Crusty PCV (1 Viewer)

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Western Australia
Well I went to change the PCV and found this:
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From what little I know, I'd say piston rings have had it and there is a s*** load of blowby. Only thing I can think of.

A few questions; I'm trying to hold off the rebuild as long as possible, so a catch can will go on for now. Is it worth taking the rocker cover off to clean the crap out, or am I wasting my time? I'm not sure what time span was involved in this amount of build up so I don't know if it's one of those things that I clean and don't worry about it for another year or if it will be black again in a week.

As long as the PCV keeps doing its job and venting crankcase pressure, I should be alright? I don't believe there's anything super critical involved that could be damaged?

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Chang
 
Well I went to change the PCV and found this:
View attachment 2962020View attachment 2962021View attachment 2962022

From what little I know, I'd say piston rings have had it and there is a s*** load of blowby. Only thing I can think of.

A few questions; I'm trying to hold off the rebuild as long as possible, so a catch can will go on for now. Is it worth taking the rocker cover off to clean the crap out, or am I wasting my time? I'm not sure what time span was involved in this amount of build up so I don't know if it's one of those things that I clean and don't worry about it for another year or if it will be black again in a week.

As long as the PCV keeps doing its job and venting crankcase pressure, I should be alright? I don't believe there's anything super critical involved that could be damaged?

What are your thoughts?

Cheers,

Chang
Run a Rotella diesel oil and change it every 3000 miles to help clear up most of the junk inside the engine. Run a screwdriver through that hole to clean it out, install a new PCV valve and hose and drive the hell out of it!
 
Last edited:
+1 ^^
Looks more like neglect.
Clean out the hose too. Or replace it. Then monitor. That could be 10 years of crud you see there. (typical minutia iow)
Pop off the throttle body and clean around the butterfly as well. Metal gasket. Be gentle, should be ok. If missing, install one.
The catch can will certainly help. It will also show you what the crap flowing thru there looks like in condensed form. Check it every 10 hrs runtime (a day's trail run in my case) while you're otherwise running cleaning agents thru.
Could be a tired head in need of rebuild.
How many kms?
 
I'll take the rocker cover off, give it a deep clean and report back. I have no maintenance history on the car from PO, but its well kept... just old.

The head is definitely tired, at 360,000kms right now. I just want to put off an engine rebuild for a bit longer, HG isn't gone yet as far as I can tell (although i suspect coolant is seeping into the cylinders given how much water splutters out the exhaust every startup).

Someone else has suggested that I might as well do a bunch of other work while the top cover is off, chief among them the PHH and heater valve/hoses. Lucky all those parts just rocked up from Wits End!

Ill drop coolant for the water hoses, but I won't have to drop engine oil to take the top cover off, right? I know this sounds like a silly question but im new to car maintenance...

Cheers,

Chang
 
I'd be more concerned with the intake and throttle body than the valve cover. You are likely in need of spark plug and valve seals, too.
 
I'll take the rocker cover off, give it a deep clean and report back. I have no maintenance history on the car from PO, but its well kept... just old.

The head is definitely tired, at 360,000kms right now. I just want to put off an engine rebuild for a bit longer, HG isn't gone yet as far as I can tell (although i suspect coolant is seeping into the cylinders given how much water splutters out the exhaust every startup).

Someone else has suggested that I might as well do a bunch of other work while the top cover is off, chief among them the PHH and heater valve/hoses. Lucky all those parts just rocked up from Wits End!

Ill drop coolant for the water hoses, but I won't have to drop engine oil to take the top cover off, right? I know this sounds like a silly question but im new to car maintenance...

Cheers,

Chang
Be careful when getting after one that has been neglected.

People want to start cleaning, flushing, sterilizing, and they end up causing chunks of stuff to come loose and plug up orifices, injectors, oil galleys, fuel filters.

Do NOT run seafoam or similar products through the gas tank or oil on this until you have driven it a fair amount. I personally don't think anyone should EVER do that anyway. Some people buy into it and insist.

Change fluids without flushing.
Drive it to create heat cycles.
Drive it "normally" to let it come up to temperature, gradually build heat, and cool down. Sudden changes are not good.

Change any coolant hoses that are hard or squishy soft. Change all the vacuum hoses.

Drive it while you make your list.
 
Be careful when getting after one that has been neglected.

People want to start cleaning, flushing, sterilizing, and they end up causing chunks of stuff to come loose and plug up orifices, injectors, oil galleys, fuel filters.

Do NOT run seafoam or similar products through the gas tank or oil on this until you have driven it a fair amount. I personally don't think anyone should EVER do that anyway. Some people buy into it and insist.

Change fluids without flushing.
Drive it to create heat cycles.
Drive it "normally" to let it come up to temperature, gradually build heat, and cool down. Sudden changes are not good.

Change any coolant hoses that are hard or squishy soft. Change all the vacuum hoses.

Drive it while you make your list.
Wish I saw this a few years back. I ran Seafoam and got p0401 shortly after. Had to remove the intake and clean it out while focusing especially on the small vacuum passageways. I had 4 that were clogged with carbon deposits that Seafoam probably knocked loose.
 
Wish I saw this a few years back. I ran Seafoam and got p0401 shortly after. Had to remove the intake and clean it out while focusing especially on the small vacuum passageways. I had 4 that were clogged with carbon deposits that Seafoam probably knocked loose.
That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

I've done this with plenty of old cars and all they hype about Seafoam and all the additives people buy into and it usually causes more harm than good.
 
Wish I saw this a few years back. I ran Seafoam and got p0401 shortly after. Had to remove the intake and clean it out while focusing especially on the small vacuum passageways. I had 4 that were clogged with carbon deposits that Seafoam probably knocked loose.
lol
My experience with Seafoam (the AI spray method) was that it did nothing.
Guess I got lucky.
 

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