i put on the alta oil catch can a few months ago. after, i noticed a very bad gas smell, popped the hood and realized the "viewing tube" was disconnected, i connected it and the smell went away. lately i've been smelling the smell to a much less extent when idleing or in first gear (only sometimes). this is my first problem, what do you think is wrong?

my second problem is that the catch can seems to be catching a bright orange substance and a light tan more solid gunk(the tan gunk was there first, maybe it turned bright orange?). is this normal? i can tell something may not be sealed right because i found the bright orange stuff on the occ. during the first few weeks, i only saw oil mist on the viewing tube. im going to empty the occ today and see how much stuff is really in there.
edit: also thought i'd add that i dont really see a difference in gas mileage since this started occuring, i keep track every time i get gas

could these two things be related? what is going on? i'll post pics later when i can get some.

no one can help yet? im trying to get the problem squared away before daylights out... its hard to find time to work on it, and i hate to drive knowing somethings wrong...

Does your engine and oil get up to temp each day (no short drives)? Is the oil filler cap devoid of this gunk?

it gets up to temp... when i drive its usually to school or work so its at least 20 min drive... im not sure about the oil filler cap, i'll need to go check

If there is gunk in the filler cap, then your oil needs to be brought up to temp more often, if there is no gunk, then I am at a loss. At least that crap is being caught by the can, and not put into the intake tract.

If you have installed it as per the default Alta instructions it will not work properly unless the soft silicone can has been stregthened.

This is the accepted method of installing the catch cans.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...all_Small_.jpg

The blue one at the top is a metal can and the Alta is the lower one.

i installed it where the blue metal one is. but mine is soft silicone, i didnt know it needed to be strengthened, i got it used..

ok so i just emptied it. heres how it looked




the stuff inside turned out a milky salmon color. i checked the dipstick and oil cap, both were fine. im so stumped...

My two cents...

Yes it has a very distinct smell too.

The collected fluid looks normal compared to what I was collecting when I had my OCC installed.

From the look of the fluid I wonder if you have connected the OCC to both crank case vents. The 1st vent is on the driver side - that normally routes into the intake hose above the throttle body. The second vent is on the passenger side - the one between the crank case vent vlave and the grey supercharger hose.

If you only connect to the crank case vent on the passenger side.. You should collect only oil and not much water vapor..

Maybe that helps?

it does help, i did connect it to both. now my question... is the other way "better"? does it matter that i connected to both? should i want to collect the water vapor? should i leave it how it is? are you saying that the smell is normal too?

edit: just noticed we're both from san diego =) i've never seen anyone else on here from san diego, mostly LA area when i meet people with minis from california.

Sharing my observations..

I have connected the OCC in several ways.. When you connect to both vents - as you are now - it collects a combination of oil & water. If you connect to only the passenger side - it collects mostly oil (and a very small amount).

As for which is "better" that is a tough call.. I will simplify that down to maintainance. It depends on how often you want to drain the OCC.. I was draining it about every 4 weeks (OCC about 1/2 full) when connected to both vents.. When connected to passenger only vent it would take 3-4 months to collect enough oil to show in the the sight tube (M7 style OCC)..

The smell yup it is pretty foul & awful but normal when cleaning the OCC out..

San Diego - Yup been in SD for awhile and toying with my MINI since 04. There are quite a few San Diego MINI owners here on NAM..Some might not be that active any more.. But they are around.. If you are interested shoot me a PM and I can direct you to their web site.. Who knows, maybe we can work out a common place to meet up and say hi..

Happy motoring,
BBCooper

i think im just going to leave it as is, connected to both. i got a vacuum pump from autozone for 30$ and it makes it really easy to empty it...

as for the smell, i dont smell it when cleaning the occ... i smell it when the cars at idle or in first gear sometimes... it smells like exhaust/gas... i dont know what the problem is. i dont even know if its connected to the occ, i just think it is because the first time the "view tube" was disconnected it smelled like that. i'll see how it is now that i emptied the occ.

Do you have the can connected to the grey hard plastic tube by the supercharger?

If so this is the high vacuum line and you should call Alta to get a fix so your can doesn't collapse under the vacuum.

i do have it connected to that tube. whats the fix? is it likely it will collapse?

can anyone help me with the smell im talking about?

Howdy again..

As for the OCC connection.. I suggest not being connected to the grey tube to the super charger.. Just cap that off. Run the output of the OCC into the Air intake above the throttle body..

As for the smell.. if you think it is exhaust. Perhaps its time to get under the MINI and check it out.. I can recommend a good local muffler shop- if you need to go that route..

Good luck...

i did get the one ball mod, but it never smelled before i got the occ. and it started smelling REALLY bad, so i popped the hood and the sight tube to the occ was disconnected. after i reconnected it, the smell went away, mostly. now it just smells sometimes idleing or in 1st gear. When you get up to speed, it goes away quickly.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CAP OFF THE GREY LINE.

This will cause problems with the PVC valve. ALways run the catch can to this line. This is where the most oil will come from, the other line will catch mostly water vapor.

The smell is normal.

I was just following the connection approach here - link. However, there are many options for how & where to place the OCC.. I had heard of some even using 2 OCC..

Just sharing my insights..

The catch can instructions from Alta themselves had you capping the gray line too. I ran like that for a few years before seeing the alternate method utilizing the gray line's vacuum to draw through the CC.

do you know why it smells like that? just curious...

How is your expansion tank? Sometimes, it can boil over and spill on the headers and make a burning smell with a tinge of sweetness.

Most of the time it is just hot oil you are smelling, and some oils really smell weird when hot.

Maybe with a few pics of your engine bay we might be able to help more...