pcv oil trap replacement?

[JonFreeman938]

i have all the symptoms of a bad pcv system. oil is seeping out underneath my car, and there is smoke coming out of my dipstick. so from doing reseach and getting help from a friend on this site, i have pretty much narrowed it down to my pcv oil trap being clogged. i had just replaced the flame trap and today i took off the intake manifold to get to the oil trap and btw cleaned out my egr valve and the hole it mounts to in my intake which both were clogged with carbon. but i havent taken the oil trap out yet because it got dark. so i was wondering, how do i check to see if the oil trap is clogged or bad when i take it off? i mean ill probably just replace it anyway since i have 150,000 miles on my car, but i just wanted to know. oh also should i replace all the hoses as well? or just the trap? also id like to know if there is anything else i should do or looking for while i have the manifold off, cleaning, etc.

[crezzy2k1]

if you're taking the manifold off to get to the PCV system then just replace the entire thing, at 150k the pipes are going to be very brittle and most likely clogged, the oil trap should be replaced too and the ports on the block should be cleaned. When i did mine a couple of weeks ago at 70K the pipes were clogged pretty bad and the oil trap it self was about 75% clogged, the ports on the block were hard to clean out without putting any crap into the engine but if that does happen the oil filter will pick it up! At your mileage i would check the entire intake system too and make sure its clean and oil free as mine was oil coated everywhere! If you have a throttle body gasket take that off and give it a good clean too, i gave mine a mini service while i was in there (just greased the tiny ball joints)

From what i have read around this site and others the condition of the PCV system rather depends on how often the car is serviced and when oil changes occur, i bought my 850R in february, from what i gathered when i changed the oil it hadn't seen a service for a very long time! I'm still working my way through it! Changing the PCV system was probably a car saver though as soon it would probably start blowing seals! Ahh before i forget to make getting the manifold off easier remove the fan assembly (very easy!!!)

[jblackburn]

Yes; replace the hoses, but do yourself a favor and get the genuine Volvo hoses. I used the URO ones, and at least on a turbo model, they are just a smidgen too short and the flipping ends fall off...a lot!

Good thing that you went ahead and took care of the EGR; that one can be a pain all by itself.

[gilhuly]

The actual breather box is the least problematic of any component and could be reused if you need to pinch pennies. All the other stuff needs to go, though and you need to clean all the passages and verify visually. Don't forget the PTC nipple.

[JonFreeman938]

thanks guys!