Oil in the intake and catch can

I have a '96 3.8L.
I have had a small amount of oil that drips down out of the throttle body.....If you don't keep you engine really clean, you will not notice it.
The intake manifold has a small amount of oil that is drawn in through the PCV line. Some drips out as I mentioned, the rest is drawn on into the intake manifold, and into the engine.

I decided to try a catch can installation.
Catch cans are popular on turbo charged and super charged engines, as they draw much more oil and blow by into the intake through the PCV system.
The operation of a catch can is very simple.
The line from the PCV valve is run to the catch can, and another line from the catch can goes on to the intake.
The air from the valve cover flows through the PCV valve as it did before....drawing out the blowby and vapors. The air flows through the catch can.....dropping the liquids.....and continues on into the intake.
Slowing the airflow down inside the drip can gives the vapors a chance to condense out and settle in the catch can.....instead of the intake manifold.

I bought a catch can (the one with 9mm hose fittings), and installed it in between the radiator coolant overflow bottle and the fill neck for the windshield washer fluid.
I bought a length of 3/8" fuel line, and ran it from one connection on the catch can directly to the PCV valve.
I used the 3/8" line that came with the catch can to go from the other connection on the catch can to the stiff plastic line that the original PCV hose connected to.
I used several cable ties (zip ties) to secure the catch can to the washer fluid neck....and put a rag under the catch can to silence any rattle.
The catch can has a level indicator to let me know what the fluid level in the catch can is. When it gets near full, you drain it out and dispose of as you would used engine oil.

I posted a couple of pictures of this new toy in the pictures that you will get to from the link in my signature....they are at the end of the pictures.

Please take note that the catch can instructions stated that it is not legal for street use (non race track) in CA

wiswind -

Thanks for the info and pictures (for those trying to find them: They're on page 7 of his Webshots gallery).

This is a common problem for some vehicles. I did the isolator-bolt fix on my 2000 Windstar, including the revised valve cover, so my van shouldn't have PCV oil problems (he said hopefully).

However, it turns out this is a common issue for my Contour v6. The extra oil from the PCV line ends up creating lots of gook in the intake. The Contour V6 has a fairly complex manifold with IMRC; it's well-known in Contour circles that once the intakes get dirty, disassembly and manual cleaning is the only effective solution (why yes, mine is currently in desperate need of cleaning; haven't gotten to that project yet)

Several Contour V6 owners have had good results with various oil separators. Some have built their own separators (think PVC pipe and brass pipe fittings), while others have used Steeda's oil separator:

http://www.steeda.com/store/-catalog/555-3710.htm

One thing I like about the Steeda unit: It's easy to drain the accumulated oil without tools (provided it's mounted someplace convenient). But it's pricey. Hmmm - it's suspiciously similar to this:

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/shop_cart/pg_print_product.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=shop_cart%2fpg_print_product.jsp&prod_id=169654

...which only costs $12, instead of $70.

wiswind - Have you used the catch can enough to see how quickly it fills up?

Later edit:

Here's lots of info on making your own separator: http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~briana/AirOilSeparator.pdf

It has only been on for a couple of days......so too early to tell.
As I mentioned, with the Motorcraft PCV valve, the '96 3.8L is not known to have a "problem" with the oil in the intake. Most any vehicle will have some.....if the PCV system is doing it's job.
I have only needed to clean the EGR ports 1 time in my ownership of this vehicle. I bought it in '99 with just under 38K miles, and needed to clean them due to a misfire on cylinder #4 at 140K miles.
I had the upper intake off a few months ago....and they were still clear at 166K miles.
It is the combination of the EGR gasses an the oil vapors in the intake that creates the tar that clogs the EGR ports.....right where the EGR gasses meet the air in the intake manifold.

I looked around....ended up buying the Greddy unit for about $83, including shipping. Then I needed to add about $6 of fuel line.....the light colored line came with the unit. Bought a couple of hose clamps......and a few cable ties to hold it in place.

I cleaned the EGR ports on my 2000 when I did the isolator bolt fix, at about 70K miles. Very few deposits were evident; no sign that it would have gotten anywhere near clogging the port anytime soon.