on walnut blasting will prove my point. Then Toyota starts offering dual port and direct injection on their engines. Why? Explained: Why Some Engines Have Both Port and Direct Injection | Feature | Car and Driver
It's more costly to do both, but the port injection will now reintroduce gasoline on the back of the intake valves and thus clean them off. The video I linked offers a good explanation. The average person icant be bothered to have to manage another thing like draining an OCC. And I guess installation of one is admitting there is a problem.

 

[Volvowith18psi]

Wan El Guapo:
* oil catch cans are NOT installed by authorized Kia dealerships and WILL void the vehicles mechanical warranty *

This is absolutely false.

 

[StingerNYC]

I spoke to my local KIA service department and they said they have a 'valve cleaning kit' for when I begin to experience rough idle, stuttering in the future. Do catch cans solve that? I can't say for sure, but I did look around and have yet to find a video where someone with catch cans have a problem with carbon build up.


No Thanks.

 

[1RADKIA]

Wan El Guapo: excellent video. Thanks for that.
Volvowith18psi: maybe our representative from Kia of Muncie (or some other dealership) can chime in on install and warranty. I'll certainly check with my local Kia dealer.
My personal opinion on this: it can't hurt our vehicles to install a OCC, UNLESS, it somehow voids or impacts the mechanical warranty.

 

[Volvowith18psi]

There is nothing to check brother.

And talking with a dealer is bad news. You need to know your facts because the dealer is full of it 90% of the time. You have a vast body of knowledge here, and I would trust the internet and forums more than a dealer rep. Most of those people are just regular Joes working their 9-5. There are not motorheads like us.

Ima rant here some. If you honestly believe an OCC will "void your warranty" and "need to check with a dealer" then you should NOT be installing any aftermarket items period.

 

[mldavis2]

The two pieces of advice from Kia related to valve deposits:
1) Use only "top tier" fuels (see toptiergas.com for a list of outlets) which contain verified additives
2) Use a cleaner additive at oil change intervals (such as Chevron Techron)

There is nothing in the service interval listing for valve cleaning, just adjustment check at 60,000 miles

 

[Weareblondi]

i agree with volvo, but not as vehemently. any modifications that are done have to be proven to have caused any mechanical failure. so, that being said, if you were to open up the block, changed the valves and cams, put everything back together and the engine blew up, your dealer would tell you to pound sand because they can see that you have changed items. these are external, and, there have been many performance cars with occ's in the past. we can argue for and against for days and still not come to a conclusion. any mods done to "your" car are for you, not for anyone else. you want to add purple cans, go for it. hks plugs, knock yourself out. it won't void the warranty. now, as for the comment from volvo about reps being 9-5'ers, i know and am friends with plenty of techs, service mgrs and salespeople who are gearheads. and i mean serious gearheads. including the ones at my kia dealership. who are waiting to see how much power can be gotten out of the stinger. besides the fact that they all have mega-boosted rides in the parking lot for all to see. not every rep is the same. and for davis, i have never used any of the recommended items for my cars. neither oil, cleansers, etc. i will not use a branded oil (ex, bmw, mercedes, etc) because it generally is 10-15% more expensive and is the same as any high quality oil. no oil company is going to make a specific blended motor oil for a small percentage of cars on the road, which means that they are using commercially available oils. the volvo i used to have, an s60R, that i bought new, was required to use their brand of oil. found out it was mobil one. i could get mobil one at costco for like 3 bucks per and they wanted to charge me 15 bucks per. 15 bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no wonder the sales manager had a porsche while the salemen were driving 10 year old p.o.s. toyotas. ok, i am done pontificating.

 

[mldavis2]

@Weareblondi, the oil only must meet a minimum of GF-4 specs. If it does not it's your risk of warranty refusal on engine or turbo failure. Mobil 1 is GF-5 and exceeds specs and you can buy it at Costco. I've used it for years in my LS2, LS96 and now my Stinger. I'd call Mobil 1 a "branded" oil. Not sure what you are getting at.

Techron goes way back to my old '75 Saab EMS 2.0T days and it works. I'm a chemist so I know a bit about solvents. Additives like Techron contain polyetheramines that will dissolve carbon deposits and allow the engine to burn them off. There are videos available using a borescope that show before and after effects of using PEA additives. Top tier fuels are also required to contain a certain number of additives in order to receive that rating, and Kia specifies their use in their turbo engines. This is from the Stinger Owner's Manual:

 

[Mach_Tuck]

The two pieces of advice from Kia related to valve deposits:
1) Use only "top tier" fuels (see toptiergas.com for a list of outlets) which contain verified additives
2) Use a cleaner additive at oil change intervals (such as Chevron Techron)

There is nothing in the service interval listing for valve cleaning, just adjustment check at 60,000 miles

I asked about this "interval" as i noticed it was NOT int he manual either. Service Adviser stated its an "as needed" service.

 

[mldavis2]

I asked about this "interval" as i noticed it was NOT int he manual either. Service Adviser stated its an "as needed" service.

Yes, that's the way I read it -- if you are not using top tier fuel. On my old '75 Saab it was a tune-up in a bottle. Amazing what a difference it made on that old engine.

 

[Weareblondi]

@Weareblondi, the oil only must meet a minimum of GF-4 specs. If it does not it's your risk of warranty refusal on engine or turbo failure. Mobil 1 is GF-5 and exceeds specs and you can buy it at Costco. I've used it for years in my LS2, LS96 and now my Stinger. I'd call Mobil 1 a "branded" oil. Not sure what you are getting at.

Techron goes way back to my old '75 Saab EMS 2.0T days and it works. I'm a chemist so I know a bit about solvents. Additives like Techron contain polyetheramines that will dissolve carbon deposits and allow the engine to burn them off. There are videos available using a borescope that show before and after effects of using PEA additives. Top tier fuels are also required to contain a certain number of additives in order to receive that rating, and Kia specifies their use in their turbo engines. This is from the Stinger Owner's Manual:

View attachment 9974

branded as in BMW spec oil, or Volvo spec oil, sorry, sometimes my fingers can't catch up to my brain when it's running amok. and as for top tier fuels, i agree with you on that, tech manual notwithstanding.

 

[MackyGio]

@Weareblondi, the oil only must meet a minimum of GF-4 specs. If it does not it's your risk of warranty refusal on engine or turbo failure. Mobil 1 is GF-5 and exceeds specs and you can buy it at Costco. I've used it for years in my LS2, LS96 and now my Stinger. I'd call Mobil 1 a "branded" oil. Not sure what you are getting at.

Techron goes way back to my old '75 Saab EMS 2.0T days and it works. I'm a chemist so I know a bit about solvents. Additives like Techron contain polyetheramines that will dissolve carbon deposits and allow the engine to burn them off. There are videos available using a borescope that show before and after effects of using PEA additives. Top tier fuels are also required to contain a certain number of additives in order to receive that rating, and Kia specifies their use in their turbo engines. This is from the Stinger Owner's Manual:

View attachment 9974

I just want to receive this because there is a ton of debate about catch cans for our stingers. I live in Canada awhere our winters get pretty cold. Ive heard of users catch cans suffering from blockage and notes blowing cause of it being too cold. I'm on the fence about this and carbon build up .the YouTuber Scotty Kilmer says to install catch cans in GDI engines which our stinger has but if I use 94 octane and mobile 1 extended performance oil, can I mitigate carbon buildup and not have much issues for 5-7 years? Or must I find oils that have chemicals to help remove the buildup. Would amsoil be one of these?

Thank you in advance.

 

[SKStinger]

I just want to receive this because there is a ton of debate about catch cans for our stingers. I live in Canada awhere our winters get pretty cold. Ive heard of users catch cans suffering from blockage and notes blowing cause of it being too cold. I'm on the fence about this and carbon build up .the YouTuber Scotty Kilmer says to install catch cans in GDI engines which our stinger has but if I use 94 octane and mobile 1 extended performance oil, can I mitigate carbon buildup and not have much issues for 5-7 years? Or must I find oils that have chemicals to help remove the buildup. Would amsoil be one of these?

Thank you in advance.

Honestly you'll probably be fine in 5 years and won't HAVE to do anything but you will have carbon build up and this will impact performance. If keeping your engine performance close to new is important to you than that is a reason to go with a catch can at low mileage. I didn't have one on my Audi A5 3.2 V6 and had it carbon cleaned after 7 years of ownership. It was polluted with carbon and it felt like a brand new car after it was cleaned.

Therefore, the first thing I added to my Stinger was a catch can and after only 1,000 km's I had a good 1/4 inch of nasty oil in the can. I only did the PCV side as I think two is a bit overkill but I would say having at least one is 100% worthwhile. For me the value is there as a carbon cleaning is way more expensive and intrusive than a catch can.

The quality/grade of the motor oil / fuel is not going to impact carbon build up. Any petroleum that gets through the PCV into the intake manifold is going to cake and buildup. This will make the car feel sluggish and unresponsive. It may also shudder on cold starts, also a symptom of carbon build-up.

I have yet to hear of them not working in the cold weather. Just drain it frequently.

 

[MackyGio]

Honestly you'll probably be fine in 5 years and won't HAVE to do anything but you will have carbon build up and this will impact performance. If keeping your engine performance close to new is important to you than that is a reason to go with a catch can at low mileage. I didn't have one on my Audi A5 3.2 V6 and had it carbon cleaned after 7 years of ownership. It was polluted with carbon and it felt like a brand new car after it was cleaned.

Therefore, the first thing I added to my Stinger was a catch can and after only 1,000 km's I had a good 1/4 inch of nasty oil in the can. I only did the PCV side as I think two is a bit overkill but I would say having at least one is 100% worthwhile. For me the value is there as a carbon cleaning is way more expensive and intrusive than a catch can.

The quality/grade of the motor oil / fuel is not going to impact carbon build up. Any petroleum that gets through the PCV into the intake manifold is going to cake and buildup. This will make the car feel sluggish and unresponsive. It may also shudder on cold starts, also a symptom of carbon build-up.

I have yet to hear of them not working in the cold weather. Just drain it frequently.

Thank you for the information. I might go ahead with a catch can since I do want the performance aspect later down the road. Do you know how big of an impact carbon build up will do? Like is it significant to the point of seconds being lost off a run or tenths of a second? IveI got about 2k km on the vehicle so far should clean off the carbon with sea foam before installing the catch can or so you think it's still okay? Thanks again .

 

[SKStinger]

Thank you for the information. I might go ahead with a catch can since I do want the performance aspect later down the road. Do you know how big of an impact carbon build up will do? Like is it significant to the point of seconds being lost off a run or tenths of a second? IveI got about 2k km on the vehicle so far should clean off the carbon with sea foam before installing the catch can or so you think it's still okay? Thanks again .

Over time it will definitely add time to your run to 100 but with only 2,000 km's you are just past break-in and adding a catch can now would be ideal. No need to do anything intrusive like a sea-foam application at this point.

 

[MackyGio]

Over time it will definitely add time to your run to 100 but with only 2,000 km's you are just past break-in and adding a catch can now would be ideal. No need to do anything intrusive like a sea-foam application at this point.

Sounds great. Will get one and add it in. This doesn't increase the chances with voiding wanted for the engine does it? I know they have to prove it and all but some dealerships Ive been too are pretty anal about things.