PCV Leaning Tower of Pisa

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pasadena_commut

:
Protege5 2003
The P5 my daughter has been trying to kill has been burning oil off and on. She grossly overheated it at one point, so that it burns oil is not very surprising. What is suprising is that it will drink oil, then stop, then start again. Anyway, I never looked at it closely before, but the PCV valve is tilted over at about 5 degrees. It is also kind of loose. I can wiggle the valve left and right about +/- 10 degrees, and when I do that there is a bit of oil visible between the PCV valve and the grommet it sits in. The PCV valve won't sit flat on the grommet.

I don't have a reference Protege for comparison, so if somebody can have a look under their hood...

1. Is the valve sitting flat and square on the gasket?
2. When it is in all the way, is it free to tilt in the grommet or is it a tight fit?

I'm thinking maybe after she overheated the car the mechanic who worked on it didn't replace the grommet, and it deformed from the heat.

(This was originally posted to the protege forum by mistake. Sorry folks.)
 
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I have always questioned the PCV valve fitment when I saw it, but it does sit rather loose, in my opinion. Although mine doesn't really have that much oil seeping out like you say. It does sit at an angle and I can move it around quite a bit too.

A picture would be best.
 
Mine moves a bit. Have replaced the grommet and it didn't make much difference. I have positioned the oil catch can hose so that it keeps the PCV valve as straight as possible. Not seeing anything dribblin down the valve cover. It would be nice for it to fit tighter but it seems OK.
 
The_big_dill said:
A picture would be best.
Click to expand...

Here you go. There are two side views and one top view showing the angle at which it sits. There is also one side view where I pulled it right with my finger, to show how much it rocks.

The PCV valve is marked "2223" and "USA", so presumably it isn't OEM. The grommet is soft. I think these must have been replaced after my daughter overheated the car, even though I don't have any paperwork saying that work was done. The PCV valve rattles when it shakes like it should work, but just turning it over is enough for the valve to open. Is that normal for these cars? It seems like this one either doesn't have a spring or that spring is very feeble.
 

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By the way, I retaped that nasty looking wiring harness this afternoon with this stuff:

http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetail.aspx?ProductID=35197&SEName=85291

It was the only thing the PepBoys had that didn't look like it would ooze adhesive all over the place. All of the thin outer tape from the factory was cracked and falling off. There are 5 zip tie thingies holding it in place and the 3 which run along parallel to the valve cover were broken. The hooks were still good, but the strap parts had broken. Two of these can be seen in the top view picture in the previous post. PepBoys didn't have anything like that, so for now I cut off the strap part and ran some regular zip ties through the strap space in the resulting stub to hold the wiring harness. Hopefully the zip ties I had on hand won't melt in the engine compartment. Anybody know where to get these things other than the stealership?
 
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I just screwed a piece of coat hanger to the valve cover. It ain't pretty but it works.

BUT,... this what Canadians call "Friction Tape",,,. and it IS pretty,.. (if you want)

0830015_1_zpsit2rqhxo.jpg



0830083_1_zpsfik1ii3f.jpg



0832503_1_zpsxxmk42rt.jpg
 
PCV valve question - is there supposed to be a spring in it? If I shake it it rattles, as it should. However, if I just turn it upside down (bottom side up) the ball falls from the closed position (closest to the engine side) to the open position (farthest from the engine side) and the valve opens. The PCV in our Accord doesn't do that. So is this PCV valve broken, or is that just the way these are?
 
I have a brand new Fram PCV valve that I just tested. It does exactly as you described.

If I turn it upsidedown it falls open but if I blow on it I blows shut.
 
kms1990 said:
yeah they do that its just a roller bearing
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.

Weird. The "spring" must just be gravity acting on the pintle, which did move as if it had some weight to it. Otherwise as soon as the motor was on and there was vacuum in the intake it would suck the pintle all the way up and close the valve. There wouldn't be any difference between idling and driving on the highway. That wouldn't be any good, because then the valve would never actually vent the crankcase.

Using a weight like that is going to do some strange things going over the top of a hill at speed (during the part when it feels like the car is floating) or at the bottom of a steep hill (where it pulls more than 1g). I guess these sorts of events are so short that they don't matter.
 
mine is very loose fitting as well and my car is very well kept (its been in the family since 05) and it has never overheated you may have warped it some but mine can just pop right out as well.
 
It seems to fit fine, but that doesn't mean it flows the same. :) I'd swap the PVC and grommet for oem Mazda parts.
I'd also probably have a look at the air filter to see how oily it is, because that's another sign of PCV problems.
 
Natey said:
I'd also probably have a look at the air filter to see how oily it is, because that's another sign of PCV problems.
Click to expand...

I have heard that before but don't understand why that should be. The vacuum line to the PCV valve is far downstream from the air filter, so any oil going through the valve would be pulled into the intake, and from there into the motor. How does oil reach the air filter from the intake? It would have to swim upstream against the air flow to get there.
 
pasadena_commut said:
I have heard that before but don't understand why that should be. The vacuum line to the PCV valve is far downstream from the air filter, so any oil going through the valve would be pulled into the intake, and from there into the motor. How does oil reach the air filter from the intake? It would have to swim upstream against the air flow to get there.
Click to expand...
ive never understood this either, however have seen it happen. i think it happens at idle when not very much air is coming in
 
If PCV is clogged or not flowing well enough the oil vapor under pressure will blow back into the intake tube, through the cam cover, vent into the turbo inlet pipe, and eventually into the airbox.
 
Natey said:
If PCV is clogged or not flowing well enough the oil vapor under pressure will blow back into the intake tube, through the cam cover, vent into the turbo inlet pipe, and eventually into the airbox.
Click to expand...

Mine is normally aspirated, so presumably no turbo inlet pipe.

If the PCV valve jams those gasses have no place to go to get out of the motor except back up into the cylinders or out through one or more of the engine seals/gaskets.

This car blew both the valve cover gasket and the front seal in May. I had thought at the time it was because those gaskets were weakened by a previous bout of overheating. Now I'm wondering if the PCV valve that was in it at the time might have jammed shut, and the extra pressure blew out those seals. Although, given the loose PCV valve mounting method in this car, it seems more likely that if there was that much pressure it would have blown the PCV up and out of the valve cover, or at least blown gasses out between the PCV valve and the PCV valve grommet. Also the valve cover gasket was leaking all over the place (it was a disgusting mess) and I would have thought high pressure would have blown a hole somewhere in one gasket or seal, and then kept leaking from there, since the hole would have limited further high pressure in the motor.
 
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