heres mine...i love how it sounds. added a little bit of power too...can't go wrong for 70 bucks.

and i did add another 90 degree bend.

 

Looks good. Nice job.

 

all of these setups looks pretty nice for the money. but replacing the OEM breather hose with those little breather filters is a bad idea. i suggest figuring out a way to run the breather hose back into the intake piping or else installing a catch can.

 

Tofuman, can you elaborate? I am curious about the reasoning.

In general that can be done very easily.
Ivan

 

Well, the breather hose is part of the PCV system. The manufacturer designed the intake with the breather hose so that a positive circulation of air goes into the intake manifold and down into the crankcase and back up into the intake manifold, re-circulating the blow-by gases and water vapor. under heavy driving conditions/full throttle, nearly of these gases and vapor and oil will be fed back into the intake through the breather to be re-circulated into the combustion chambers.
If there is no breather hose going back into the intake, these gases, oil, vapor and moisture will end up in those breather filters and into the engine compartment or not find it's way out of the crankcase/intake manifold at all which will likely cause moisture build up and eventually rust engine components like the valvetrain.
Bad crankcase ventilation results in bad ring and valve seals.
You should probably check your breather filter and areas around it for moisture/oil.

Installing a catch can will take all of these gases and oil and vapor from the PCV and filter it and return the clean air back into the intake manifold. Even better than the OEM system.

 

Tofuman, please forgive me for "setting you up" with the question, but you passed with flying colors! You are absolutely correct and who ever reads this thread could not ask for a better explanation.

Personally, I am not concerned with bad side effects due to my experience with Honda's. With some other brands - I would!
My 1990 CRX Si is set up with a breather filter off the valve cover and endured lot of hard use (daily driving, AutoX, 1am hard all out canyon runs,.....).
Truth is due to our Fit's paint quality, I have no doubt engine will outlast the chassis - unfortunately!

Ivan

 

None of that made any sense to me. What am I missing here?

EDIT: All I could understand is that the breather tube dumps miscellaneous gases, water vapor, and oil into the intake so that they can go into the IM and into the engine. Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't water vapor not supposed to be in the engine? So confused.

 

While I can understand the need for a catchcan on a FI engine, on a engine such as ours, with such low compression and such little blow-by, would a catchcan be so needed?

I have had my setup on for several weeks and there is not a drop of oil on the small filter I have.

 

in conditions with extreme temperatures, from both cool ambient air and hot combustion temperatures, it is inevitable that moisture will be created. the amount of vapor that is returned to the intake is not harmful to the engine when going through the combustion chambers.

Sid - the amount of oil/moisture that would show up on your filter would be pretty small and really only noticable under heavy driving conditions and lots of full throttle driving. but since these gases and such are explosive, i'd rather them not floating around in my engine bay at all.
and also you are correct, for forced induction it is very important. under FI conditions, manifold pressure can exceed that of the crankcase pressure.

if you're ever changing your intake manifold gasket, that would give you a chance to see what kind of oil/moisture can build up in there.

again... chances are it will be fine with regular daily driving. but for my own piece of mind, i'd rather be safe than sorry. if you plan on doing a lot of racing/autocross, i would suggest a catch can. greddy and zero 1000 make universal fit and affordable ones for around $85.

 

Probably one of the best low buck DIY catch cans you can use if looks and brand name doesn't matter...

 

^ yeah, that is a good cheap alternative. not as much engine "bling", but it does the job.

 

Ill probably do a DIY catch can next paycheck.

 

As it has been posted before that hose is not a part of the PCV system (the pvc on a fit is another hose altogether) it's an engine breather only. It may contribute to the PCV system but all it does is let pressure equalize in the crankcase. Sometimes it has air going INTO the crankcase sometimes coming out. There is little or NO oil mist or particulate material involving that hose.

I ran my car for a month with a folded up white cotton washcloth over the open end and it showed no material on it after a month and since that time I have let it vent into the air with an open end directed down the front of the engine for the past year and there is NO evidence of any discharge from that hose NONE. So in my opinion backed up by my research there is no reason to put a filter or catch can onto that hose. If you feel the need to install a catch can put it on the real PCV hose not that one.

 

i understand that the PCV (or PVC as you put it) is located elsewhere. But the breather hose is part of the PCV system.
also, the driving conditions greatly reflect the amount of oil/vapor/gas that is returned to the intake manifold. you may not have experienced it, but that is not to say that someone else wouldn't under other circumstances.

no offense, but your independent 'research' isn't enough to convince me that auto manufacturers are including breather hoses as part of their PCV system for no good reason. but if you care to risk your engine internals for the sake of using a $5 tiny filter instead of a breather hose (like most legit after market intake designs), be my guest.

also - i'm not entirely sure you know how most catch cans work.

 

You could spray paint it with chrome in a can.

 

Like I said it's been discussed before and if you look in the OFFICIAL HONDA REPAIR manual that is a ENGINE BREATHER ONLY. I understand perfectly how catch cans work and WHERE they should be installed and that hose IS NOT THE PLACE TO INSTALL ONE you honestly think that hose is a good place to install a catch can??

I recommend the cheapo air line oil separator used as a catch can a long time ago. I guess the old posts were before your time here there is a giant post on this very subject you might find interesting to read all about catch cans and the PCV system which this hose is not part of. Like I said if you feel the need for a catch can go ahead BUT put it in the correct location and the hose in the photo with a small filter on it is not the correct location there is ANOTHER HOSE THAT IS ACTUALLY PART OF THE PCV SYSTEM and is the one you should be looking for. It's easy just find your PCV valve and follow the piping and see where is goes (if you can find the valve no offense) and you will see this hose is not connected to the valve.

And please expand on you theory that letting this hose open to atmospheric pressure would result in any damage to engine internals???

I don't think you know what you are talking about you haven't investigated anything yourself how do you know what is happening at the hose and what damage is going to occur??

 

Tofuman, your explanation of the breather tube is spot on, on evacuating some oil vapor from the engine. It does so by intake vacuum while engine is running (especially at WOT), but I have to agree with Claymore on catch can reasoning. This is a normally aspirated engine and this tube is nothing but a breather. On FI engine it is a different story. A friend of mine caped breather on his boosted Mustang and ended up pushing oil out on a lower point as well as through gaskets.
The only reason breather is connected to the intake is environmental one. Big brother is watching. These days everything that spills fumes of any kind (gasoline or oil based) needs to be in closed loop and eventually combusted before being allowed out through catalytic converter and out the tailpipe. It also recycles "blow by" on engines with worn out piston rings. CARB exempt aftermarket intake systems have it in order to receive certification.
Replacing the breather tube with a filter only prevents hot, (potentially) oily air from taking space of cooler, more denser "cleaner" air. It is not a difference that you can feel and even on a dyno gains are minute.
With that said, if any of you are concerned with the environmental damage our little 1.5L coffee grinder can cause, just drill a hole in the tubing and bolt a nipple in and use a piece of rubber or silicone hose to bridge the gap. Personally, I won't bother with it and I know, I'll burn in hell for it. SUV's and trucks do more damage on a start up than all of us combined for lifetime of driving our Fits.
As far as engine damage is concerned, it is debatable, but there is no real evidence I am aware of. Especially on our type of breather ventilation.
I buy the reasoning that caping it off can cause some engine damage on some types of engines. If engine does not "breathe", it might alter idling smoothness or higher RPM operation, raising CO emissions and creating unwanted vibrations that can cause premature wear and ultimately failure.
Now, how bad it can get really depends on individual engine design and more importantly on quality of materials used in engine parts (both metal and rubber). With that said my parents Taurus was falling apart even when it was barely 2-3 years into it's service! Igniter kept failing due to under hood temperatures. Torquing intake manifold to a required specs caused it to break even if torqued in 3 sequences and over 10 lbs/ft below the spec! Please forgive me, but unless you owned European Fords you will never know how bad US Ford really is! My CRX was torn apart and put together so many times and nothing ever broke in the process. I swapped cams over dozen times and adjusted valves at least twice a year for the hell of it and it finally shows signs of wear on adjuster nuts!
That is Honda quality for you!

Ivan

 

i am aware that catch cans work best when connected from the PCV valve and the IM.
honda PCV systems are designed as a closed system. meaning there should not be any open ventilation.
it is called a "breather" because it's inhalation and exhalation qualities. the amount of vapor that finds it's way back through the breather is small, but it is there.

 

again - going back to my first post regarding the breather... it's just my suggestion to run a hose back to the intake or install a catch can. if you don't want to take my advice, you don't have to. i'm not selling anything. just offering advice based on what knowledge i have learned regarding honda PCV systems. the use of breather filters on a closed system has been known to introduce more humid air into the VC creating moisture.

i chose the words "has been known" so as not to imply this would happen to everyone who chooses this route.

again... i'm not selling anything. just offering my advice for the sake of trying to help.

no hard feelings to anyone, sorry if i have come off as sobby or whatever.

 

Tofuman, it is all good! No sweat! It is a good discussion.
We went a bit too much in depth under the circumstances. It will raise more questions. Most people won't understand half of it.
We are all drawing on personal experiences and they can vary.
You must not know Claymore well enough. He was very easy on you!

Geez Claymore, people might start thinking you are getting soft!


Bottom line, if anybody is concerned, run the tube to the intake tubing instead of the filter. If you do not, it is good too. Huge majority will never "push" it anywhere near conditions of slightest concern.
Ivan