Video summary
The video provides an update on the speaker's Subaru Impreza STI, focusing primarily on resolving issues with his oil catch can system. Initially, the driver-side catch can would overfill with oil after just one track session due to gravity and G-forces during braking and cornering, forcing the speaker to leave the racetrack prematurely to avoid leaving oil behind. After researching expensive solutions like Cusco check valves or specialized IAG catch cans, he discovered a much cheaper alternative: simply swapping the positions of the two catch cans. By reconfiguring the setup so that the passenger-side can is now on the driver's side and vice versa, the new arrangement utilizes gravity to prevent oil from being forced into the cans during high-G maneuvers, effectively solving the overflow problem without spending hundreds of dollars on new parts.
In addition to the mechanical updates, the speaker addresses critical maintenance tasks resulting from running the car on E85 fuel for extended periods. He notes that after a track day in October, he left the car parked with half a tank of corrosive E85 fuel until January 2024, which necessitated an immediate oil change and a switch to regular 93 octane gasoline to prevent engine damage. During this inspection, he also checked tire pressures, noting a significant drop from track conditions to ambient levels, and identified minor oil leaks from the valve cover and rear differential. While he plans to address the rear differential leak in the spring, he emphasizes that post-track maintenance should not be delayed for months, as fuel and oil degradation can cause serious issues if left unattended.
The video also covers a suspension modification where the speaker switched his axle back from a 2.5-inch lift to a three-inch lift because the previous setup caused the rear differential to rub against and melt the bumper during autocross events. He intends to trim the bumper further or find a way to lower the car by another half-inch to clear the issue permanently. Towards the end, he briefly showcases a pristine 2000 Toyota 4Runner that is currently being restored, highlighting its spotless frame and internal components despite having over 300,000 miles on it. He praises Toyota's durability, noting that even with cylinder gasket issues and worn bearings, the engine internals remained largely intact compared to typical wear patterns seen in other vehicles.
Finally, the speaker concludes by mentioning his plans for the upcoming season, which will focus more on autocross events rather than track days due to scheduling constraints. He promises a longer, more detailed video documenting the actual Michigan Ginger Raceway event that took place months prior, which he has been meaning to share. The update serves as both a technical guide for other Subaru owners facing similar catch can problems and a reminder of the importance of diligent post-event maintenance, especially when running alternative fuels like E85. With his shop now fully operational featuring three bays, he is better equipped than ever to handle these projects and continue his passion for automotive performance.
Read the full video transcript
[Applause]
hey guys long time this is just an
update kind of sort of an update video
to let you know what is going on with
the oil catch cans I'm at a I got me a
shop that's why I am not doing uh videos
as often as I used
to you know five maybe six of you that
watch my videos may know that I used to
work out of my garage now I got me a
shop there
is three more Bays over there
anyways you may know or not well if you
don't this door is just
okay I believe it was two years ago or
so I I don't know a while ago I had an
issue with the driver's side catch can
oil catch can I have a setup of three
I'll show you in a minute and after just
one session it would overfill with
oil uh the one attached to the left side
driver's side cylinder head and well I
couldn't finish a finish a 20 minute
session because I didn't want to leave
oil on the on the racetrack obviously
for obvious
reasons
so I thought I went online and you can
buy a like
a a check valve thing from Cusco I think
they make it it's like $300
$400 or set up a different kind of a
catch can you know like an iag stuff
like that my stuff vents into the
atmosphere let me show you so this is
it the reason I'm here is I'm just doing
some look this is from flying rubber on
the racetrack as I parked this thing in
uh was it
October whenever the last
Michigan not araban uh gingerman uh RAC
trck is I just came back home parked it
and that was it still half a tank of E85
fuel which is corrosive I'm going to
actually just I was going to drain it
and put a few gallons of 93 octane but
I'm just going to fill it up with 93
going to do a half and half that's going
to lower the
E85 and that should be you know should
fix the problem it should be safe to sit
for a few more months it is the 1st of
January 2024 today
actually and it took me so much time to
actually get to this car the the tire
pressure in this wheel was 18 PSI you
can you can tell how the the at the
track was maybe in its 30s 32 34 I don't
remember so you can now see a what is it
18 PSI difference between hot tire and
now well it is 30 out
anyways and uh yeah oil change obviously
cuz E85 I was running it I was actually
got it up to my E85 content was maybe up
to 70% according to my access
port which is pretty high pretty good
but it is corrosive if it sits in your
oil so an oil change after a race
track uh track day I should say is
important so you know don't wait months
like I did so oil change tire
pressure you know overall check no major
issues I got an oil leak very minor oil
leak from this valve cover and a rear
diff which I'm going to have to address
the rear diff I'm going to leave alone
the rear diff I'm going to have to
address come
springtime so this is my
setup black catch can driver side catch
can well not anymore let me explain this
used to be the driver side catch can
this hose used to go right
there and passenger oil catch can now
this is the driver side catch can and
this is the passenger catch can you can
see this hose runs all the way down
there to the passenger side and then
this guy
here runs down to the driver's
side now in my
head the idea was
you know before I would make a right
turn especially maybe even on braking
during braking this would F the hose was
just right straight up to here like a
foot long
hose maybe not even straight up to this
catch can obviously the same from here
to
there this catch can is the same I have
to have to change this a little bit to
make it all you know function so the
idea behind this in my head at the time
before I even did this during a right
turn this oil that's connected where is
where's the
hose this one this one here you can't
see it but it's runs right over here it
will not get up to that to that catch
can because well I mean you know all
this the the the gForce goes this way
the hose runs goes that way obviously
right and the same thing for uh this
other catch can making a left turn this
will not go there the
GeForce gravity is working
against this hose so there's no no you
know way this is going to fill up quick
but it did but not quick it took three
sessions for this for
maybe I would say I would collected this
much oil so that's 1 hour of on the
limit driving that catch can this much
the block about the same
this maybe this month something may be
going
on well no I was going to think because
no that's the passenger side
so some for some reason this catch can
fills up quicker but it's much much
slower so it worked this was essentially
I don't know
$15 don't get any hoses this has to be
oil resistant hose okay all these hoses
are oil resistant transmission hose
is also okay actually this is I think a
transmission uh hose anyways don't get
cooling hoses is what I'm saying that's
it cheap way if you have the same issue
as as I do just flip the catch
around problem solved instead of buying
fancy three $400 check
valves
so this is
it tires are in bad
shape probably one more track day and
they got to go but I plan to do more
autocross stuff this
year I I think I only did one track day
last year last
season just didn't have the
time all right back to hibernation
see you oh one more
thing I did
change the axle back from a 2 and 1/2 to
a three
inch the reason because there was
something rattling inside the tip on the
2 and A2 the 2 and A2 went on the 06
Impreza which some of you may know and
this guy is too close to the bumper and
it melted it
here I'm probably just going to trim
this and maybe buy the cover I don't I
never like those I got have to figure
out somehow how to lower this another
half inch or
so and uh you know cut this off
basically check out this 4Runner
2000 in perfect condition the frame is
nearly spotless check that out
inside super
clean we are doing just as a precaution
we are
doing rod bearings in frame rod bearings
and main bearings had to pull the
transmission we're going to replace the
transmission to a better one we're also
doing
timing oh yeah this has a cylinder
gasket issue this has 36 ,000 miles guys
let me show you the
bearings here's the rat
bearing keep in mind
36,000 maybe 308,000 I don't remember
over
300,000 check this out this is this is I
mean this is the rod
bearing and this is the main
bearing you got to give it to Toyota
seriously you know
amazing they they could stay they could
have just stayed there we didn't have to
touch
anything look at this perfect obviously
you know it's got few leaks here and
there but I mean it is
just well it is a Texas or
California truck used to be somehow we
ended up
here if this this this looks
like if it was in the
midwest uh where I am right now
obviously it looks like it's been here
for it might have been here for 2 3
years maybe
four but this is a
20 uh 2E car 22y old car crazy after
this video I'm going to put out a longer
video at the actual Michigan Ginger
track
day which happened months
ago better late than never that's it
ciao