How to MS3 Catch Can Install with tons of pics.

JimmyMac

Member
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MS3
Disclaimer! I take NO responsibility for any damage, death, or dismemberment to you or your car from following my How To. This is simply showing you how "I" did my install. It is only meant to be a reference for any one looking at installing one of these for themselves. Always be safe. Make sure your car is cooled down. This install may void your warranty.

Okay! I just installed my Saikou Michi Stage 2 OCC. It was pretty simple actually. But I decided to make it an all day project. Taking many pictures along the way. And trying to find the best mounting location. And the best hose route for this install.

This install is for the PCV to intake. Perhaps later on I will do the install for the cam cover breather to intake/cai install. Installing an OCC after the PCV helps keep unwanted oil out of the intake and through combustion. Oil can pool up in the intake manifold and head causing it to get very dirty/gritty. Which can decrease performance and engine life.

This page will have approximately 25 pictures. So please be patient. If you have dial up.... sucks to be you! :silly: Also, this is done on a 2007 Speed 3 with the CP-e FMIC installed. So some things may be different. Mainly the location of the power steering lines and mounting bracket. Plus I'm using a Saikou Michi OCC. Using other brand OCC may require a different mounting bracket or even different mounting location. This install is in the passenger side wheel well bumper area.

Step 1 Gather your supplies.
Tools required; Money

As stated, I'm using a Saikou Michi Stage 2 OCC. This unit has 5/8" fittings. This closely matches our the PCV's 15mm fittings. It comes with 2 mounting bolts, 2 washers, 2 lock nuts, and a black mounting bracket (which I do not use). I have about 5 feet of heater/oil hose (5/8" id.) I had various hose clamps. But I only used the 4 pack. Please buy a good brand of clamp. These were cheap and easy to strip. I may change them out with better brand or even mini "T" bolt clamps. Also used is a PCV valve mounted inline between the OCC and intake manifold (This AutoZone PCV is no longer used. See below for the updated PCV). This prevents the OCC from being pressurize from the boost pressure in the intake manifold. And lastly is an aluminum strip from Lowes. I used this to make a mounting bracket for my OCC.
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Added!! Here is the PCV valve from the dealer. A clear hose from Lowes. It is 5/8" outer diameter and 1/2" inner diameter. I bought 1 foot for 28. But you will only need 1 inch of it. A short 5/8" inner diameter hose (from the 5 foot hose above). And some more clamps.
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Here is a pic showing the size of the OCC vs a Pepsi 20oz bottle.
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Updated!! And here is a closer pic of the PCV valve I used inline with the OCC and intake manifold. This is the same factory PCV that is on your car now. I bought this from the local dealer. Just give them the part number. My local dealer is not MazdaSpeed certified. But they can still get this part because it's shared with the CX7. It'll run you around $20 after taxes. When installing this after the OCC, the green end will face the intake manifold. The orange end will go to the OCC. Now here is the problem. The green end will fit the 5/8" hose you just bought. However, the orange end is too small. It is about 1/2" wide. This is where the clear hose comes into play. We will address this later on.
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Step 2 Prep the car.
Tools required; Set of ramps or lift. 10mm socket/nut driver. 8mm socket/nut driver. Short philips head screw driver or philips hex adapter. Flat head screw driver.

Put your car up on some ramps (of lift if you are lucky).
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Then take off the under tray. You can even take off the small thin strip in front of your under tray. I took off the strip mainly so I could make sure all my IC hose clamps were tight. But this may help a little with room and flexibility with the wheel well liner.
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Next take off the 3 screws from the bottom of the passenger side wheel well liner. I am pointing to 2 of the screws here.
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Then using a short philips screw driver or philips hex adapter type (like I used), take off the 2 lower plastic pop in liner fasteners that are in front of your tire.
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Now the liner should just hang down slightly. This'll give you room and flexibility to work inside the bumper well.

Step 3 Location and removal of the PCV hose.
Tools required; Pliers, Channel Lock Pliers, or Needle Nose Pliers.

From under the car, locate the intake manifold. Then locate the hose connecting the intake manifold to the PCV valve. This is pretty simple. But taking off the hose is very hard if you have large hands. So you may have to con a smaller buddy into helping you out! The top of the pic is the engine. The bottom of the pic is the radiator. You can see the hose coming out of the intake manifold and snaking to the left under the shiny hose and up into the PCV valve. You'll see a clamp on each end. These are taken off with some pliers and/or small channel lock pliers. The bottom clamp is already raised off in the pic.
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Here is a pic with the hose off. You can now see the nipple on the intake manifold. And the green plastic nipple on the PCV valve.
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Next... Selecting your location. And making your bracket.
 
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Step 4 Find your mounting location and making your mounting bracket.
Tools required; Vise (or other way to bend the aluminum strip.) 2x 11mm or 7/16" wrenches (same thing, used for the OCC mounting bolts/nuts.) 11mm or 7/16" socket and socket wrench. Drill with various bits. Ruler or tape measure. Magic marker. File. Hacker saw or similar.

Find a suitable mounting hole for your bracket. There are a couple under there. But this is the best one I found for my install. It's right in front of the a/c compressor on the chassis.
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Now that we have a mounting hole. Let's make the OCC mounting bracket. Measure off 9" from your aluminum strip and cut it off. This one here is already cut off. You can use a file to file off the sharp edges. You can even round the edges if you like.
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Now here is a very crude drawing of the measurements for my mounting bracket. And some pics of the mount being bent slightly. This bracket may or may not work for you. But it's here to show you what mine looks like. I make it this way to clear the power steering lines. First you will measure off 2.25" at one end. Then bend it at a 90 angle. Measure off 3.5" at the other end. And bend very slightly. And I mean very slightly. This is to clear the wheel well liner. Then mark off your holes and drill them out. The hole size will depend on your mounting bolts.
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Now test fit your bracket to the chassis to be sure it clears the power steering lines and wheel well liner. Perfect!
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Now test fit your OCC to the bracket. Perfect!
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Next... Routing up your hoses and finished!
 
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Finding a good route for the hoses can be tough. There are many possibilities here. I went over many situations. One way will bring you right up against an a/c line mount. But with the engine rocking back and forth, it will just end up cutting a hole in the hose over time. You can simply just bring the hose straight down the front of the engine. Then over and straight up into the OCC. But I wanted to avoid the PCV to OCC hose from dipping down below the OCC level. Another way, you have to be cautious of the long serpentine belt. My way brings it very close. You will see a pic of this. I will be keeping an eye over this as time goes on. But I don't think there will be trouble. The engine will rock back and forth. But the hose should rock with it. So let's get started.

Step 5 Routing your PCV to OCC hose.
Tools required; Razor or knife. Screw driver or sockets (for the clamps). If you use socket, you will need a 12" extender, and a 6" extender.

The first hose I hook up is the PCV to OCC hose. The fitting on the top of the Saikou Michi OCC is the location for this hose. Routing this hose can be very difficult and hard to show with pictures. I'll have to photoshop these pictures to better illustrate them better. So bare with me. I should of used a clear or red hose! hehe.

First route up the hose between the fog light and the windshield washer tank. It's going to curve up and over the chassis and towards the radiator area.
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You are gonna have to work it around some wires and hoses. Then aim it right under the intake manifold. Again, this is gonna be hard. You will need small hands for this. Or be very patient! The hose is hard to pick out in this pic from the top of the engine. But you can see it in this pic at the center. It's the hose at an angle going under the electrical wires and under the intake manifold. I'll photoshop this later on to make it more clear.
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Here you can see the same shot from under the car. You can see the green PCV valve fitting at the top left of the pic. And you can see the end of the hose with a clamp on it. The hose will have to go over the shiny hose and connect right up to the PCV. Tighten it down with either a long screw driver. Or a socket wrench with the 12" and 6" extenders on it. Make sure there is a little slack in the hose. In the pic you can draw an imaginary line from the hose end, all the way down near the belt and over the chassis.
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Here is another pic of how close the hose will come to the belt. (The hose at an angle dead center.)
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Now with some slack, swing the hose right under the windshield washer tank and too the OCC. Cut the hose to length and tighten it down to the OCC top fitting. You are now done with the PVC to OCC hose!
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Step 6 Routing your OCC to Intake Manifold hose.
Tools required; Razor or knife. Screw driver or sockets (for the clamps). If you use socket, you will need a 12" extender.

This one is pretty simple. I'm not as worried about it dipping down below the OCC since this is the return line. And there should be NO oil returning back to the intake manifold. This line will also require the PCV valve (you bought) to be installed in it. This is to prevent the OCC from being pressurized when the intake manifold becomes pressurized from boost.

First install one end of the hose to the remaining fitting on the OCC. And tighten the clamp. Next route the hose just under the radiator hose and in my case, right over the IC piping. You can see in the pic the hosing coming out of the OCC and disappears to the left. It bends and goes right between the radiator hose and IC pipe. Then comes up towards the top of the pic at an angle and blurs out. From here it's gonna go straight up the engine and to the intake manifold. But first we must connect the PCV to the other end of this hose.
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Added!! Remember that clear hose you bought from Lowes? Well cut off about an inch of it. Then slide it over the orange end of the factory PCV you just bought. Now the orange end will fit nicely into the other end of the black hose and seal properly!
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Updated!! Now slide on the short black hose to the green end of the PCV valve. Then tighten the clamp on the green and orange ends of the PCV. You should end up with something like this.
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Updated!! Now connect the short hose with PCV valve to the intake manifold nipple. Then tighten down the clamp. And you are done connecting the hoses! Important!! The orange end must face straight down or the PCV may not function properly!
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Step 7 Put back on your under tray and liners. Finished!
Tools required; 10mm socket/nut driver. 8mm socket/nut driver.

Now that the hoses are connected. Go over everything making sure they are secure and not obstructing anything. Make sure your mount is tight. Then pop in the wheel well fasteners. Bolt up the 3 screws to the liner.
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Bolt up your under tray liners. And all done!!



Now draining the OCC is quite simple. There is a wing nut style drain at the very bottom. However in this install, it's all blocked off by the wheel well liner. I'll have to unbolt the liner just to drain it. However very soon, I will cut a small hole in the liner and connect a clear hose to the bottom of the OCC drain plug. This will make things a little easier. All I will need to do it pull off the under tray (which take about 1 minute for me to do). Then reach over and twist the nut to drain it. Simple enough.

I would suggest maybe once a week checking your OCC. Make sure it is tight. No leaks anywhere. No rubbing. And draining it out. This will be a good measure of how often you have to drain it. It might be once a month. It might be every oil change. All cars are different.

I hope this write up helps you out. I just wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

Updated!!! After almost a month. I drained out my OCC. This is what came out.... About a cup full of gas/gunk/oil. Nicely layered as it came out! This pic is a day of letting it settle.
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right on! nice write up....quick question...will this product or one like it void any warranties or ESPs?
 
Great Write Up...I have a question. On your 19th picture, do you connect that hose to the green fitting? you never spelled that out. Also from what it looks like there are now two PCV valves in the system. One on either side of the catch can.
 
You can see the green PCV valve fitting at the top left of the pic. And you can see the end of the hose with a clamp on it. The hose will have to go over the shiny hose and connect right up to the PCV.

According to what I wrote above picture 19, yes you connect it there.

And yes, there is the stock PCV before the can (the green thingy), and an added PCV after the can (pic 3 and 23).
 
I have a CAI so there is a huge open space where the air box used to be... Do you think it is possible to put the can there? Did you put yours in the current location as a result of your FMIC? Thanks
 
I have a CAI so there is a huge open space where the air box used to be... Do you think it is possible to put the can there? Did you put yours in the current location as a result of your FMIC? Thanks

I am also interested in an answer to this question.
 
I put mine where it is for ease of installation and function. Function as in to mount the OCC at a downward location in relation to the PCV valve. This lets oil travel down to the OCC instead of trying to navigate up and down the hose to reach the OCC. Oil can pool up in the dips in the hose. And in some instances cause the PCV not to function properly due to the oil blockages.

But if you want everyone to see you have an OCC when you pop the hood, I guess you can mount it where the air box used to be. Just make sure the hose is nice and level without too many dips. My plan is to mount another OCC where the air box used to be. This OCC is for the valve cover to cai/intake breather system.
 
This page will have approximately 25 pictures. So please be patient. If you have dial up.... sucks to be you! :silly: Also, this is done on a 2007 Speed 3 with the CP-e FMIC installed. So some things may be different. Mainly the location of the power steering lines and mounting bracket. Plus I'm using a Saikou Michi OCC. Using other brand OCC may require a different mounting bracket or even different mounting location. This install is in the passenger side wheel well bumper area.

2007... haha :D
 
Thanks guys. It's a pretty easy job once you know what you are getting into. Only hard part is reaching the PCV hose and fitting on a new one. I figure this How To will give them/you a general idea of what's basically done. Then modify the install to fit your needs.

If you guys do your own installs. Go ahead and please post up your pics of your mounting locations. It would be great to show different idea's, routes, and different catch cans.
 
Thanks guys. It's a pretty easy job once you know what you are getting into. Only hard part is reaching the PCV hose and fitting on a new one. I figure this How To will give them/you a general idea of what's basically done. Then modify the install to fit your needs.

If you guys do your own installs. Go ahead and please post up your pics of your mounting locations. It would be great to show different idea's, routes, and different catch cans.

Will do. Thanks once again.
 
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