oil seeping around PCV valve?

I noticed a dry film of dark liquid (possibly oil) around the bottom of my PCV valve (96 camry, 4-cylinder, 132k miles). What would cause this? Is this bad / should I clean the PCV valve? I'd just changed the PCV valve about 6 months ago.

Reply to
onehappymadman
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Oil vapor condensing on valve covers and PCV valve. I would replace the valve (about $3 in parts stores) every 15K so it doesn't plug up. The

96 shouldn't have the sludge problem because the eng> I noticed a dry film of dark liquid (possibly oil) around the bottom of
Reply to
johngdole

BTW, if you mean oil on the outside of the valve, on the valve cover, then you need to change the grommet and maybe the pcv hose.

Check to make sure you have vacuum at the pcv valve to make sure it's not blocked. The vacuum should be enough to hold a piece of paper with the engine running.

Or you should be able to hear a gentle click when clamping and releasing the pcv hose.

6 months valve is new. Did you change the grommet with it?
Reply to
johngdole

Yes, I'd meant on the outside of the valve. Looked at it again in the sunlight today, and it could probably also be coming from under the #4 spark plug. I hope that's not the case...

Did not change the grommet, silly me... yeah, changed 6 months ago,

10,000 miles ago.

PCV valve really seems to resist removal now (even with the PCV hose removed), for some odd reason... it will rotate in place, but so far haven't been able to remove it. Will try harder once I have a new grommet...

Thanks for the information

Mike

Reply to
onehappymadman

quote: "PCV valve really seems to resist removal now (even with the PCV hose removed), for some odd reason... it will rotate in place, but so far haven't been able to remove it. =A0Will try harder once I have a new grommet..." =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D You might want to buy a valve cover gasket along with the grommet and change that also. that grommet is probably going to break into hard little pieces when you try to remove it, and with the valve cover removed and inverted, they tend to fall out instead of into the engine. You need to remove the top two bolts of the timing cover to remove the valve cover, and you need a 30mm socket for the spark plug tube nuts. If you like to acquire new tools, those ratcheting combination wrenches like Gearwrench will cut remoal time considerably on those upper timing cover bolts because you can only turn them a few degrees at a time. Also you should have some FIPG (form in place gasket material) to seal the four spots (assuming 4 cylinder) where the round part meets the flat to avoid leaks. Finally, if you're using the Haynes manual, the correct spark plug tube torque for the top is 17 lbs., not 29 (29 is for the bottom) - however it is a good idea to re check the torque after a few monts because they do tend to loosen over time as the gasket compresses. the 17 lb. figure is from the Toyota factory service manual.

Reply to
Daniel

Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me. Hadn't thought about the grommet breaking into little pieces...

Reply to
onehappymadman

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