Oil In Intake Area

jadcock · Apr 25th, 2003, 11:41 AM

Hey guys and gals:

I'm getting oil in my intake area, and I think it's coming from the breather tube/filter at the back of the valve cover. The oil isn't getting past the air filter, so it's not hurting the engine, but what's the cause for all this oil? Is this a sign that I need to replace my PCV valve? I should have paid more attention to the instructions that JoanJetta gave a few months ago...

Thanks,

Apr 25th, 2003, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jadcock
Hey guys and gals:

I'm getting oil in my intake area,.... Is this a sign that I need to replace my PCV valve?

Thanks,

yep and Its good you caught it quick. I had the same thing happen in my camaro and i didn't cath it soon enough. When i did look to investigate why mar car was so sluggish, I found what appeared to be 1 1/2 quarts of oil in my intake.

Are you sure it's not getting through the filter though? I mean you are looking at it im sure but If its soaked to the underside of filter theres a pretty good chance some of it is getting sucked in.

CarGuy · Apr 25th, 2003, 12:56 PM

Yeah - In most cases, you need to replace the PCV - and sense you are fond of the nissan/dealership parts, you should be real happy with the results

hope this helps

jadcock · Apr 25th, 2003, 01:07 PM

Thanks to both for your replies. It's not a lot of oil -- the breather filter catches a lot of it. The breather filter was SOAKED a few weeks back and I replaced it, hoping it would fix the oil-in-the-intake problem, but it's back to being soaked and the intake area is back to being wet. The rubber ring of the air filter is wet, and all areas around the filter are damp with oil, but if I lift the air filter up, the area within it is dry.

Yeah, I guess need to replace the PCV valve soon -- don't want any oil to get in and foul the MAF sensor.

aaronford · Apr 26th, 2003, 02:22 AM

Hey, this is typically due to excessive crankcase pressure forcing air and entrained oil out the PCV inlet. This is due to worn compression rings allowing combustion gasses and pressure by the piston and into the crankcase. Solving the problem requires a rering, however, living with the blowby and dirty PCV intake is a H**L of a lot cheaper. Aaron

jadcock · Apr 26th, 2003, 09:47 AM

Yay!

Oh well. It runs really well, I'd never guess it had ring problems. Maybe I'll check the compression on it when I get around to it. Until then, I guess I'll change the PCV valve and hope for the best.

aaronford · Apr 27th, 2003, 12:07 AM

Don't worry too much, my Cavalier ran that way for 200K miles. I just wiped out the filter housing at every oil change. It never caused a problem, and I never worried about it. Aaron

1997XETruck · Apr 27th, 2003, 01:26 AM

I'd try the PCV valve first... you should be able to tell if it's gummed up, but for $5-10 if it's out I'd just replace it. If you don't have smoke and major oil consumption, I doubt your rings are shot - but that's the other probable cause if the new valve doesn't cure it.

Heath

jadcock · Apr 27th, 2003, 09:20 AM

I don't have any smoke or any measureable oil consumption. All the way to redline, the exhaust is smoke-free. I do have a feeling it's the PCV valve. I think the engine is supposed to pump the crankcase pressure out the PCV valve and into the manifold (below the throttle body). And the vacuum that creates is drawn in through the breather (which is why it has a rudimentary foam filter on it). However, if the PCV is clogged or stuck, that pressure has to go somewhere, so it's forcing it out the breather, which is why I'm getting oil going back OUT (above the throttle body) instead of air flowing IN.

'Least, that's the way it worked on my old Oldsmobile. It had a PCV valve mounted on one valve cover and the breather on the other. The reason I think the PCV is mounted much lower in the engine on a KA24E (maybe even mounted straight into the block), is because it's an overhead cam design and there's no air path from the crankcase up to the valve train area like there is on a pushrod OHV V-8 (like my Oldsmobile had).

That's how I rationalize it anyway.

Looks like I'm gonna drain the oil and pour in a fresh change of dino oil this time (and change the PCV). I'm moving this next week, so time will be tight, but after we get moved, I'll drain my new dino oil out and I might try some MaxLife this time.