Crankcases and PCV Valves

If you're noticing oil mixing with coolant, possibly a bad intake gasket or head gasket.

http://www.focushacks.com/images/pcv.jpg

Here's a picture to locate it..

So, when looking at the engine from above, on the right of the exhaust.

Now, how to remove this, is another question.

On top passneger side of motor. look behind the alternator inside the space down a little. was a pain to remove for me. On some models the PCV valve is located in the valve cover. A hose runs from the valve to the throttle body base plate or intake manifold. On other models, the valve plugs into the intake manifold and is connected to the valve cover by a hose.

On a 2000 Ford Ranger , 4.0 liter EFI , V6 engine :

The PCV valve is on the drivers side engine valve cover , on the top of the

valve cover , near the REAR of the cover

Under the hood, on the Head Gasket cover (Where you put in the oil) the top right corner. You'll see a black hose feeding into a silver bolt connected to the Head Gasket. Turn off the car, let it cool, pull the hose off and unscrew the bolt (the entire thing is the PCV). It'll take you all of 3 minutes to change it! MoreDefinately make sure the engine is cold. The PVC valve screws into aluminum which is easy to strip out.

it should be at top left corner of valve cover go to auto parts store for manual about $15.

All GEN III GM egines (5.3L,6.0L,8.1L and LS1)have an internal PCV You do NOT change them....... well like most truck they are locted on top or back beside the maifold it will have a hose that goes to it one the passinger side at the top of the motor I am not positive, but I do not think it has a PCV valve. The Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valve on the 2002 Chevy Suburban with the 5.3 liter engine is located at the rear of the left valve cover-pull it out and check for vacuum with you finger.

The PCV valve on my 2005 Pilot is bolted horizontally into the side of the valve cover right next to where the oil dipstick is.

Here is the deal. Easy to complex. 1. The EGR vale may be faulty"pluged up". The EGR hose and or the orfice that it connects to may be pluged up with carbon. This is common on engines that burn some oil. Disassemble and clean hose and orfice. Replace the PCV vale. 2. A blown headgasket can put pressure into the engine.It does this by letting cylender pressure vent into the crank case. Its too much for the PCV to vent so the engine ends up pressurized. 3.Bad rings can cause a pressurized crank case. what happens here is that the combustion gas passed by the worn out rings and ends up in the crank case. As you can see, if its not a PCV vale problem the repairs will cost some real money. Sometimes it better to just go and get a good used engine to relace a sick one.

what year??old one like 90 and back in v cover 90 and newer in intake

metal (steel)

The only reason for black stuff coming out of the exhaust right after an oil change that I can think of and remember I don't know what sort of black stuff it is I am probably many hundreds or thousands of miles from you :). But I'll go ahead and assume that the stuff feels "oily" when its on your fingertips. If that is true you or who ever changes your oil may have exceeded the ammount of oil specified for you car when putting in the new oil. The black stuff is some of the residual old oil that didn't drain out all the way before the new oil was added.

An overfilled crankcase will let the excess oil spill over if you will into other areas of the motor and will undoubtedly eventually end up finding a path of least resistence to find it way out of your motor. and that would be via the exhaust pipes or possibly even causing a gaskett to fail and leak out that way.

As to why the dip stick still reads low oil.... all I can think of is that either you are checking your oil level when the car is parked in the driveway on an incline, (which would cause the oil to settle in the pan at its lowest point,which in this case would be away from where the dipstick appears when it is inserted).....or sometimes when liquids that are in an enclosed area get pressurised (which is what happens in the crankcase where the oil pools and is pumped out of) they tend to keep flowing even after the excess has already run off causing a siphoning situation leaving the crankcase less than full of the specified ammount of oil.

And I could also be totally wrong on both scenarios. It is hard to diagnose problems with machinery when it is right in front of you and that much harder to diagnose when it is several hundred miles away. Good luck and always make sure that the vehicle is parked on level ground when checking or changing any of the fluids. And if it is too full unscrew the plug and drain some out and hopefully no serious damage has occurred.

A lot of older cars can have the oil return hole in the head plug up from gunk. If this is what has happened to you cars engine it would cause the valve covers to be filled with oil after the engine is turned off. The oil can not recycle back to the oil pan as fast as it should. This would give you a low reading on the dip stick plus the oil that is trapped in the valve covers will leak down through the valve stems in to the cylinder causing the black sticky exhaust.

could be EGR valve stuck open

is your check engine light on?

hook it up to a code reader and see if it's throwing a code..

There are several things that could cause a cracked piston. Some of these things include a casting issue, contact with a valve, a bad wrist pin, excessive heat, or it could be hydro-locking.

The first step is to clean your motor and engine compartment. Use degreaser available at a parts store. Put something under the vehicle that will allow you to see where oil is hitting the floor like a big piece of plywood. Make sure your crankcase is full of oil, then start your motor. Run it for a short time and don't let it get too hot. Shut the motor off and visually inspect for the source of the oil. It should be easy to narrow down once you see where oil is running onto the plywood and and where on the motor the oil appears from. Hint; if oil is leaking from between the motor and the transmission bell housing it's probably your rear main seal.

If the vehicle is 1996 or newer, then it uses a OBDII computer system for onboard monitoring functions. The check engine light can be turned off by using the "clear" function of a scan tool (which can be rented at Auto-Zone or be done at the dealership).

The low pressure port should be on the passenger side of the engine compartment on the top side of the engine. It will be located along one of the metel lines. There will be two of these and they are supposed to have caps over them. The low port has a different size than the high side. It only fits on one or the other. Simple.

That is normal operation.

it actually goes right into the top of the valve cover, its L shaped

It is in the rear of the housing that the oil filler cap is screwed into.

PCV is usually located on the valve cover sealed by a grommet. 1995 F150 2wheel drive with a 302 engine may require removal of the intake manifold. It is connected to an oil separator to keep excessive oil form entering the cylinder combustion chamber.

on the right hand valve cover about halfway back.

Check pass. side middle of manifold cover. runs about 10$

You have low oil pressure. You find out why this is happening if it is full of oil. If not add oil until it is at the full mark on the dipstick. If it is not low of oil then you have another problem.

on top of the crank case towards the outside , it vents into the carb by vacume.