I've decided to take the plunge and replace the PCV. The car is running very well at 135K but has the tell-tale sign of a smoking dipstick. I also use synthetic oil and change it every 5 - 6K. I thought it might just have been cold weather and short trips causing a smoking dipstick to be a sign of condensation burning off, but the warmer weather and a long trip still showed signs of a smoking dipstick. So how to proceed?

I read where some have used Seafoam to clean out the oil separator. They pour it in the oil separator via a vacuum hose and let it sit overnight and then go for a drive. Any comments on that? Others have been able to salvage some parts from their old system and just replace those parts. For example, eeuroparts doesn't have the full kit replacement like fcp does. Eeuroparts sells the pcv system part by part. Still others replace the whole thing. What are the best options? What has been your experiences with any one of these approaches?

Thanks, George

Is this a turbo or NA? A turbo has a breather line that goes from the oil separator to the air intake hose just before the turbo. This connection has a nipple on the intake hose which can get clogged, clean it out first.
If it is a NA, open up the PCV near the throttle body, throw away the screen, and clean the small diameter hose.

If the "smoking" goes away, that will keep you away from doing the entire oil breather box/lines for a long while.

Do not try to use Seafoam to clean the oil separator box, it will not work. If the box is clogged with dried oil, the passage from the box to the block needs to be cleaned out.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic.

Thanks, Klaus for your reply. It's N/A so no ptc to clean. I'll check and clean out the small lines. There's no flame trap (screen) in the 98, so that's not my issue. I might just do what the other poster suggested and change it all out for peace of mind. It'll give me another bonding experience with this car, but I do really enjoy it! George

Do you use synthetic oil? When you clean the flametrap housing, is there burned oil flakes and gunk? I believe that is what clogs the system and makes replacements necessary and causes the main seal leak. I don't think it's a mileage number like a timing belt, and then you have to rip the manifold off (unless you really want to), If you have been using synth oil and don't have horrifying solid flakes of crud in the housing, you might be pretty safe. Also I don't think a little vapor coming from the dipstick is cause for panic. My main seals (twice) were done at 110K and very quiet since. I think it's a matter of good maintenance and even though the previous owner went to the dealer (0 mi. to 110K mi.), it was not enough.
--
'97 855na, Mobil 1, K&N, various IPD's and eBay's

LilHelpHere,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have been using synthetic and my dad (previous owner) before that. When I clean the flametrap housing, it usually has a very small amount of something that resembles butter. It don't remember seeing any burned oil flakes. The throttle body and idle motor which I have cleaned recently were not very dirty at all. I really don't want to pull the intake manifold off to check the rest of the system but what other choice is there? George

Having done this myself, I would never recommend replacing this system piece by piece. Perhaps if I crushed something accidentally and knew for sure the age of the components was acceptable I'd leave it and only replace the ruined part maybe....

The work to get in and replace things is just SO crazy, it's NOT worth /NOT/ replacing everything.

I did it myself (in the cold no less yikes!) and I replaced every vacuum hose I came across, and cleaned the throttle body (+ new gasket) and IAC. It was a long day (~14 hours in total including the cleanup - I was in someone else's garage... boo!) but I was moving slowly that day and it was worth every penny.

As I said, having done it myself, I can say I now understand how much oil/dirt/heat these hoses are subjected to, and combined with age, this is why they fail. If you're in there already and you have the intake off and the battery and breather box out to do the PCV, you may as well take the time and clean everything up and replace everything you get your hands on (the disposable parts anyway).

The part you're really concerned about is the oil separator, which is bolted to the block below the intake, and is the hard part to get to. If you're worried about the PCV, you need to replace that, and once you're in there for that you may as well do the rest of it (minimal) - the rest is cheap insurance.