Oil in intercooler- how much is “normal”?

[MHay]

I swapped out my intercooler this morning and was surprised to find a fair amount of oil sitting in the lower inlet boot and more in the cold air pipe. My truck only has a little under 5k miles. Is this a normal amount? How is the oil getting into the pipes/intercooler?

 

[scottdm]

I see you have a JLT catch can. You would likely have even more oil in your intercooler if you didn't have a catch can. It's oil vapor mixed in the PCV gases that are being routed back into the intake. Any chance this is residual from before you installed your catch can?

 

[Calidad]

5 k guessing stock oil still? Or did you change early to a more volatile / less stable oil? New engine driven hard will do this also.

 

[MHay]

I see you have a JLT catch can. You would likely have even more oil in your intercooler if you didn't have a catch can. It's oil vapor mixed in the PCV gases that are being routed back into the intake. Any chance this is residual from before you installed your catch can?

But aren’t those gases recirculated directly into the intake manifold, downstream of the intercooler? I didn’t think the PCV routed the gases back through the intercooler. (Edit: this is in reference to the passenger side. Not sure how the driver’s side is routed, but is likely the source of the oil in the intercooler since the passenger side hot air tube was dry.)

5 k guessing stock oil still? Or did you change early to a more volatile / less stable oil? New engine driven hard will do this also.

Just had the first oil change done at the Ford dealer a couple of days before I changed the intercooler. Most of the 5k miles are from towing a travel trailer, so definitely driven hard. However, where is the oil being introduced into the intake system ahead of the intercooler?

 

[FlyBry]

It's oil vapor mixed in the PCV gases that are being routed back into the intake.

 

[MHay]

After taking a moment to actually look at the engine, it's clear the oil is introduced into the driver's side intake tube from the CCV system, ahead of the turbo. The PCV (passenger side) is routed from the crankcase directly into the intake manifold, so there's no chance it came from there (even if I didn't have a passenger side catch can). This also explains why only the lower hot-side tube (this is the one from the driver’s side) had oil. Based on how much oil I saw at 5k miles, I'm going to add a driver's side catch can to eliminate any additional oil from getting into the intake/intercooler.

 

[Nate2020KR]

@MHay what intercooler
did you go to? I have a CV Fab intercooler and hot and cold side pipes waiting to be installed.

 

[MHay]

@MHay what intercooler
did you go to? I have a CV Fab intercooler and hot and cold side pipes waiting to be installed.

I went with the CVF Titan as well. Best bang for the buck!

 

[5280tunage]

I'm curious on the added catch can, given that none of the manufacturers include two cans or the hoses to connect both sides, I'm curious whether it will help. One would think those companies would have thought about that, in fact none of them even tell you to buy two. I haven't cracked my drain plug on my Mishimoto IC since I installed it but I probably will this oil change, just to check on it. I do know that the last time I emptied my catch can after about 6k miles, it only had about 2 ounces in it.

 

[MHay]

I'm curious on the added catch can, given that none of the manufacturers include two cans or the hoses to connect both sides, I'm curious whether it will help. One would think those companies would have thought about that, in fact none of them even tell you to buy two. I haven't cracked my drain plug on my Mishimoto IC since I installed it but I probably will this oil change, just to check on it. I do know that the last time I emptied my catch can after about 6k miles, it only had about 2 ounces in it.

It’s a good question, I’m not sure. Maybe because the driver’s side is a bit more complex with the sensor and it’s more profitable for them just to offer the passenger side PCV catch can? I’m curious to hear how much oil you get out of your IC when you open the drain. For me, the thought of oil getting blown into my IC under boost doesn’t sit well especially since I plan on keeping this truck for many years.

 

[FlyBry]

Thank you HMay for the update. If you add the driver side catch can, that would provide a way to quantify the amount of oil going through the driver side turbo vs not going though it. Obviously, less would be better. I saw the F150 videos where they drill a small hole in the factory Intercooler, near the bottom corner of the plastic inlet manifold, but that does not sound appealing to me.

 

[MHay]

Installed the Mishimoto dual catch can before leaving for a trip through New England with our travel trailer in tow. We’re half way through the trip, so I’ll report back on how much oil I get out of the driver’s side in another week. I should be at about 1,200 miles with it installed by that point.

 

[Knut]

I've been looking into this also. Looking forward to see what you find.

 

[5280tunage]

I recently did my oil change and say the same time I pulled the plug off of my mishimoto intercooler. I was surprised, after close to 10k miles on the intercooler, I had zero oil or moisture for that matter. I do have a jlt catch can on the passenger side though. So I'm in a pretty dry climate, could humidity be making it worse for some and not others? Just wondering.

 

[MHay]

So after a little more than 2,000 miles I pulled the catch cans to see how much fluid had been collected. Pics are attached below. I was surprised at how little had accumulated both in the larger PCV (passenger side) can and the smaller CCV (driver side) can. Still, I’m glad to have peace of mind knowing this stuff isn’t getting routed back through the intake, and in the case of the CCV side not going through the turbo and intercooler.

CCV

PCV

 

[DWs-TTEB]

So after a little more than 2,000 miles I pulled the catch cans to see how much fluid had been collected. Pics are attached below. I was surprised at how little had accumulated both in the larger PCV (passenger side) can and the smaller CCV (driver side) can. Still, I’m glad to have peace of mind knowing this stuff isn’t getting routed back through the intake, and in the case of the CCV side not going through the turbo and intercooler.

CCV
View attachment 69568
PCV
View attachment 69569

Thanks for the photos on this!

 

[bcb97]

Thank you HMay for the update. If you add the driver side catch can, that would provide a way to quantify the amount of oil going through the driver side turbo vs not going though it. Obviously, less would be better. I saw the F150 videos where they drill a small hole in the factory Intercooler, near the bottom corner of the plastic inlet manifold, but that does not sound appealing to me.

This was only on the 11-14 Ecoboosts F150s. This is not needed on the 2015 and up. Ford changed the design of the CAC, air intake, etc. to accommodate the CAC condensation issues that were going on with the early Ecoboosts. We had to do this on my father in laws 11 Ecoboost. My 16 has been running great and has never had the condensation issue. We live in Mississippi so humidity is an issue here.