robaru Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 Hope everyone had a great holiday. Just a question about my 1987 carb'd 4x4 wagon. I'm getting some oil blown up into the air cleaner area from the hoses that vent into it. I got enough this morning that it must have sucked some through the carb and I had a pretty big loss of power. I pulled over and reved abit and it went away. But the inside of the air cleaner is spattered with oil. Is this a PCV valve problem? Any thoughts be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 The PCV is a one possible cause, it could be a loose oil cap or it could be clogged PCV/breather hoses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted December 26, 2004 Author Share Posted December 26, 2004 I've had the pcv valve off before during tune ups and the ball ratttled back and forth when I shook it, so I thought it was good. Guess I'll replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 something everyone seems to ignore. if you have alot of pressure in your pvc system... alot of times it means you have excessive blowby. your rings are shot! its ok, subarus can still go 100k blowing fat loads of oil into the pcv system. if you have this problem, and its because of blow by, the only reasonable solution(other than a rebuild) is to t the two valve covers, plug the pcv vlave, and put a filter on the end of the hose you td off the valve covers. or a filter on each valve cover, as you see on v8s. i have had a few high mileage subarus, that would blow by so much oil they would foul the plugs in cold weather. but try replacing the pcv first, yoiu might be lucky=] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subyrally Posted December 26, 2004 Share Posted December 26, 2004 sounds like my rx. i just put in a new engine cause i cant get ahold of new rings for the first engine i had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 If I were having a bunch of blow by, wouldn't I get some blue smoke on startup? I don't have any of that and I'n not noticing any burning of oil. The only other strange thing is pretty high oil pressure, which I never was to concerned about because it was still within range, and I know the gauge can be off abit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldDiggerRoo Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 I'm pretty sure you'ld get smoke only at start-up if the valve stem seals were shot. I've had a few v8's that had blow by (new rings didn't seat properly) and they smoked all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 Well, I got home and looked at the pcv valve. It was clean and jiggled back and forth. The hoses comming from the valve covers have lots of white oily stuff in them. This seems to be where its comming from. Also the inside lid of the oil cap is covered with a white oily jelly. I'm starting to get nervous now. I compression tested the cylinders and got 150-160psi in all. Plugs look good. If I lost part of the head gasket, could I have got oil mixing with antifreeze in the valve covers? Probably should drain the oil and coolant to check for mixing. Any other directions? I usually think the worst and do way more than I should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idahoser Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Blow by is nothing to worry about but moisture in the oil is.Pull your air filter and soak it in the kitchen sink with a liberal amount of dish soap to remove the oil from the element and dry it before reinstalling.Replace you PCV valve next and if it oils it up again reroute your hoses to vent over the frame into the fenderwell.This wont pass smog but will do just fine.A little moisture buildup in the winter monthes with around town short trips is normal but keep an eye on your coolant recovery tank and radiator level just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganM Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Blow by is nothing to worry about but moisture in the oil is.Pull your air filter and soak it in the kitchen sink with a liberal amount of dish soap to remove the oil from the element and dry it before reinstalling.Replace you PCV valve next Buy a PCV valve but reuse the air filter? Just buy a new dang air filter and pcv :-p Oh and change your oil if you are getting that much moisture in it. Mine is the same way in the winter. I guess I just use more seafoam and change the oil more often in the winter Only 'fix' I've heard for that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted December 27, 2004 Author Share Posted December 27, 2004 Thanks for the replys. I'll replace the pcv and air filter and oil, and filter. So could be just condensation forming in the hoses? I sure hope thats it. It has been foggy here for weeks it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaru Posted December 29, 2004 Author Share Posted December 29, 2004 Just wanted to update this post. I pulled the air cleaner off, and there was yuck in the tubes. One was completely full. I cleaned them all out and put it back together with new pcv valve, air filter, and a fresh oil change. No more problem. Thanks to everyone for your advice. It must have been condensation, mixing with oily air over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dptyrob Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 I'd check the line going to the PCV valve and make sure that it's not clogged and make sure that there are no leaks in that line too. When I replaced my PCV valve recently it was jiggling just fine, but the hose/tube was completely obstructed by baked in crud that I had to carve out with a screwdriver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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