Recently I installed a NM Catch Can on my Roadster. I serviced it yesterday for the first time after about 800 mi. of driving. Here's what I found...

Nice knowing that is not going into the intake tract.



-Steven

 

No wonder the valves carbon up.

 

Steven, IIRC, the JCW version of the '12 R-59 has the N-14 engine, right ? 2013 is the first year they used the N-18 variant engine.

Anxious to see if any of the '13 JCWs have a carbon build up issue or catch-cans that look like that after just a few hundred miles.

 

Yes, I'm running the N14 in the JCW. I'm not sure on the 2013 N18...maybe someone else can chime in.


-Steven

 

Thanks for confirming.

 

Don't worry you will have carbon issues! N14 or N18!

 

I have an N18 S. I haven't really caught much of anything...then again I'm in California and it doesn't really get that cold over here...

 

I live in N. Cal, and accumulate almost twice the qty you show in a two week period (07 R56-S). In that two week period I drive about 200 miles over country roads, ie, no freeway drones. Driving ranges from commute to sprited.

 

I should have mentioned that I seem to trap about 95% water and very little oil. I also dump into a measuing cup and let the oil and water separate to get an idea of the ratio. My car uses very little oil (aprox 0.5 qt over 3Kmiles). I check it every two weeks when I empty the CC.

 

Thanks for the info on the N18. It would be nice to hear from some more N18's running CC.
Thanks brumohr, I'm using very little oil as well. I know it's mostly water, but a little oil is obviously getting through as well. I'm hoping the CC will prolong engine performance past the 60,000 mi. interval...that would make it a good investment.



-Steven

 

Thats honestly astounding how much crud is thrown into our valves and intake. This def makes a OCC a very good investment. I hope more first time MINI buyers take a look at these threads and look into an OCC.

 

How important is this for the N18? I didn't really understand the changes I read that MINI made to the EGR, or how it helps.

 

Remember, the water collected is based on ENVIRONMENTAL factors like humidity and the relative dew point.
Condensation occurs when the tubes / can is cooler than the air being pulled through the system, which is almost 100% of the time.

My OCC catches only oil residue during the summer here in dry Colorado.
But the winter months pull much more water due to the humidity of the snow falls and the cooler temperatures making condensation occur.

- Erik

 

I would assume the water would not be contributing to the carbon buildup right?

 

My clubman is running N18. It is 11000 miles and I was worried about the carbon matter 2 weeks ago. I installed BSH OCC and have run about 150 miles now. The weather is getting cold here (SF Bay area). I think it is the best time to test it. I will let all guys here know how much oil/water it can catch after running 1,000 miles.

 

Correct, it's simply a by-product due to the surrounding environment.

- Erik

 

Yea......I've had my OCC since the car had 7k miles. It now has 17k and I have not caught anything? Not even condensation...is something wrong here? Maybe because the SoCal weather is basically warm year around?

Out of curiosity, how far down is the metal baffle suppose to go down into the can? I took a look and the top half is a solid metal plate and the bottom have is the baffle. It reaches about half way down the can. As a note, the dip stick has discolored.....showing that oil vapor is definitely there when driving.

 

I wouldn't say so.
Remember, with the N18 engine that you have, there was advances in the PCV system along with a different valve cover design.
Have you fully removed the can and tipped it over to see if there's anything collected?

That's how mine looks too; doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary.

- Erik

 

I have and nothing comes out. I've looked down the can with a flash light and it is discolored and has the smallest amount of oil on the edges....so little that it would probably take awhile for that one little drops worth to come out haha.

I know the PCV was integrated into the intake manifold....so it's basically a straight shot to the valves now. Maybe there isn't a need for a catch can on an N18. It's hard to compare because I'm not sure of any other N18 folks running one and reporting back with any findings.

 

Installed BSH OCC for my N18 and have run for 500 miles in SF Bay area. I caught 2mm oil.