Pcv Replacement

[John Martin]

If the grommet around your PCV is broken or cracked, this should tell you two things. One, the valve hasn't been changed in a long while, and, two, when you change it, some pieces of the old, ossified grommet are going to fall into the crankcase. And I can attest that getting a big chunk of burned plastic out of that little hole is not easy.

As crazy as this sounds, once the grommet has hardened, it may make more sense to take you car and let them change everything.

JM

[lexusk8]

That's exactly what happened to me in my '01 ES. After noticing the aging of the old grommet, I actually went ahead and tried to do the PCV replacement myself by buying $3 worth of parts at Advance Auto Parts. Turns out after a while that these parts do not fit 100% with the engine. I then took the car to Toyota and asked them to replace the PCV. $30 later, it's a guaranteed fit :)

[tckcumming]

If the grommet around your PCV is broken or cracked, this should tell you two things. One, the valve hasn't been changed in a long while, and, two, when you change it, some pieces of the old, ossified grommet are going to fall into the crankcase. And I can attest that getting a big chunk of burned plastic out of that little hole is not easy.

As crazy as this sounds, once the grommet has hardened, it may make more sense to take you car and let them change everything.

JM

When you need to replace the PCV, just assume that the grommet is no good and buy a new one when you get the PCV valve. I also replace the rubber vacuum hose that connects the PCV to the intake manifold. It gets old and cracked too - easy and cheap to replace while your in there messing with the PCV etc.

1. Pull old PCV out of hole. Resist the temptation to try to remove the grommet at this point - it will probably break up and drop into the valve cover, as mentioned in the previous post.

2. Stuff a rag into the hole as far as you can.

3. Use a utility knife or box cutter and cut the old grommet (with the rag stuffed into it) in 2 or 3 places.

4. Pull out the chunks of old PCV. Any small bits can't fall into the engine because of the rag.

5. Carefully pull the rag out, any bits of leftover PCV will come out with it. Pull off the old vacuum hose now.

6. Pop in new grommet, and new PCV. Measure and cut your new hose (just make it the same length as the old one). Connect vacuum hose to PCV and intake manifold (re-use the old clamps).

Done!

The grommet comes out easily if it's changed once in a while, before it gets old and petrified. Only a few bucks for a new grommet and short piece of vacuum hose.

One more note - I always buy an OEM Toyota PCV valve. The ones I've bought at auto parts stores in the past have all turned out to be cheap pieces of crap. BIG difference using OEM for this small but important part, in my experience anyway.

tck...

[Toysrme]

They fall apart all the time. No big deal. Don't even waste your time pulling the pieces out. It'll find its merry way to a corner & never bother you.

These two are all over it LoL!