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I used to remove and shake the PCV valve whenever I changed the oil. It always rattled so I just re-installed it. After I did the timing belt and heater hose replacements (with the intake manifold off), I replaced the valve and insulated hose with new parts.
I never noticed any oil consumption either. I did find a photo of the intake port before I ran the Techron. It's sooty but there's not buildup on the backs of the valves (like you see with DI engines). The soot is about the same as the few other photos I've seen of other members intake ports. I wouldn't call it abnormal.
That grommet can **** right off. God damn it. Took 2 hours and 3 or 4 attempts over the course of the last week to get the damn thing out. I nearly pushed it into the valve covers at least a dozen times.
@paulo57509 your recommendation for the xacto blade was clutch. Thank you for that, couldn't have done it without you. I was able to make several slices into the rubber which allowed it to "fold in" on itself when compressed, which it wasn't doing before. This was enough for me to get the pliers in deep enough to get a real grip on it and not tear it when I pull hard enough to extract it. The PCV valve isn't original, originals are black, OEM replacements are this purple color. So I would hazard a guess the grommet is probably replaced too? I'm not sure. Either way - it was just pliable enough to be able to fold in on itself and come out in one piece, but not brittle enough to completely disintegrate. The chunks of rubber missing from the top were my first attempts at removing it which resulted in those pieces breaking off, outside of the engine thankfully. So I don't need to go fishing for any bits at all! Every piece is accounted for.
Thanks for the help everyone as I bonehead my way through this stuff for the first time.
P.S based on the amount of buildup on this grommet, any guesses on whether it's original or not?
Oh I guess I didn't post the picture of what it looked like midway through. I really knackered the thing on my first two attempts to "lift" it out with a flathead screwdriver. Don't do that! The "blade" of the screwdriver will just cut into the rubber and slice it right off.
Happy that you got that "baked to a crisp" grommet out. Mine wasn't that bad so it was easier to remove. Ever since I did mine, it's now SOP to replace the grommet every time the PCV valve is replaced.
It didn't occur to me to include an image of the grommet removal procedure that I used. It works if the grommet isn't hard as long division. Only one grommet was harmed in producing the image below.
you can use 90 degree needle nose pliers or some dikes to use as leverage to use against the valve cover and grommet next time. Takes a few seconds and it pops out. Preferably 9" to 12" pliers with leverage.
The grommet I just squeeze with pliers and hold and pull up so none of the petrified pieces fall into the cover, that's how I did mine but I was also doing the VC gaskets and tube seals along with the PCV breather hose which was about 60% blocked with carbon gunk.
Final post. I just adding here I think I solved the "my car's exhaust smells funny" issue. For years at this point I've had this growing smell of a "rich" exhaust. Not quite oil, not quite normal exhaust, not quite rich fuel. It just smells, and it's quite a strong smell, much more than you'd expect just from an idling car. It was starting to get that "old car" smell where you can smell the exhaust anytime you were near it. I park in a garage and I get a quite nice blast of the exhaust when I start my car up after 10 or 15 seconds, even with the windows up as the HVAC sucks it in.
Night and day difference after replacing the PCV. It's completely gone! It seems just... normal now! I wasn't expecting this to resolve that, but boy am I glad it did.
Also changed the trans fluid, shifts a lot better now. I had some shifting issues that were worrying me over the last year, a few clunks, it would really slam into gear between drive and reverse. It would really slam the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts especially at very very very low rpm\cruise speeds (highway stop and go traffic). I realized just today that the shop who did my trans fluid last year (the local lexus independent) over-filled the transmission... Engine on, idling, I was measuring fluid levels in the "hot" zone when the engine was cold! After replacing the fluid the car eliminated or vastly smoothed out all of those mentioned behaviors and shifts a lot smoother. My fluid was in great condition too - so I can't exactly blame the behavior on poor quality fluid either.
This now adds yet another experience to other mechanics ****ing up my car and doing **** work. It's systemic across the industry. I've now had motor mounts diagnosed as a fan clutch, no-diagnosis on what were simple ball joints, incorrectly installed shocks (no preload), a hood not latched and now transmission fluid over filled. This is 5 separate events at 4 separate locations, the hood event being the Lexus dealership!.
This is why no mechanic touches my cars but me. I have to say it, you could have saved yourself much pain by using a heat gun it softens that turning to coal rubber enough where it pops right out. On the parts being original hard to say, over the years materials and by extension colour tend to change/get updated.
Threaded in metal PCV valves make so much more sense.
I don't have a heat gun but yeah that was another one of the things which I came across. That would have been my next step had the previous methods not worked, I'd have found one to borrow to use to do the job since you were originally right the hair dryer didn't do anything.
Yeah the rubber grommet is a *****. I was looking at videos of how to do this and came across the other styles, either with a much larger hole, or threaded items. Ours seems like just the absolute worst (in terms of replacing it). I wonder why this design was chosen vs. other styles. The first ***** in the armor of the 1UZ I've found.
10-14-23, 03:35 PM
