valve cover grille?

I think you are talking about the oil baffle.

It was a aftermarket product that VW adopted.

It is used to keep the valve cover from being washed with oil and it allows the oil to get back to the sump faster.

It also allows the oil breather vent to stay clear.

It was first used to stop "run away" diesels. A worn diesel usually has bad rings and can burn its own oil as fuel after it is picked up in the air cleaner.

No Dave. I'm not talking about the baffle, that plastic shield just sitting above the camshaft. Bentley calls it "camshaft cover".

As you take down the "cylinder head cover" (Bentley), [what I called "valve cover" (me-amateur)], at the end where the rubber hose connects to it, on the inside, there is a "grille" which role escapes me.

Is the connection to the rubber hose what you call "oil breather vent"? Bentley doesn't give a name for it so I don't know exactly it's name.

If yes, then right underneath it there is my mysterious grille, or maybe it can be called a mesh (with oval holes of approx. 3mm ø) Anyway, I tried poking a needle through it and it doesn't go through from either side. So it must be something else behind it. I sprayed carb. cleaner and same result. In my mind it must be a much finer mesh or a filter behind? Anyway, carb. cleaner doesn't penetrate it.

In my novice mind, this is a passage and it shouldn't be completely obstructed. Can it be so clogged that it became impenetrable? How should I clean it and how freely the air should move through it?

This is a Fox '88, 1.8

Thank you Dave! TR

Dave wrote:

It has the same function as the plastic cover but doesn't do it as well. Many cars originally didn't come with the plastic cover (my '84 GTI for one), it was just the metal cylinder head cover. So the small metal screen's job was to keep the oil from being sucked into breather hose.

--VJS

Yes, I saw at the junk yard that older engines lack the plastic cover. OK, but behind the metal screen there is something else which completely obstructs the passage on its entire surface (because it is so clogged?). Do you know what it is, a filter or another finer mesh? How to clean it and with what (carb. cleaner not strong enough)? And how easy is the air suppose to pass through it? I can't see what it is because the screen is welded to the cylinder head cover and its' holes are stamped at a steep angle. They were plugged with gunk. I cleaned the with a brush, but that didn't change anything.

I did all my VW schooling at the numerous junk yards of LA. Now I live too far from the nearest j-yard to go and take a cover apart or buy another one..

TR

Victor Silva wrote:

It is the same thing (the cover) we are just calling it different names.

The tube is the breather vent, most cars have this connected to a PCV valve in the air cleaner but most VWs don't use a pcv valve.

A pcv (positive crankcase ventilation) valve is supposed to allow air flow only one way. After a while the valve gets clogged up with oil and dirt and has to be changed.