Broke PCV Tube - Crud in Crankcase. How worried should I be?

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 4:24 pm

Hey Everyone,

I went to change my PCV valve yesterday (92 Turbo), and in the process managed to break one of the hard plastic tubes. The hard plastic piece runs up from the crankcase, where it meets the line from the PCV valve and runs into the intake track. It basically sits beside the turbo. Sorry I don't have a pic.

The problem is, while I was trying to get the rubber hose section that physically joins this hard plastic piece to the block out, I accidently scraped some of the oil gunk back into the hole. I can plainly see it sitting inside the engine. My concern is this: Will this crud cause damage if I just start the car Monday night once all the tubing is connected again? What about a piece of the hard plastic? I'm not 100% sure a bit of it didn't fall back in.

I do have a ShopVac, and was thinking about trying to suck what I can out.

As always, thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me!

Post by **Legacy777** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 5:00 pm

That's simply a crankcase vent. You can try sucking it out. I don't think it'll hurt anything to leave it though.

You'll want to replace that plastic piece since it's part of the pcv system.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 5:02 pm

From memory I can't seem to exactly visualize the piece you're talking about, but I remember it vaguely.

One way to tell if any plastic pieces fell in is to collect all the pieces of the plastic pipe and see if you have any holes when you try to fit them all together.

The crankcase side of the engine, I would think, would be less sensitive to foreign intrusion than the combustion chamber side. That doesn't mean it's okay to have crud in there, but I think it's better than having crud get in your intake ports, for example.

I would try to suck out as much as possible with the shop-vac, and maybe see if some Q-tips will help you get the gritty grime out. If you can physically see pieces you may be able to go with long tweezers, a pickup tool like magic fingers, or even a stick with a glob of glue on the end.

Then maybe what you could do is pour a little kerosene or engine flush into your crankcase through the oil filler, let it idle a little, drain the oil, and then refill with clean oil. That might help you get the remainder of the junk out of your crankcase.

Good luck.

Post by **Legacy777** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 5:16 pm

You mean this piece here.
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... P_2505.JPG

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 5:29 pm

Yeah Josh. The piece is shaped differently on mine, but that's where it mates to the engine. It broke off right where the rubber hose stops. I've got a new piece and hose coming in tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions... ShopVac it is!

While I'm at it with the questions, how do I go about changing the PCV valve in the future? Part of the reason the tube broke is because I was trying to get hoses out of the way so I could get my deep socket on the valve. Do you guys use a wrench? I don't really want to go through this again, but the idea of having to take most of my intake apart everytime I want to change / check that valve isn't very appealing either.

Oh! And the part that really ticks me off? The old valve sounds fine. So all of this was really for nothing (well, now I know when the valve was changed).

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:13 pm

I usually use an open-ended wrench on the valve. It's never rounded off on me, and a little bit of damage to the hex head is okay since you're about to toss the valve anyway.

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:30 pm

I hate that piece, I almost broke it when I changed the pcv valve, then I did break it when I changed the iac. Stupid plastic.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:36 pm

The worst thing some foreign object down in that part of the PCV system could do is get sucked up into one of the hoses and clog it, or maybe make it to the PCV valve itself and get stuck there. No damage will occur to the engine...

As in the other thread, I just replaced my valve with an OEM the other day, just get a long 3/4" socket to take it out... Cake...

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:02 pm

Thanks everyone!

An upside to this is I can change most of the vacuum lines, seeing as I've already got most of the intake out. Hopefully I don't break something else while I'm at it tho!

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:48 am

Got the car back together. 2 hours of work, because I kept putting the intake system back together in the wrong order. Trying to reassemble an engine in the dark really sucks!

It started right up and idled properly, so I guess whatever gunk is left isn't too bad. I'm gonna get it out on the highway tomorrow and run it good to make sure its clean.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:02 am

You're not gonna change the oil first just in case?

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:10 am

Hmm... Yeah, I guess I should. I got most of the gunk out, but it can't hurt to be sure there's no chance of anything floating around. But shouldn't it get trapped in the filter?

Jeez, I don't even know which way stuff flows through that opening.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:37 am

I guess the filter should trap it, and the risk is minimal... But why not just change the oil anyway to be a little safer? That's my take on it anyway.

Stuff is only supposed to flow out of the opening, and into the intake system, but if there are any pieces of debris that are heavier than air then they might fall down into the opening instead.

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:04 am

Good point on being safer vrg3. From what I could see of the stuff that got left behind, it was just cruddy, somewhat-congealed, oil. I guess I'm just trying to avoid changing the oil, as I just did it recently. Money's tight, and while I'm worried about wrecking / damaging the engine / turbo, changing the oil on a "just in case" is kinda hard. Does that make sense, or have I been sniffing too many fumes?

But I guess this'll teach me not to put pressure on 12 year old hoses and plastic!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:08 am

Yeah, I hear ya... Your call.

I snapped a plastic PCV pipe while replacing my intake manifold gaskets... I ended up patching it up with JB-Weld. It seems silly to use plastic on something that gets heat-cycled so much.

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:09 am

I agree on it being silly. Maybe Subaru never intended for anyone to be working on these things this long after they were made?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:21 am

If that is true, that's silly too.

mikec · Post by **mikec** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:55 am

Definitely!

legacycentral bbs

A forum for 89-94 BC-BF(BJ) Legacy Owners and Fans

Broke PCV Tube - Crud in Crankcase. How worried should I be?

Broke PCV Tube - Crud in Crankcase. How worried should I be?