160 http://www.4X4australia.com.augear
PRODUCT TEST – FLASHLUBE CATCH CAN PROAVAILABLE FROM:
http://www.fl ashlube.com
RRP: $280
WE SAY: Should be fi tted
to every EGR diesel.RATED
S
OME say it’s like farting in your own
air cylinder, while others suggest it’s
like plumbing the sewer into your
drinking water. Then there are the ones
that reckon it’s the same as re-ingesting
your own vomit. Either way, none of the
above sound particularly palatable, but
they’re all apt metaphors for what’s going
on when oily fumes are directed back into
your engine.
If you haven’t cottoned on to what we’re
jabbering on about, many common-rail
diesel engines have a major fault: the
spent gases and dirty fumes are redirected
back into the engine using EGR (exhaust
gas recirculation), often via inlet manifolds,
turbos and intercoolers.
Yep, they pipe dirty, oily gases back
into what should be kept free from oil and
sludge. Theoretically, there should only be
dry soot flowing through these pipes, but
the oily fumes turn that soot into sludge,
which in turn blocks up everything it comes
in contact with.
Why? It’s all in the name of cleanliness –
not for the engine, but for the environment.
It seems those desk-grinders that make
the emission rules have deemed it okay to
bugger an engine for the sake of keeping
air pollution down. Don’t get me wrong;I’m all for keeping air clean, but surely
there’s a better way to achieve the results
without damaging the internals of our
modern, powerful, efficient and extremely
expensive engines.
To counter this, the aftermarket industry
has designed an extremely simple fix: the
Catch Can. While other methods have been
developed to filter out the dirty fumes that
enter your engine’s inlets, the Flashlube
Catch Can Pro offers more protection
with the inclusion of pressure relief and
vacuum relief valves, so as not to over-
pressurise the engine, which could lead to
other failures.
The Flashlube model also features free-
flowing, large-diameter inlet and outlet
ports of 19mm (notably the same diameter
as the pipes on my engine), a replaceable
filter and a rotating head to aid in fitting.
It’s all compact enough to fit into the most
overcrowded engine bays.
The Catch Can Pro will ensure your
inlet manifold stays clean, it will prevent
your intercooler and turbo from clogging
up with oil and gunk, and it will also keep
sensors clean to enable them to perform
as designed.
For installation on my TDV8 Troopy,
fitting the Catch Can Pro was a simpleprocess of intercepting the air line going
from the rocker cover to the air intake
hose (which goes from the air filter to the
turbo), and then installing the Catch Can
in-line and mounting it next to the battery.
Once installed, the Flashlube Catch
Can Pro filters the fumes via the airflow
passing through the in-built replaceable
filter and allows clean air to pass into
the turbo, intercooler and inlet manifold.
The clean air then travels into the engine,
which satisfies all emission regulations, as
opposed to EGR.
The kit comes complete with a drain
hose and tap, which I’ve installed directly
below the Catch Can Pro on the chassis rail.
This allows easy drainage of the captured
oil into a container, for proper disposal.
This can be done at regular service
intervals and should only take a minute or
two. Another advantage of capturing waste
oil is that if you find an abnormal amount
of oil in the can, something might be amiss
with your engine.
The Flashlube Catch Can Pro keeps
engine internals clean and free-flowing,
which improves overall performance.
Keeping that gunk out of where it should
never have been in the first place can only
be a good thing for your engine!IN THE CAN
WORDS AND PHOTOS MARK ALLEN
KEEP YOUR COMMON-RAIL DIESEL ENGINE
FRESH WITH THE FLASHLUBE CATCH CAN PRO.