Hey All,

Just a little preventative maintenance tip for all you second gen owners who don't know, to save you un-necessary hassle in the future.

On the V6 engine, there are two rocker covers - one for each head. Each one has a rubber breather hose connected to it. The front one is easy to get to, the rear one is a bit more fiddly, but still not that hard to access. They can become blocked over time, and if they do, you'll have the hassle I had a while ago, where the rocker box becomes pressurised, and starts blowing oil past the rocker cover gaskets. On my car, it was the rear rocker box, and the oil was slopping down the side of the rocker box, and pooling in a V on the rear exhast manifold, causing massive amounts of smoke for about 5 minutes when the engine got hot and the oil was burning off.

I suggest about once a year, pull off both breather hoses, and clean them, and also poke some wire down the holes in the rocker covers as well. Should take you about 20 mins, and will save a bit of hassle in the future - changing and re-sealing the rear rocker cover gasket is an un-necessary amount of hassle. Same idea for all engines really.

Hope this helps.

Clarky

Mine got so bad on my 3.5L 3rd gen that they blew the cam seals out, pushed the seals back in, cleaned breathers, no more probs.

Been there and done that 4 years ago, which ALL the seals had to be replaced, and that was with only 116,000 klms on the clock. Just for peace of mind, I now clean them every 6 months. I know it's overkill, but a small amount time to do, to save $$$'s.

Mine got so bad on my 3.5L 3rd gen that they blew the cam seals out, pushed the seals back in, cleaned breathers, no more probs.

Pics of where they are?

Anyone know some decent coloured tube replacements? I put on the red ones from Supercheap a while ago (fitted an inline filter to catch the oil), and the bloody things turn pink so quickly it's not funny.
Wonder if they do braided metal ones...:think:

Pics of where they are?

On the 3rd Gen V6's, the front one is on the top left side of the rocker cover, its a litle 90 degree connector you cant miss it, proper name is the PCV valve (Positive Crankcase Ventilation). On the rear bank it is on the top right and has a hose that runs up to the intake right before the TB. Front one is removable and rear one is just a pipe, perhaps jam a pipe cleaner/cable tie in there to shift the gunk. Clean front one with TB/Carby cleaner.

On the 2nd Gen V6's there a pipe on the front rocker that runs down into the valley onto a little hexagonal shaped valve right below where the upper intake manifold meets the lower one. This valve is removable and able to be cleaned with TB/carby cleaner. Unsure of rear one, been too long.

Anyone know some decent coloured tube replacements? I put on the red ones from Supercheap a while ago (fitted an inline filter to catch the oil), and the bloody things turn pink so quickly it's not funny.
Wonder if they do braided metal ones...:think:

my customasbro power steering tube i got from repco is red and good quality. Bought it /m. I just told them the internal diameter and they got me some, so maybe they'll have some which will fit the pcv or maybe some compressor hosing or something. I'd be looking for black.

just get some coloured fuel line... works on mine. althought the blue 1 goes like pale and chalky.

just get some coloured fuel line... works on mine. althought the blue 1 goes like pale and chalky.
That's what I got, and the red does the same (hence the dodgy "pink" look)

i think there was a thread about this a while ago, the other good thing to do on the rear rocker is to place a fuel filter in the line back to the manifold because all it tends to do is dirty the **** outta the TB. simple solution costs like $5 for 10 and you change em out say every oil change...

What do people put in your engines?

I have never had to clean my breather hoses....

you shouldn't have to clean them at all.....

whoever said six months... that is overkill... if your breather hoses are clogging up then you
have an underlying issue, you may have **** in your oil, check your oil/filter and replace as necessary...

Exactly Adza

I wonder always why people make such a big deal of breathers. Most of you have purchased cars well over 10 years old, the hoses have never been cleaned. The PCV should be cleaned at approx 20k service each time, the rest are ok. If they are blocked you have excessive blow by or a blocked PCV thus the rear hose gets blocked with gunk

From memory the PCV should be replaced every 40k or 2 years.

I do clean them as any good mechanic should but not every 6 months.

The fuel filter idea does work to an extent but remember you are introducing a restriction as when teh fumes get to the filter media it resrticts the flow of air thus higher crank case pressure.

Just a heads up for most owners. I change my oil/filter every 10,000 kms, and my breathers still clogged, causing me a lot of un-necessary hassle. 2nd Gens are old now, I bought mine on a budget, and a lot of owners have limited mechanical experience and don't want to/can't afford to take their car to a mechanic unless absolutely necessary. I'd never heard about changing the PCV valve. How much do they cost?

What do people put in your engines?

I have never had to clean my breather hoses....

you shouldn't have to clean them at all.....

whoever said six months... that is overkill... if your breather hoses are clogging up then you
have an underlying issue, you may have **** in your oil, check your oil/filter and replace as necessary...

That was me who cleans the breather hoses every six months, and also said "it was overkill",
as I was well aware of the comments that would be posted.

When you are only doing around 130 klms of Sydney inner city driving, where the top speed that I get to do is around 80 kph for about 3 klms per week, the car does not get to run and breath as it would like to. Now if you work that out, that is around 7000 klms of city driving each year.

I use good oil products, and basically unless the oil gets really dirty, one oil chage per year. PCV valve is changed as per required schedule unless earlier if required.

So just a note that all cars don't perform the same. Because someone does not need to clean the breather hoses, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't need to either. It seems I'm not alone, as DJ Clarky also cleans his breather hoses on a regular basis.

Thanks Clarky.
Just completed 2 trips to Sydney from South Oz, Cleaned the (very blocked) front cover breather. No more clouds of smoke when I start the car. Before used to just about cover the car with blue smoke, Thought my stem seals were gone.
1 litre oil used on first trip. cleaned breathers, no oil used on 2nd trip.:bowrofl:

not the most mechanical minded guy but car blows a bit of smoke so can some one give me pics on roughly where the breathers are

PS.. this may seem like a stupid question

On the V6 , where you put the oil in, just to the right is a small pipe coming out of the rocker cover, has a short hose connected...thats the pipe & hose to clean

thanks heaps
for that

On the V6 , where you put the oil in, just to the right is a small pipe coming out of the rocker cover, has a short hose connected...thats the pipe & hose to clean
Is there another one on the back? I had a quick peek the other day and couldn't find the other one.

That was me who cleans the breather hoses every six months, and also said "it was overkill",
as I was well aware of the comments that would be posted.

When you are only doing around 130 klms of Sydney inner city driving, where the top speed that I get to do is around 80 kph for about 3 klms per week, the car does not get to run and breath as it would like to. Now if you work that out, that is around 7000 klms of city driving each year.

I use good oil products, and basically unless the oil gets really dirty, one oil chage per year. PCV valve is changed as per required schedule unless earlier if required.

So just a note that all cars don't perform the same. Because someone does not need to clean the breather hoses, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't need to either. It seems I'm not alone, as DJ Clarky also cleans his breather hoses on a regular basis.

if i sounded like i was having a go, i wasn't, i was merely agreeing with you, i just had a lack of grammatical and punctuational care.. at the time, sorry my bad.

but agreed not all cars perform the same, i just never seem to have all these little things that everyone notices.

maybe im special...?? nah doubt it

Is there another one on the back? I had a quick peek the other day and couldn't find the other one.
Yes. It is directly behind the oil filler, but on the back Cover. The pipe points roughly to the fuse holder, pokes out under the throttle body

When I took my SOHC out and put it on the engine stand I had oil dripping out onto the floor from my rear breather hose.

I assured myself that that wasn't good for anyone lol
So cleaning them is a great idea

my 3rd gen ones are gross, gotta clean them up. Mainly caused by lots of short distance driving i am led to believe

OK - taken a couple of pics to show the location of the front and rear breather hoses on a
2nd Gen 3.0L V6. The pic of the front breather hose clearly shows where it attaches to the front rocker cover, the pic of the rear breather hose (hose with index finger under it) shows where it attaches to the big air inlet hose from the airbox, just follow it down, and you'll see where it attaches to the rear rocker cover.

Just pull them off, and give them a clean through. An air compresser is handy if you have access to one.

Hope this helps you all.

Clarky.

good on ya mate, pics were needed. IMO, carb cleaner worked wonders on this stuff. Ate through the gunk like hot knife through butter

good on ya mate, pics were needed. IMO, carb cleaner worked wonders on this stuff. Ate through the gunk like hot knife through butter

or if you don't have any carby cleaner use a bit of petrol

Thanks for the pics.

Should probably do this at some stage soon

Ah cheers, gives me something to do this weekend for a while.

Just bumping this as I think this is important.
Took off my rear rocker cover on the SOHC (which is on a stand) and i found the rear breather hole to be COMPLETELY BLOCKED.
Not just soft goo either, i had to get a drill bit to drill most of it out.
It was just blocked, which could possibly explain why my car liked to leak.

Advice - Either get a rocker cover from the wreckers, clean it throughout and put it on in one go, or do this at some stage.

For V6 owners its even more important as the rear bank is often forgotten

I tried to get mine off the other day and they wouldn't budge, so much so that i thought i was gonna break them doing it, lost some skin on my finger trying to get the front one off too, any advice on getting them off?

I tried to get mine off the other day and they wouldn't budge, so much so that i thought i was gonna break them doing it, lost some skin on my finger trying to get the front one off too, any advice on getting them off?

Use a socket to get it off and an extension.
To see if they are working or not just take the hose off and run the engine, PCV should be sucking and rocker cover should be expelling air.

I assume your having trouble taking the PCV off yes?

When I first cleaned the breather hoses and pipes, the rear hose was fused onto the pipe due to the heat. I had to cut the tube off to remove it. Knowing what I had to do, I went to Mitsubishi Dealer and bought a new rear hose. The rear pipe was blocked but I just gradually drilled that out by hand with an awl. Maybe some small bits fell inside, but have had no problems in the last 4 years.

']Use a socket to get it off and an extension.
To see if they are working or not just take the hose off and run the engine, PCV should be sucking and rocker cover should be expelling air.

I assume your having trouble taking the PCV off yes?
PCV? I'm usless at this, i only tried tugging the hose to pull them offlol

Yeh I thought the hose would be hard to take off too, although I just gave it a twist on the bit that goes over the metal first, and it kinda unstuck. Then I just slid it backwards with my fingers, and managed to get it off. But unfortunately when I was doing this the hose obviously bent, and it split in half almost completely on the other end. It must have got old and hard with age.

At least they seemed fairly clean, bit of oily residue but didnt seem to be any gunky or hard stuff in there at all. Rang mitsu for some new hoses, $40 each :doubt: Was thinking about changing the PVC valves too, but they were $90 each Guess I will just give them a clean with some carby cleaner when I get my new hoses.

Ollie

I took my front Cover right off. took a lot of work to clean the pipe. Put the Front cover back on, then checked the back one as follows.
I took the oil filler cap off, took hose off the PCV, then blew into the hose whilst it was still on the cover. air came out the oil filler hole, so I knew that was clear.
Make sure you take the oil filler cap off otherwise you will get a face full of blowback, from pressureising the motor.:redface:

Your best bet with the hoses is to change them with EFI grade fuel hose. I always use EFI clamps as well (these are better as the clamps have tabs that stop them cutting into the hose)

The old hoses go hard and split which causes air leaks.

The PCV valve is avail from most aftermarket places a lot cheaper. When it is out of the car, spray some carb cleaner into the hole in the manifold and give it a good blast with compressed air.

Make sure you take the oil filler cap off otherwise you will get a face full of blowback, from pressureising the motor.:redface:

So did you find this out the hard way? oil in ur eye? haha:bowrofl:

So did you find this out the hard way? oil in ur eye? haha:bowrofl:
Not quite, but was not pleasant:redface:

Your best bet with the hoses is to change them with EFI grade fuel hose. I always use EFI clamps as well (these are better as the clamps have tabs that stop them cutting into the hose)

The old hoses go hard and split which causes air leaks.

The PCV valve is avail from most aftermarket places a lot cheaper. When it is out of the car, spray some carb cleaner into the hole in the manifold and give it a good blast with compressed air.

Cool thanks, I guess that EFI grade hose would be cheaper, ive already ordered the new hoses but will know for next time.

I remember on my old car I wanted to replace the PVC valve, but the ones at supercheap looked different and a bit cheap. I noticed the ones on my verada are strange, not sure if im looking at the right thing but its just a straight thing, doesnt have a 90 deg angle.

Would any that looks similar from supercheap auto or the like be ok to use? And also considering my car is at 185,000km and probably still on original PVC valves, should I be replacing them or is it not necessary if I can just clean my current ones?

Ollie

do you think it would be ok, once you've cleaned the pipes and pcv etc etc to spray some carby cleaner in the hole to the rocker cover?? Ive not got the right tools to get the pcv off anyhow i might just clean it with a cotton bud...

do you think it would be ok, once you've cleaned the pipes and pcv etc etc to spray some carby cleaner in the hole to the rocker cover?? Ive not got the right tools to get the pcv off anyhow i might just clean it with a cotton bud...

Its 2 12mm bolts, just take the rocker cover off and have your way with it off the car!!

to get the PCV out cant you use a spanner?
opilot I would take it out and give it a carby cleaner bath.

that rear rockercover is a biatch to get off, im guessing the inlet manifold needs to come off as well, i had a lookie today, looks like a pretty lengthy job any guesses at time it takes?

Edit: the PCV seems to be too long for my pathetic spanner set, ill give it a go when im cleaning the rear rocker covers...

Just a note to those with V6s, when putting the PCV valves back on, be VERY careful with your grip on them, the valley between the Vs is a nightmare to recover a dropped valve from...

I cleaned mine out yesterday and pulling the hoses off they were so old they cracked on the ends that wiggle onto the bit on the top of the engine and the air pipe.

Grrrrr :rant:

Sometimes I feel like I'm going backwards

that rear rockercover is a biatch to get off, im guessing the inlet manifold needs to come off as well, i had a lookie today, looks like a pretty lengthy job any guesses at time it takes?

Edit: the PCV seems to be too long for my pathetic spanner set, ill give it a go when im cleaning the rear rocker covers...

It's not all the world - few plugs and pipes to disconnecnt, throttle cable and obviously the air inlet hose from the airbox, then you just undo the nuts/bolts holding the mainifold on.

Just label all the plugs/pipes with masking tape, and label them 1, 2, 3 etc. On a bit of paper, write them all down and where they go - then you'll know you remember to put everything back on. A digital camera's handy if you want to make sure of each thing.

You'll find if you're methodical when you do it, it really aint that hard. A complete novice could have it all stripped apart within a couple of hours I reckon.

You'll need a deep reach socket for the PCV valve. I've managed in the past to just about get a normal socket and extension on it if you don't fit them all the way together. Just buy yourself the cheapest rubbish deep reach you can find - easier.

cheers clarky