Catch Can for 2006 Tahoe 5.3

S33k3r said:

I asked the question not because I doubted anyone. I asked it, hoping an answer would demonstrate the utility. I think it is a good mod. I don't know that it is *necessary*, but I do think there is enough value to add it if you can.

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your 100% on track there.

I have the amazon cheapo ones on both the Silverado and Tahoe.
Tahoes catches about 4 ounces over the 3000 mile oil change interval.
The Silverado on the other hand.... gets about 2 to 3 ounces every tank of gas. So 400 to 500 miles. Depending on highway or town miles. So yeah. They work at keeping the inside of the intake clean

Ultimax said:

Is a catch can recommended or needed for these older Tahoes?

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As @Scottydoggs mentioned the hoses in that particular kit, I went with some high-quality silicone hose. With winter coming, if you're in a freeze zone, make sure you keep a close eye on it or bypass for the season.

Thanks for everyone’s comments and recommendations. I will be installing one very soon.

S33k3r said:

What difference have you observed it make?

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So the design is to burn off that oil, not because it is supposed to, but because it needs to relieve the crankcase pressure. Part of the oil is becoming aerated, and going back into the manifold which makes that dirty, and then into the combustion chamber, (and I wouldn't know if then into the exhaust as unburnt or an exhaust gas).

What it also does, is allow you to monitor your oil level. With a catch-can, you can take that oil and dump it right back into the engine, it's still good oil. With a properly working and monitored catch can, you can remove the "vanishing oil"/(unkown amount of burned off oil) from the equation. Oil is only going to leak out or burn off. If you really want to know exactly how your oil is doing, (with a catch can), you can: do a change, go run it, check your dipstick, and take a picture on your phone. Label it with the mileage and date. When it's time for the change again, dump it back in and check your level first.

I don't do it every time, but I did it the first time, (before I installed the catch can and after). Before the can, I was losing almost half a quart. After installing the can, I lose nothing. Maybe doing this once every year or few changes would be enough to keep an eye on it. I keep all my records in a large folder on my computer. If you do your own changes, and know your putting in the same amount every time, it would be easy to compare all your dipstick levels.

@adriver: don't forget that some of that 'vapor' that the catch can is ... catching ...
would definitely wind up in the exhaust ... and some of THAT winds up in the EGR.

PCV system relieves excess crankcase pressure, AND undesirable combustion products in a vaporous state.
Catch can keeps the engine from combusting anything besides air and fuel.
(Obviously it would do this better if it could somehow discriminate between motor oil and ... NOT-motor oil.)
Without the catch can, EVERYTHING that gets past the piston rings is either in the pan, or in the combustion chamber.

I'd actually analyze the catch can's ... catch ... as used motor oil, to determine if it'd be safe or not
to pour back into the crankcase.
But forced to guess, a wee lil bit of fuel always sneaks pasts the rings and hits a wee lil bit of motor oil.
That's what winds up in the catch can. Why put it back if it was literally trying to deport itself to burn in hellfire?
Seems redundant.

Good mod, you don't want engine oil in the intake manifold; it lays there in the low spots then flows toward the intake valves where it starts entering the combustion chamber

This creates coking/carbon deposits on the valve face, the combustion chamber of the head & eventually limits the storage of lubricant in the oil control rings as they get gummed up with carbon deposits

Your engine will gradually start burning off this mess once you start keeping that oil out of the manifold, so your compression will recover & your oil control rings will start performing better; after awhile this will reduce your oil consumption & increase the life of the engine

Cheap mod with only an upside

I'm sure the $25 amazon catch can is sufficient. I personally when with a Mighty Mouse xtreme but thats cause I am boosted. They do make milder versions for stock motors. You Probably won't need it but for me it was worth the extra money. Just ordered one for my TA as I never put one on.

It is so refreshing to see that guys here understand the whole point of a catch can. A member of another forum I am on asked a similar question and whoo boy. Let me tell you there are a few "Old heads" ( and I'm not exactly young), that will rip into you over this subject. "If you need a something to catch blowby you just need to rebuild your engine" or " I would never own a vehicle that had that much blowby" or " its a truck not a racecar" or my personal favorite....." if a catch can did anything useful, the factory would have installed one".
And no matter how you try to explain that all it does is collect vapors. Not that it makes power or does anything magic. It simply AIDES the pcv system. And yes the Silverado had a significant amount of blowby.... I'm still not going to rebuild an engine in a truck that is yes structurally sound, but rusty as hell.

Mudsport96 said:

It is so refreshing to see that guys here understand the whole point of a catch can. A member of another forum I am on asked a similar question and whoo boy. Let me tell you there are a few "Old heads" ( and I'm not exactly young), that will rip into you over this subject. "If you need a something to catch blowby you just need to rebuild your engine" or " I would never own a vehicle that had that much blowby" or " its a truck not a racecar" or my personal favorite....." if a catch can did anything useful, the factory would have installed one".
And no matter how you try to explain that all it does is collect vapors. Not that it makes power or does anything magic. It simply AIDES the pcv system. And yes the Silverado had a significant amount of blowby.... I'm still not going to rebuild an engine in a truck that is yes structurally sound, but rusty as hell.

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Sounds like my father in law I changed spark plugs the other day trying to trace the Tahoes misfire and he said “let me guess you changed all 8 diddnt you?” Then “overkill overkill keep wasting your money” I’m like dude I got them on sale and with my discount it was 20$ for a set of ngks like why would I not change all 8 if I’m already in there that’s just stupid in my opinion but he’s a don’t fix it if it ain’t broke type of person. Same person who give me hell for changing the valve cover gasket on my Acura for leaking oil on the header causing a smoke screen inside the car if it was sitting and idling the amount of oil you would have to add within a 2-4 month span would equal a damn valve cover gasket so why not fix the issue but “my corvettes leaked oil for 100,000 miles I ain’t changed no gasket” well that’s on you bud idk what to tell ya!!