ugh I thought my days of catch cans were over since this aint a turbo motor. Ugh.. guess the little bastard is coming back.

Honestly, most of the folks with catch-cans are OCD control freaks... which describes most car guys... lol. But still, it's not needed, bro.

NEITHER of the million-mile Tundras had a catch can.

Yes a little oil circulates, but not stuff that looks like what slowly congeals in that catch can. We're talking a tiny vapor that naturally lubricates the valves, intake plenum, etc. And the valves get washed by the gas detergents and heat.

Last, the throttle body is no big deal. Every 100k miles you just pop it off, wipe it with some cleaner, and reassemble. Not anything to be concerned about.

Now, direct injection engines? Eh, maybe. But tbh, that's the whole other end of the spectrum -- the catch cans DON'T DO ENOUGH to save the valves from build-up. It happens anyways.

Best bet is to do the below:
-ride it out with your port injection engine, and skip getting a direct-injected engine until everything is electric.
-if you really have to get a direct-injection engine, pray the next 4runner uses dual-injection like the Toyota 3.5L uses now, so that you get the cleaning effect of port injection and the better power of direct.

just a update to installing a catch can about 10k miles ago.

It seems to help with quieting the valve ticking at startup, and i've probably collected a ounce or two of sludge.

I use to hear the ticking in the cabin at startup on some days, I don't hear it anymore.

The ticking is probably still there if i pop the hood, and stick my head in the engine bay but I'm to lazy to do that.

Not sure if it does anything else, but i'm still happy with my purchase.

Watched a tear down video of a 4.7L V8 w/200K miles on youtube yesterday, no catch can and the intake ports/valve heads were clean as a whistle. The tear down guy was impressed, he said that's what port injection does for the engine.

broski, you are probably right.

This catch can business is like voodoo to me.

I don't understand it at all.

Just saying i got less ticking on start up but then again, i dunno if it has to do with the catch can, or its my mind playing tricks on me to validate my purchase...ROFL.

I use to use one all the time on my modified Audi with K04 turbo. Other than the can, take a look at your PCV valve. Generally I found in the past when the catch can was getting some the PCV also got gunky or semi plugged.

I just pulled off my intake to do spark plugs at 100k and my throttle-body was clean as a whistle. I mean, in a boosted application, yeah, catch-can all day. But it seems a bit overkill for stock.

But I'm the last one to talk about overkill after cutting up my fenders to fit 35s for the 3 times a year I hit a forest service road

The PCV on our engines ventilates straight into the intake manifold, post throttle-body. So you wouldnÂ’t see anything on your throttle body.

Port injection will indeed keep intake valves and intake manifold clean thanks to the gasoline.

The real long term effect is from burning those oil vapors in the cylinder and the resulting film/coking. All engines have some blow-by. Higher cylinder pressures and engine speed will increase blow-by.

Does a catch can keep the rest of the oil cleaner?


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It's only meant to keep oil vapor out of the intake. It doesn't filter the engine oil itself. A bypass filter does that but is really only used in the diesel world.

So, I installed a oil catch can on my 08’ 4Runner and ran the car for about 800 miles (almost all highway miles) with it and while it did catch oil (maybe 2 ounces) but I have since removed it to confirm my other finding. Fuel economy dropped significantly with the catch can and I have my suspicions why. I did a simple test last week. With catch can on the highway running around 70-75 mpg on a 170 trip after resetting the trip calculator I arrived at my destination and was showing 17.8 mpg. This is way worse than I normally see. I removed the can and drove back from trip and drove the same speeds. The return I got 20.7 mpg. It was the only variable that changed. What do I think was happening? …..I think the engine was experiencing increased crankcase pressure caused but the catch can, I cannot confirm this as I don’t have test equipment to verify findings. Increase pressure can create leaks and damage seals. I won’t be putting it back on. Not sure what I was trying to achieve. The engine runs perfect at 155k and these engines last forever without a can. They’re not direct injection engines and if they really needed one wouldn’t the engineers have determined that and installed one ?

Installed correctly and using good catch can will not increase your crank case pressures. Av8ferg, are you sure your can was good? You can check by pushing some air trough it via compressor on low tool pressure setting and measure resistance or pressure on outlet side. If there is notable resistance or flow drop is noticeable, your can is bad or backwards. Most people don't have issue with MPGs after can install. Leaks in connection may be a culprit also. I've my can for few years now without any fuel economy drop. Use proper hoses also such as vacuum hose included with can that don't kink or collapse with vacuum.

I installed a JL catch can kit on my 4 Runner at around 400 miles once I hit the first oil change at 5,000 miles I'll post my findings. Yes it may be overkill but I rather spend under $200 bucks and feel better about my 50k investment. The following is the kit I installed on mine.


JLT 05-20 Toyota 4Runner 4.0L Driver Side Oil Separator 3.0 - Black Anodized - 3107D-B

Changed my oil today and after 3000 miles of having the catch can on it was almost full to the top of the can. The can holds 3 ounces of fluid. To each their own but I feel better running one on my truck. I am also the guy that changed the oil at 1000 miles then again when I hit the 4000 mile mark. Now ill switch to changing it every 5000 miles. But i will continue to check the can every 2500 miles or so.

this post reminds me its about time to check mine