This guy came into my work to get some stuff installed, and we got to talking for a bit. He was telling me that he patented this filter type thing that you put in line with the PCV valve that separates the grit and sludge from the PCV gasses. It only sends the more volatile fumes to the throttle body, therefore reducing carbon and gunk build up in the engine and increasing power and fual economy. Ive never heard of this before, but apparantly they use them all the time in california to reduce emissions. Is this a scam or what?

Uhh, sounds like BS to me... The valve is literally a "vent" that only vents the gasses, not sludge or anything, and if it does it gets clogged up. That'* why we replace the PCV valve once in a while... Anyways, it doesn't flow into the TB, it flows into the UIM because it doesn't have to be modulated at all (there'* very little air moving through it). If this is inaccurate, please correct me, I only know this from someone describing the PCV system to me...

Also, lets say you do put one in... ok, so it does its job and it gets dirty. Now THAT'* when you want to worry about sludge forming in your engine, since that'* what the PCV system prevents in the first place... I think it'* wasted money...

I may have described the pcv system incorrectly, but the idea is that it only lets useful gasses to be used for combustion and also separates the water from the gasses. It has an element that you are supposed to clean out when it gets dirty. Its 250 dollars for the system. Theres differant size systems depending on the size of your engine. I have a pamphlet that the guy gave me but i forgot it at work.

doesnt sound really legit to me, wouldnt it be hard to seperate the "good from bad"? i dunno, $250 seems like a **** ton of money too.

Heres basically the exact thing the guy was describing to me.

http://bernardembden.com/xjs/pcvfilter/index.htm

It'* already been done by many, in many different ways, including last year by one of our Gearheads who built and tested his own version, but it was only posted in the Gearheads section.

Any claimed performance or longevity results are made for the purpose of making money off it.

A PCV catch can can be rigged for about $10, and would be entirely illegal in California

Would a catch can give any improvement to the engine? What about blocking the pcv completely?

Blocking the PCV completely will hurt performance unless you install an alternate breathing path (breather).

I see no benefit for a daily driven car whatsoever. In fact, I went to great lengths to preserve the factory EGR and PCV systems on the Zilla when I designed and built the intercooler.

Its done quite often on ford trucks 5.0. The PCV dumpr right by #8 and tends to cause problems on that cylinder so some people add the filter while others block of the hole by #8 and rerounte the PVC to line more in themiddle of the intake.

Wil is right, many have done this and for only about $10, if that.