Throwback Thursday: Why Your Engine Needs An Air/Oil Separator

Wow, here we are again. Another Thursday is here. Let’s do everything we can to make it a good one. The arrival of this day after Humpday means another week is almost over, and it’s time for Throwback Thursday. This week, I thought we would take a look back to July 2019. That’s when we took a look at why an oil/air separator is so important when we published; Catch It If You Can: A Look At Moroso’s Air/Oil Separator.

During this install, we featured this misunderstood piece from Moroso Performance Products. We started by clearing the air since the air/oil separator is sometimes mistakenly called a catch can. A regular catch can simply traps the oil and keeps it out of the intake. However, catch cans are generally open to the atmosphere and cause issues like an oily engine compartment or an oil smell when the air conditioner comes on. The bigger problem is the fact that they are not EPA-compliant and usually bypass the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system.

catch can, air/oil separator

Here is an excellent example of what could be hiding in your engine’s intake manifold. The Moroso Air/Oil Separator will keep the oil out of the intake, allowing the engine to live longer and be more efficient.

The Moroso Air/Oil Separator does more than just catch the oil, it also keeps harmful crankcase vapors and moisture from going back into the intake manifold, which kills engine durability and performance. The Air/Oil separator also keeps the vehicle 100-percent emissions-compliant in all 50 states, so you don’t have to worry about the EPA coming down on you for anything illegal.

In the original article, Thor Schroeder, marketing and new product manager at Moroso explained, “a properly baffled catch can will contain the residual oil and moisture, but the excess crankcase vapors are vented to the atmosphere typically by the catch can’s breather. If a catch can is plumbed inline in a PCV system, then these vented crankcase vapors throw emission compliance out the window and affect the PCV role.

catch can, air/oil separator

This image shows how much oil was going back through our intake manifold over a few weeks. The Moroso Air/Oil Separator did an outstanding job keeping the oil out of the intake of our 5.3-liter engine.

“The Moroso Air/Oil Separator has billet-aluminum bodies with heavy-duty brass inlet and outlet fittings. There is a center divider baffle that separates the “In” and “Out” ports, mesh media between the ports and the divider baffle, and mesh media under the divider wall with a perforated baffle under the divider wall and mesh media. The oil separated from the air in the media drips down into the bottom of the body of the Air/Oil Separator. This collected oil is then drained by the vehicle’s owner every 1,000 or so miles.”

There is a lot more interesting and what might seem surprising information in the original article, and to learn more, you really need to check out Catch It If You Can: A Look At Moroso’s Air/Oil Separator. Check back often, as we’ll be sure to bring you more great tech you can use.

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About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
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