So I was going to change my PCV valve today but low and behold my strut bar is in the way to use a monkey wrench or any kind of clamp wrench so I tried the normal way but my airbox was in the way...

I decided to wipe off the excess oil on the PCV nipple and it wasnt that dark but I started to clean the hose with a gun barrel cleaner...it was black as night, and very clumpy/gooey. Then I preceded to do the same on the onther end of the hose as well as the inlet on the Intake manifold.

Same result, and not that it is worrying me but why wouldn't they make the cars come stock with a PCV filter? You would think that all that gunk in the Intake manifold would result in poor airflow over time and the heat absorption is most likely horrible compared to just the plastic manifold...

Should I take the manifold out and clean it up? Or should I just get 2 individual breathers and forget about the stupid PCV system all together?

in good regards,

Regis

 

Bump.

Should I clean the intake manifold and show you guys with pics so you can understand or what?

 

yes, pics always help

 

Ok I will do this on a weekend when i have plenty of time and there is no rain etc. My garage is outside on the driveway lol so it will have to be on a nice sunny day.

Don't you find it worrisome that your intake manifold has a bunch of gunk in it?

 

until now, i hadnt really thought about it.

 

Run good oil (synthetic) and you won't see the sludge....Also, if you run short trips, change it more often.

LM

 

You will see the buildup in the manifold no matter what oil you use. It comes from the oil vapor in the air that vents from the crankcase to the manifold.

No real worries about the sludge though. It doesn't hurt anything and the motor will live through it. The intake valves have their own dedicated cleaning system that sprays solvent on them thousands of times a minute (i.e. electronic fuel injection) and it can't cause the throttle body to stick (even on my 360,000 mile MR2 I didn't notice a change in throttle response after cleaning the gunk off the throttle body). Depending on what controls idle speed, sometimes it can gum up the idle speed control valve after several hundred thousand miles, but I forget what the 1NZ uses for that function.

It's good to clean and/or replace the PCV valve though. I think normally there is a one-way valve going from the crankcase to the manifold and a free hose going from the crankcase to the intake pre-throttle. I think the valve is usually a scheduled maintenance item in the long term, or it is on certain cars like my old Miata at least. If it is clogged, it can reduce fuel economy a bit.

Using a catch can will keep most of the sludge out of the manifold, but not all of it. There is still some oil vapor that will get into the manifold. Venting the crankcase to atmosphere is a big emissions no-no; it is actually worse than driving without a catalytic converter (unburnt liquid fuel and oil vapor = really bad)... but that will keep you from getting any oil in the manifold.