Keep Your 2015+ Mustang’s Intake Clean With A Catch Can

Every time we start a new project vehicle, adding a quality catch can always comes up early in the planning process. And while there may be differing opinions on whether or not a catch can is needed, adding one, even to a completely stock vehicle, is a no-brainer for all of our builds. Keeping your intake clean by investing a rather inexpensive piece of hardware is well worth the investment.

You see, it is a proven fact that during the combustion cycle of an engine, a small amount of that combustion gas is passed into the crankcase which is commonly referred to as blow-by. Without an efficient way to vent this excess oil, it is usually rerouted back to the intake. This oil can gunk up your intake system, and by installing a quality catch can you can help prevent these unwanted contaminants from being introduced into your intake.

Moroso Performance Products produces over 4,000 products for racing and street performance applications. From oil pans to ignitions and hardcore racing tools to suspension equipment, the company has an impressive list of gear for a wide range of customers, from grassroots racers to top professional race teams.

Our Test Car

Matthew Diaz’s love for the S550 Mustang platform began from humble beginnings. Instead of growing up as an avid car enthusiast, Matthew’s passion for cars was sparked by his family’s interest in off-road racing. Over time, his obsession with how dirt bikes and quads operated led him to perform simple tune-ups and repairs on these vehicles. His fascination with mechanical engineering grew into more advanced projects like valve adjustments, piston replacements, and eventually, engine builds.

“I spent my high school weekends working on bikes and selling them,” Matthew said. “It wasn’t until I got my permit that my interest in cars began. I realized the engine in a car is the same idea as dirt bike but on a much bigger scale, and that fascinated me.”

It wasn’t until I got my permit that my interest in cars began. — Mathew Diaz, Owner

It was at that moment that Mathew moved his attention to cars. And it just so happened that purchasing a Mustang was at the top of his list. When the refreshed 2015 Mustang GT hit the scene, it immediately caught his attention. Over time, he managed to save up enough money flipping dirt bikes to put a down payment on his dream S550.

Shortly after that purchase, he crossed paths us. It just so happened that we had a new catch can system in need of installation.

We first met Matthew and his Oxford White 2015 Ford Mustang GT Premium at the 2017 Nitto Tire Auto Enthusiast Day in Anaheim, California. In a sea of over 24,000 cars, trucks, and SUVs there was something about this particular build that caught our attention.

When we approached his custom pony to find out more about the build, you could tell that this Mustang was a labor of love. While many of the cars inside Auto Enthusiast Day were unique, it was immediately apparent that Matthew had spent many of his own hours wrenching this particular Mustang GT project.

Clean Air 

We could tell that Matthew was an enthusiast in the purest sense. He took great pride in installing all of the upgrades himself. But we couldn’t help but notice the lack of a quality oil catch can that would add a layer of protection to the modifications he had already installed on this S550.

We asked if he was interested in paying a visit to our shop here in Southern California so we could install the Moroso catch can on his Mustang. He immediately agreed to jump on board, and we set up a date for the install.

Thor Schroeder, marketing director at Moroso said we could choose between smaller or larger catch cans and polished or black-anodized finishes. Because Matthew’s pony car already had an upgraded throttle body, cold air intake, and throttle body spacer, we ordered the smaller can as it is designed to fit vehicles that are heavily modified. We also selected the black anodized finish to better match Matthew’s Oxford White and black exterior color theme.

“Our small body Moroso Air-Oil Separator Kit for the 2015-17 Ford Mustang GT is the perfect solution for modified S550 vehicles.” Thor said. “The complete system easily connects into a vehicle’s PCV system to capture the excess crankcase vapors, residual oil mist, and moisture from reentering the intake tract.”

Out of the Box

The Moroso Oil catch can arrived with everything we needed to install it on Mathew’s 2015 Mustang GT. It was a simple as unboxing the system and setting up a date for the install to take place. The kit includes heavy duty brass inlet and outlet fittings, Fuel/Emission/PCV Vapor hose, stainless steel mounting bracket and billet aluminum mounting clamp for the body of the separator the Air-Oil Separator itself features a billet aluminum body with internal baffling and mesh media to capture excess oil effectively.

As we mentioned, Matthew is accustomed to installing all of his upgrades himself, so when we told him our mechanics would be handling the install, he was a little hesitant. After assuring him he was in good hands he finally agreed to sit back and relax in our break area, and we started the installation.

The Moroso catch can come with easy-to-follow instructions, and we wasted no time preparing its hoses for installation. Once the old lines were removed, it was time to remove OEM 90-degree fittings and install them on the Moroso hoses.

With the 90-degree fittings properly installed, we routed the lines back into the stock connections.

We then went to work prepping the catch can and assembling the air-oil separator as using Teflon tape on the fittings.

The next step was assembling and installing the billet clamp to the billet saddle mounting bracket and tightening the clamp assembly to stainless steel mounting bracket.

We then inserted the air-oil separator into billet clamp and tighten the complete system down ensuring a secure fit.

Future-Proof

As you can see, installing the Moroso oil catch can on a 2015-2017 Mustang GT was a relatively straightforward process. Install time for us took less than an hour and was performed with simple hand tools. Moroso recommends checking the catch can after the first 1,000 miles after installation to get an accurate gauge of how much oil is trapped in the can.

For the final step of this installation, we installed the final hoses to air oil separator, set the recommended height of the catch can to the mounting bracket and our installation was complete.

Installing the Moroso catch can will ensure Matthew’s 2015 Mustang GT has the added protection against excess oil entering the intake and the fit and finish of this product is top notch. Now his project is ready for whatever he has planned.

After 1,000 miles with the catch can installed, we asked Matthew how much oil had accumulated in the catch can. “After 1000 miles I checked the catch can and it was a little less than half full! It really surprised me just how much this can stops the blow-by.”

“My future plans for this car is to install a full cat-back exhaust,” he said. “Then I would eventually like to upgrade the cam which will allow me to rev to 8,000 RPM, due to my manifold, and run a single turbo set up for the car and dyno tune the car. But I don’t think I will ever truly be done with this build.”

For the entire lineup Moroso Performance products for your S550 Mustang, click on the companies official website here.