[frosty31]

3800 miles later i found this. Is that normal? A full can of gooy rust colored substance. I was led to believe it would catch much less than that, and had anticapated a substance darker like when you change the oil. I have been having the local dealer do oil changes. Should i be conserned about what i found? Thanks

 

[TikiMan]

That doesn't look good. You should 'not' be seeing that. Post up a pic of your install.

 

[bones007]

what the Heck? something is not right... how is your can installed?

 

[challengerfan56]

What kind of oil are they using?

 

[ninjadave]

Ah yes, catch can chocolate milk. So your post made me think hmmm, I haven't checked mine in a while, let me go see whats up. This is what I found.



Which then made me think, hot damn. I changed my oil to Royal Purple right around 5100 miles, checked my catch can then and had just about enough to cover up the bottom of the can. That was back in October, still hot as hell. Now at the end of February and some real cold weather I'm almost to 8,000 miles. Super glad I decided to take a look. That's what was in my catch can. That's damn near full. Doing a cursory search of the interwebs this is what I was able to turn up:

"This is totally normal in cold weather due to condensation that builds up in the CC when the car cools off. It's going to collect water vapor, fuel, and oil all the time, but in cold weather there is more water in the mix, which gives it that color. It's also common for the can to fill up more often in colder weather because of this, so be sure to check/empty it more."

"I have noticed this the past 2 winters on my GTI with a catch can. Needs to be emptied twice as often in the winter (at least for me)."

So perhaps the cold weather could be affecting what you will find in your catch can. I just emptied and cleaned mine, it's already starting to get warmer down here. Give me a month and I'll tell you what I find again.

 

[orangepearlrtsteve]

Good info Dave! When I looked at your photo, I said, that oil has water in it... but the condensation answer does make sense. I need to go check mine!

So, I just went and checked my catch can, photo below. Mine just looked like oil, no gunk, no water & no rust.

 

[ninjadave]

So, I just went and checked my catch can, photo below. Mine just looked like oil, no gunk, no water & no rust.

That's good. Doing further searching I've actually found 2 results to this problem, one of which is quite disturbing. Blown head gasket, or condensation. Here is a post I've found that pretty much sums up all the other posts from people with the same problem.

"From what I've noticed on here, it seems to be semi-normal during the winter. I keep seeing posts on here about a similar chocolate-milk type mix and the answer almost always seems to be, "it's normal, because of the winter". I installed my catch can in late October so temps were down to the 50's and 60's, which was unusually high for that time. At first, I just had a little oil. Then I changed my oil in December so I went to empty it and whattya know?! Chocolate milk. I was nervous cause chocolate milky oil means a blown head gasket or a crack in the block somewhere. However, since this is only in the catch can and not in my oil pan, I'm sure it's just the colder air causing condensation then getting foamy because of the air passing in and out of the catch can. My car is running great and I'm not loosing any coolant or anything so that ruled out a cracked block or blown head gasket. I'm sure someone smarter than me will probably come up with a better answer though.

edit**also important to note, the catch can does tend to fill up quicker when it's colder so maybe check/empty it every other week or something like that. I get paid on the 1st and 15th so I try to do it around then. Just a handy reminder for myself."

"Normal.......when it's cold out the condensation is bad in the catch can."

What he said^^
We see it all the time this time of the year in our shops. Out of 40 cars in a day we may see 15 with "mayo" (thats what I call it)"

Down here in MS the weather can literally go from 23 degrees to 75 degrees in the same day. Mostly though it's been pretty cold. Back in October last year the oil in my catch can looked like oil, maybe a quarter of an inch covering the bottom. Now in February it looks exactly like chocolate milk. The first picture frosty31 posted, right when I saw it I thought the same thing... "that looks like it has water in it". Went and checked mine and I didn't think water, I thought, "By God, someone has snuck me a delicious drink in here."

The installation was done absolutely correct. Checked other areas of my car, the dip stick, the oil filler cap, all fine. Engine runs good. I'm going to start checking the CC in weekly intervals and see whats going on.

 

[frosty31]

Thanks for the respose guys.

Im pretty sure my install is correct after looking it over again, and i havent noticed any decreased performance. It als has been much colder than usual. It iswarming up here as well. I will check again i a week or two and report back what i find. It has been below freezing often for the last few months so im thinking you will need that kind of cold to get this. Here are some pics of my install. It was dark so second pic is difficult to see. Tried to get both distal hose clamps.

 

[bad8nti]

I think that ninjadave hit the nail onthe head. When I had my Magnum, it would get the milky, brownish color in the catch can. The oil on the dipstick was normal. The problem actually escalated when I wouldn't run the car to normal op temps(short trips). Problem went totally away with warmer weather. I haven't had this problem yet with my Challenger.