PCV Broke into Engine!!! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

37point5 · 11-27-2010, 07:52 PM

Hi All,

First time posting here!

I was changing the PCV valve on my 1998 V6 Camry for the first time (not sure when the previous owners changed it). The plastic was so brittle that it snapped in half when I tried to pull it out. I took out the spring and metal piece and used needle-nosed pliers to try to get the rest out, but a small part of the bottom plastic flange fell down into the hole.

Since it was getting dark I closed the hood and will attempt to get the pieces out tomorrow. Any tips?

More importantly, does anyone know what the ramifications are of not getting out all of the plastic pieces? I'm not comfortable pulling the intake plenum and cover, so if that's what needs to be done I'll have to tow it to the shop!

FYI, this PCV is not the same as my 2001 4-cylinder, which has a rubber grommet in the hole. No rubber thing here; the PCV valve goes flush with the metal of the engine.

Thanks,
Ryan

mspringer · 11-27-2010, 11:35 PM

The PCV is in the valve cover on your V6, correct? You will likely have to remove the valve cover to make sure you get it all.

I wouldn't ignore it. It might not hurt anything, but it could block an oil drain hole, or get ground up by a cam. The cams are much harder than plastic, but I just wouldn't risk it.

37point5 · 11-28-2010, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mspringer

The PCV is in the valve cover on your V6, correct?

I'm not sure.... It's on the passenger side under the intake manifold. Here's a link with a picture of the location:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t94935.html

Looks like it would be very difficult to get to that area. Does anyone have instructions on doing so? The Haynes manual is pretty much useless.

ajkalian · 11-28-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 37point5

I'm not sure.... It's on the passenger side under the intake manifold. Here's a link with a picture of the location:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t94935.html

Looks like it would be very difficult to get to that area. Does anyone have instructions on doing so? The Haynes manual is pretty much useless.

The same thing happened to me, only the grommet was just hanging on by a very thin thread and I was able to fish it out with some hemostats and long nose needle nose pliers. But if some parts of it fell in, you really should get them all out before you start the motor. As the OP said, depending on the size and condition of the grommet that fell in, it might be OK, then again you might trash your motor with the particles floating around in the oil, or blocking an oil passage.

It's a lot of work to get the back valve cover off, let me tell you. I did it to replace the Valve Cover Gasket, and forgot to change the PCV valve while the valve cover was off, and only noticed it after I had re-installed the valve cover. Had I not been able to fish out the chunks, I would have had to remove everything a second time, and that would have been a real PITA.

You might try rigging up a small hose to a shop vac, and poke it in the hole and see if you can snag any of the pieces that way. Use a small diameter hose maybe 1/8" so you can see the particles that get stuck to it. Otherwise you will never know if you got anything at all.

If you can't get the chunks out that way, you probably should remove the valve cover so that you get all of the pieces out. Or you can just take a chance it will get ground up by the valve train, and caught be the filter.

Good luck.

.

37point5 · 11-28-2010, 02:44 PM

Thanks guys. I tried the shop vac trick, but nothing came out. I also used some small picks and hooks but couldn't find the piece in there anywhere.

So I put the new PCV in there and started up the car, drove it around the block a few times, and it seemed fine.

That said, I probably should get the valve cover off. Any idea how much it costs to have this done by a shop?

Ryan

rusty9 · 11-28-2010, 04:40 PM

lol no point in doing it now. its probably been ground up by the cams and you have it running through the engine oil.

***fenixus*** · 11-28-2010, 04:43 PM

if nothing is clunking/rattling then yeah, most likely it's been ground up by valve train. pray that oil filter picked it up and nothing got clogged.

change the oil and filter soon.

37point5 · 11-28-2010, 05:01 PM

Haha, yeah, it seems fine. Just drove it to Target and back. Didn't want my wife driving it tomorrow and possibly getting stranded somewhere. Luckily no oil pressure warnings or oil spewing out of the valve cover gasket, so I guess no clogs yet.

I'll change the oil ASAP!

Thanks again, everyone. I have a feeling I'll be on this forum a lot. Just went to Crazy Ray's salvage yard in Baltimore today to pick up some interior parts for my NEW (used) 2001 Camry, with 40K miles!!! So now I have a 98 w/160K and a 2001 with 40K. Love these cars!

Ryan

***fenixus*** · 11-28-2010, 05:09 PM

welcome to forums by the way

this forums has got some really good posts, search it a lot, it's a real data mine

let us know if you can't find the answers you've been looking for.

have a good one with your camrys

***JohnGD*** · 11-28-2010, 07:11 PM

It would have been nice if OP got the broken piece out. Right now we just don't know where it is.

OP - check this thread:
2003 Camry V6 - Spark Plug Replacement

3-4 hours with a few breaks in between. You'll need the right sockets, a new valve cover gasket set (check rockauto.com for prices), and while in there new spark plugs (NGK Iridium-IX preferred).

04yfz · 11-28-2010, 10:08 PM

Did you buy the 2001 off craigslist? I've seen one on there with 40k but the guy wanted 10k, I really hope you didn't pay that kind of money for yours lol.

37point5 · 11-29-2010, 08:47 AM

Thanks for the link, JohnGD. Yeah, definitely a little past my skill level, unfortunately. That's pretty lame that everything has to come off to change the plugs! I guess my mechanic will be doing that....

Not sure where the plastic piece could have gone, but I couldn't find it, and I couldn't find an exploded diagram anywhere that would give me a clearer idea of where to look. What's the direction of the airflow there? Does the air blow out of that hole into the PCV and then into hose, or vice versa?

04yfz, I actually got the car from a Toyota dealer (Darcars of Baltimore). Paid a little under $9K for it after inspection. They replaced the EGR and the driver's side window motor, put new hubcaps on, detailed it, and other stuff like that. I'd been searching cars.com and Craigslist for about a month before buying this one, and prices on G4s with around 75K miles were all about $7500, so I figure I got a pretty decent deal....