I have owned 2 turbo cars in my life. First was a stock 1.8t Audi TT that we never had issues with until it just plain got old. The new turbo car is a built 2.0t Golf with a catch can.
When I bought the car this fall I knew it would probably have issues as I bought something the previous owner of the previous owner built. I was told that I had to empty the, maybe 12oz, catch can once a month. OK, no problems.
Last Saturday I had to empty it as it was very full and ended up being expanded from freezing. That was at about 5 weeks since last empty.
This morning, 4 days later, I was on my way to work and smoke, along with the misfiring from the contaminants. I think the thing is full and frozen again (-2* when I left).
I love this car and expected to have to do the head or a rebuild this summer and the next 2 projects are going to be boosted (1 SCed and 1 turboed) so I guess it is time to learn boosted E36 M3.
The Golf hits 25# of boost when I put my knee to the floorboards, and I do. You would too, the thing is rowdy AF when you are there. Weeeeeeeee!!!!
4 days though?
Am I looking at valve seals? Rings? I have no clue.
Please enlighten me.
This is a bucket list car so it will see some money.
At least if I have to get deep into the engine I will know how it is built when I am done. I have no idea how it is currently and have been kind of waiting to spit a stock rod out of the new window in th block since it is a gas job pushed at 25psi.
I wouldn't run a catch can that small on an NA engine...In fact my catch can sits in the battery box and I built it to battery size because the space was there. I've seen way too many engines, both NA and boosted that run those small catch cans have nothing but trouble with them. What I've learned is build or install the biggest catch can that you can fit, baffles are a plus, plumb with one (if not two) large lines (bigger the better) and make sure the can has plenty of ventilation (distance and baffles away from feed lines). Hooking up your feed lines from a low oil splash area in the engine is a huge help also.
For example....small catch can with small feed line (8AN) hooked to valve cover over a cam is going to fill up quite fast then hose anything near it with oil. Changing to a Large can, with dual 10AN or even 12AN lines, feed hooked to an area without direct oil splash (or protected by a large baffle plate), and one large or two smaller filter vents on the can that are away from the feed line and a series of baffles in between will be a setup that properly vents pressure without moving much oil with it.
I've seen so many small people have problems because the system was a poor design. Problems ranged from constant need to drain like yours to oil spray everywhere under the hood and even a blown up engine that hydro locked (they foolishly had it hooked to the intake tract)
I was sick of oil always leaking from the valve cover vents on my V8 and getting all over the heads and headers. Plus it leaked around the oil pan too. I fabricated my battery size catch can with baffles and two filter vents (same typical V8 valve cover size), used two 12AN feed lines and ran them through the intake manifold into the valley instead of the valve covers. Valve covers had the ideal baffle and still leaked oil, moving to the valley put the feed lines away a couple inches away from any oil splash. End result was no more oil leaks and after a full season of track events and street driving the catch can had a whole 1/4" deep of fluid in it....most of which was condensation.
Assuming it's installed and working correctly, it's blow by.
Rings
Valve seals often get blamed for oil related problems. It's almost never valve seals.
Just a little guy and -8 or -10 AN, I did not measure. It was at the "Full" line after the thaw. When it freezes and expands all the oil on top gets fed to the intake. Smokey the Golf then ensues.
Install looks legit to me, but as I said I know not much about turbo cars. Left AN is out, right is in, then plastic to the intake.
I figured it was rings and time for a rebuild. Slight bummer because I'd rather spend the money on another project. On the plus side it will be nice to know what is in this engine for parts. 25psi of boost scares me on stock internals.
Most of that install looks legit, but those lines are way too long. Angle both fittings on the engine towards the catch can, and make the lines shorter. Those are reusable hose ends, so should be easy to do. That setup is asking for freezing issues in cold weather, or puddling where the line might fill with oil in a low spot.
Does the valve cover in these have a decent oil separator built in, or was the separator part removed when that plate was added? Some cars have a great baffle setup, some don't. Filling that can up in 4 days is pretty darn quick.
Rings and valve guides/seals would be my guess. I'll counter Mr Peabody in that I did the bottom end on an aftermarket-turbo older BMW I built because it was blowing oil, and it barely made a difference. A head rebuild with new guides and seals fixed it. Backpressure from the turbo means lots of pressure in the manifold and ports, and that only increases the more boost you run/the more restrictive the turbo is. Worn guides and valve guide seals can let that pressure go straight into the head, and then straight out the breather.
I had another engine (single cylinder 450 dirt bike) with a similar issue. Tons of carryover with an airbox full of oil. New piston and coated cylinder did nothing, and both were in good enough shape that I should have known better. Turns out one of the valve stems had worn through the coating (nitrided titanium valves) and the stem was 1+mm narrower than it should have been, making a really nice passage for exhaust gas to go into the head and then straight out the breather. Oddly, the seal still looked fine, but the clearance between the valve stem and the guide was what was really causing the problem.
It's probably rings, but all I'm saying is if you're in there anyway, take a good hard look at the valves, guides, and seals too.
Running high boost, there's going to be some blowby. The metal plate on the head replaces a PCV selector/separator and gives the ability to run a catch can. The whole point is to keep the oil out of the intake tract, mitigating oil buildup in the intercooler and carbon buildup on the intake valves. That out of the way, it looks like everything is hooked up correctly; is the catch can keeping things clean in the intake side when it's not full? it looks a LOT like the CTS Turbo catch can, and that one's not supposed to function as a catch can, but more an air-oil separator. It even mentions a cold weather warning.
My 2 gripes with the pictured setup would be that the can should be much closer to engine heat to thaw any condensation as fast as possible, and that there doesn't appear to be an oil drain port returning to the crankcase. Mess with those things before worrying too much about rings at this point.
In reply to sobe_death :
It is that exact CTS can. It seems to be set up as they designed. I will have to pay much more attention to it than once a month.
Thank you all that have responded. I am in new territory here and will take any advice I can so please keep it coming. As mentioned this car is a bucket list car that kinda fell in my lap when I was looking for a winter beater GTI. The fact that it is built is cool but kind of scary since I do not know what is in there besides the visuals. I still need to grab a mirror and see if the turbo has been upgraded too or if it is stock.
Does this retain the intake manifold vacuum assisted pcv? If so, try bypassing/capping it and only using the catch can for a day vented to atmosphere and see if it accumulates the same. Bad stock pcv can open the crankcase to full manifold vacuum and suck oil out. It usually goes through the motor, but now it has a chance to end up in the catch can.
Drove to work and back using the shift light (i.e. 6th gear is asked for at about 35mph). So 35 miles (plus maybe 10-15 after emptying yesterday) and some traffic leaving work and I had about 1/2" of fluid in the can. Most of it water. I still think that is way too much.
Another interesting find via the onboard computer. Today I averaged about 22mpg without putting the boost higher than maybe 5psi. The other day when I was ripping it up and found the trip mpg it was 7.6mpg.
Ol' Smokey is a thirsty beast under boost.
Compression test and leak down is in my future but, for now, I'll drive my age.
OE PCV systems are really well engineered. The problems they have are due mainly that it is a tough problem to solve: keep oil out while allowing wet air through.
This is where a lot of OE systems are heated, via electricity or coolant or both: keep the moisture from condensing out. Blowby gases are largely water.
preach (dudeist priest) s
The Golf hits 25# of boost when I put my knee to the floorboards, and I do. You would too, the thing is rowdy AF when you are there. Weeeeeeeee!!!!
Maybe back of the boost crackpipe there superchief? 
We don’t live in Florida or LA, I’m wondering if cold ambient is part of the problem? I’d vote get through the winter and see if it’s as bad in warmer weather. The fact that a lot of it is water (freezing) makes me wonder if most of what you’re seeing is condensation.
Edit: I’m guessing most of your commute is secondary roads based on your NH location and that I’m pretty sure your commute involves PNSY. Curious what you’d see if you took it on a highway run, an hour or two at operating temp?
11GTCS said:
Maybe back of the boost crackpipe there superchief? We don’t live in Florida or LA, I’m wondering if cold ambient is part of the problem? I’d vote get through the winter and see if it’s as bad in warmer weather. The fact that a lot of it is water (freezing) makes me wonder if most of what you’re seeing is condensation.
Edit: I’m guessing most of your commute is secondary roads based on your NH location and that I’m pretty sure your commute involves PNSY. Curious what you’d see if you took it on a highway run, an hour or two at operating temp?
Nice Sherlocking.
I have taken it to Groton, CT and back but it was not as cold as recently. That's about 3 hours one way depending on traffic.
Can is easy 90% water.
In reply to preach (dudeist priest) :
Yep, I'm very familiar with the Groton / New London area. Been a few years but suffice to say I know the roads from here to there quite well. The 90% water piece certainly points to condensation in the can and a three hour highway run is plenty of time at temp.
The saga continues. This CTS can is definitely a E36 M3ty thing in the winter. 2* today when I left the house. Ol' Smokey came in with a vengeance about 3 miles into the drive, fortunately I was right around the corner from my house as I was just trying to heat up the engine. 100% think my biggest issue is this condensation then freezing. Today was the lines I think...frozen.
Until I find a better solution for winter I made a horrible choice for a winter beater. If I find a solution I have an excellent winter beater.
12v heat tape that I have to turn on 10 mins before I drive? A different $500 PCV solution? Steal the wife's Charger on really cold days? Keep the Tacoma for now?
Pretty frustrated with my lack of knowledge here.
