In the last week, Toyota has announced pricing and specs for the 2024 70 Series LandCruiser. You can read all about that here. They also revealed that the 70 Series models powered by the 1GD 2.8L 4-cylinder motor, also found in the HiLux, Prado and Fortuner, will be fitted with an oil catch tank (their words) from factory. So while it’s good news for owners of the new LandCruiser, to me, it also shows (in my opinion) that Toyota engineers see the value in having a catch can fitted to your turbo-diesel four-wheel drive.
What does a catch can even do?
A catch can is a device that essentially acts as a bucket with a filter to collect and retain oil vapours instead of sending them back into your intake. They connect to your vehicle’s crankcase and filter blowby gases which will turn to thick sludge over time. This chokes the intake of your four-wheel drive’s engine. Not pretty stuff. This is why many people recommend fitting a catch can to prevent this issue.
This is especially true with brand-new vehicles. Fitting a good unit from day one will give your engine the best chance of living a long healthy life.
They stop more than oil
Catch cans will also block large amounts of condensation in cooler weather. This is especially noticeable with vehicles that did loads of stop-start driving, not allowing the engine to get hot enough to burn the condensation off.
The contents of the catch can look super gross too. As you can imagine, when oil and water mix it’s never pretty. For the benefit of your engine and bank account, I’d rather see this crud captured in a catch can instead of being fed through the intake system of your engine.
How can you pick a quality catch can?
The latest catch can on the market is the RCC360K crankcase filter kit from Ryco. Their previous RCC350 catch can was introduced in 2018, following up with the popular RCC351 catch can. The new RCC360 has the same features as the previous generation RCC315, but with a bunch of extra updates.
Starting with a clever service indicator that gives you a visual indicator when the filter needs to be changed. This takes the guess work out of catch can servicing.
Another unique design is the upper outlet position, which has been specifically designed to prevent contamination from returning to the engine. There’s also no external relief valve. What this means, is there is no chance of the unit leaking if the catch can is full or the filter becomes blocked.
Should you buy a kit?
In kit form, you want to see a complete fitting solution including but not limited to solid mounting brackets, quality hose clamps and sturdy oil-resistant hoses that are large enough in diameter to not impede flow and are form-fitting for a factory-looking fit.
Another extremely important design element of a good catch can is an integrated pressure relief valve. This will open up if excessive crankcase pressure is experienced, or more commonly if the filter becomes blocked. I’d not recommend ever running a catch can that doesn’t have a pressure relief valve. The best players in the industry include them for a reason.
Another key feature you want to see in a quality catch can, because let’s be honest a water bottle could be used as a catch can – but it will do a terrible job of it – is an internal filter that is easy to inspect, and cost-effective to replace when the time comes.
How to maintain your catch can?
We’ve already put together an article on this topic, so if you need tips on how to best maintain your catch can, read all about it here.
Where to buy a catch can?
If you’ve decided it’s time to buy a catch can, all you need to do is click this link, put in your postcode, and you’re on your way: https://rycofilters.com.au/-/where-to-buy
