Hey Guys,

Just wondering if anyone has had trouble with their PCV Valve? Checked mine out the other day and hose is clogged with a lot of sludge and some oil is being sucked into the intake through the breather hose (which was why I checked it -high oil consumption). Obviously this is not good, but the valve still appears to be working as it rattles when shaken, but the sludge in the hose is restricting air flow. Going to replace the valve and hose in the next week or two (only about $60 genuine) regardless and hoping it will have benefits not only on oil consumption but also idle smoothness and startup. Can anyone share story or evidence of these improvments??

Thanks
Callum

Damn it, I keep hearing about this PCV but my Gregory's doesn't identify it. Can someone post a pic? I'll be checking mine around my next service cause that's when I expect to be going oversize throttle body and extractors.

My dad's KR had a clogged PCV Valve which lead to a blown gasket...apparently the pressure rose too much and blew the gasket. Lotsa oil lost.

My dad's KR had a clogged PCV Valve which lead to a blown gasket...apparently the pressure rose too much and blew the gasket. Lotsa oil lost.

thuper

Firstly there is a pipe going from the rocker cover to the inlet manifold, the valve is on the end of this.
In most situations, having worked in a Subaru and Euopean car dealership, the PCV vlave gets replaced every 40 - 50,ooo km on the magor service.
The idea of the valve is to be able to drag fumes in to the inlet tract to reburn them however if the engine backfires the valve will stop flame entering the crank case.
The reason for oil in the breather pipe could be slightly worn rings and valve stem seals causing blow by, if the valve is blocked the only other place to go is the inlet hose.
As Killbilly said a blocked valve can lead to blown external gaskets or rear main oil seal which is expensive.
Buying a new valve is the best thing you can do, I replace mine every 50,000 km on all cars I own, starting from when I first purchase them.
If you have the gregorys manual you should see the valve on page 39. (this is for te onwards 3.0 ltr) If you have a look at the end of the rocker cover you will see the valve in the cover and a pipe sticking out of the inlet manifold just next to the nut (the nut is shown with an arrow). Page 109 actually describes what it is and how to test it. This is in Manual number 272

what about freeing the intake of the filthy hot air that is being drawn through the PCV tube?

maybe the engine will produce more power?

see here:

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/instructions/breatherfilter.htm

i found my pcv valve was packed solid of dried up oil, no air was getting through, this caused my car to stall immediately after it started.

is the valve supposed to rattle as you shake it gently? or only when shaken very hard?

Because the one i have now sucks air when the engines on, and it rattles slightly when i shake it as hard as can be. The one on this old engine i got rattles just as you pick it up...

Firstly there is a pipe going from the rocker cover to the inlet manifold, the valve is on the end of this.

you mean the goes into the intake hose just before the TB, or somewhere else?

The PCV valves should be changed like that? I still have the original ones and the car has over 120,000 so they should be changed?

Should be changed for 2 reasons, if you have a backfire there is a valve in it that will prevent the flame from entering the crank case and blowing off your rocker covers and sump. It also gets clogged and as the spring weakens it will reduce the effectiveness of it

Arun
I have seen a unit that connects to the breather hose in place of the inlet manifold.
This unit allows the pressure out of the engine then seperates the oil from the gas,it then vents the clean fumes and collects the oil in a tank which can then be emptied. a little more environ friendly.
From memory it wasn't cheap.

perhaps it was an oil catch can? a bit of blow by never hurt anyone.

Yea I asked my mechanic about the little hose that goes from the rocker cover to the pre-TB inlet pipe and he said "yea thats just a breather hose, you could disconnect it and point it at the ground". So it sounds like theres more to it than he mentioned... is this where the PCV valve is or have I missed the boat?

I guess the best thing to do then is to disconect it from the air intake and let it hang down. I don't think it harms Earth more than a CAT delete pipe

I guess the best thing to do then is to disconect it from the air intake and let it hang down. I don't think it harms Earth more than a CAT delete pipe
It's there as an EPA requirement. The chances are slim you'll get inspected but the chances are the opposite to slim that you'll get fined if you are inspected.

I use bit of throttle body/carby spray cleaner to remove the gunk from mine. Any probs with that? I suppose I should change it at 50k as the spring would be a bit old by then.