[S900t8v]

hey guys

noticed my 08 9-3 has started leaking oil, at the valve cover and also down I think at the front main seal, maybe its the timing cover leaking,

180k miles always serviced, turbo shaft has no significant play, its a biopower so never had the intake valve problem

starts and runs ok but has been a bit boggy and unresponsive in more recent times, no codes on obd2, it does have a faulty fuel gauge but that shouldnt be affecting anything.

noticed today that the oil filler cap is puffing quite a lot at idle which makes me think blowby is causing my oil leaks, havent had time to do a compression test yet but as the car runs generally well not rough I dont think it could be broken ring or piston on 1 cylinder?

wondering whether or not it could be faulty PCV valve pressuring these gaskets and causing leaks - all 4 of my spark plug wells were full of oil at last spark plug change which had never even been the slightest issue before ? now bit of confusion a few catalogues seem to suggest the PCV valve is inside the intake manifold but I thought that was only 2003-2005? I do have WIS but havent had a chanc eto fire up my windows PC and just thought i'd get a few opinions for interests sake.

Cheers

 

[Diggs]

definitely pcv and valve cover gasket need done. yes you have a pcv

 

[Hus_sho]

 

[S900t8v]

Thanks so my 08 still has pcv in the intake manifold ? I thought that was03-05?

 

[S900t8v]

Like the actual pcv they you have to remove intake manifold to get to.

 

[Diggs]

yes

 

[S900t8v]

Ok thanks I’ll buy this and replace it. So I don’t neee to worry about the check valves in the rigid line Or the purge valve if there are no codes ?

 

[Diggs]

No

 

[S900t8v]

Ok wel after doing some testing.
The pcv valve in the manifold has suction at idle. But there is no suction at the hose that connects to the top of the cam cover which is very confusing? I’m trying to get into wis but my windows partition is corruptnn

 

[Hus_sho]

How do u know the pcv valve has suction !!

and the rear hose only sucks crankcase pressure when under load not on idle

 

[S900t8v]

Well I did this test at the valve cover and there is zero suction. So I am thinking my valve cover oil trap is sludged up.
When I remove hose to intake manifold check valve there is suction. Or when it’s off i can blow into it but can’t suck.

 

[Hus_sho]

i think u r doing it wrong, no hose at the intake manifold will allow u to test the pcv valve.
When u pulled the hose from the rear of the valve cover, at idle, do u have suction at the valve cover side ?

 

[S900t8v]

The car doesn’t burn oil or smell oily so I can’t see how it could be rings.
There is zero suction at the valve cover at idle which makes me think it’s sludged

 

[Hus_sho]

Do u have any suction at the oil cap ?

 

[S900t8v]

No it’s puffing gently

 

[S900t8v]

I’m just thinking I don’t think I did anything silly like used 518 on the gasket when I installed the valve cover gasket after I did the timing and balance chain /sprocket job. Maybe I did and maybe I blocked up the crankcase ventilation ports in the cylinder head/valve cover. Maybe my rings are all just worn but it doesn’t burn oil just spits it out which makes me think it’s a crankcase ventilation problem.

 

[Hus_sho]

Ok, then ur PCV valve blocked shut or u have excessive blowby, i would replace the valve first (however a shut valve will not usually cause oil leaks to grow big)

 

[S900t8v]

According to the attachment I posted the recommendation if no suction at valve cover is to replace valve cover so I will do that first. Then swap the pcv. My compression tester was leaking but I was getting 160 across all 4. It’s probably higher than that I think

 

[Hus_sho]

Man, u have no suction at both the rear of the valve cover and the oil cap.. so no sense of wasting ur money on new valve cover, just replace the pcv

 

[S900t8v]

thanks I’ll do that I was getting confused tired after a big day. Thanks again for your help.