monty Posted September 18, 2019 Report Share Posted September 18, 2019 I mentioned in a recent post the gunge that ends up in my Racetorations catch tank & glad it does not go back via the inlet manifold as the standard specification. In an idle moment I decided to check the catch tank & give it & the associated hoses a good clean out. I was very surprised at how much gunge in the form of creamy coloured greasy oily substance I removed! The hose from the rocker cover to the tank was almost blocked & the one from the block almost as bad. What is this stuff & how is it caused? I assume it is really just a mix of oil, water & combustion material? Mileage covered has been around 15K since the system was fitted & this was a first clean out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ctc77965o Posted September 19, 2019 Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Yes it's a mix of oil and water...and you know they don't mix..but if you do agitate an oil/water mix enough or add some "surfactant" (soap) then the oil forms little "micelles" in the water...these are sub-micron size and because the oil and water have different optical refractive indices these tiny structure interact with light causing broadband scattering... This is what makes that gunge (and mayonaisse and milk) look white... If you heat the gunge the water will evaporate and you'll be left with oil.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rogerowen Posted September 19, 2019 Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 7 hours ago, ctc77965o said: Yes it's a mix of oil and water...and you know they don't mix..but if you do agitate an oil/water mix enough or add some "surfactant" (soap) then the oil forms little "micelles" in the water...these are sub-micron size and because the oil and water have different optical refractive indices these tiny structure interact with light causing broadband scattering... This is what makes that gunge (and mayonaisse and milk) look white... If you heat the gunge the water will evaporate and you'll be left with oil.. I guess modern engines do not suffer this due to detergent oils, efficient fuel management and improved manufacturing tolerances? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted September 19, 2019 Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 Interesting thread! i have the same Racetorations catch tank and also get some ‘gunge’ in it which i coean out periodically, maybe anually..... steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
monty Posted September 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2019 3 hours ago, Steves_TR6 said: Interesting thread! i have the same Racetorations catch tank and also get some ‘gunge’ in it which i coean out periodically, maybe anually..... steve Yes Steve I have been guilty in not cleaning it out regularly but shall do annually like you from now on.l Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.