PCV vent hose broken

[cn90]

I have had this idea for a long time but have NOT tried it yet.
The idea is to clean the Oil Trap and passages in situ (you can wear Tuxedo doing this LOL)...

- At time of oil change, drain the oil. Do NOT re-install the drain bolt yet.
- Undo the very hose to valve cover (the PCV hose mentioned in this thread) where it connects to the valve cover.
- Place a funnel and pour some stuff down the crank case to test the passage.
- So pour maybe 1L of diesel, if it drains at the bottom, then the return passage (between oil trap and oil pan) is patent.

- Now time to soak the oil trap and oil pan: re-install the drain bolt by hand, gently tighten it, do not over-tighten it as you will need to drain the stuff later.
- I am thinking diesel or Seafoam and ? Berryman chemical.
- Maybe 1-2 gallons of this stuff down the funnel/PCV hose, this way the entire oil pan and oil trap is soaked in this stuff (whatever you choose).
- Let is it for ____ hours. Question is: how long do you soak it?
- Then drain the chemical stuff.
- Now add oil using cheap standard oil and new filter. Drive a few hundreds km/miles, then replace with synthetic and new filter.

What do you guys think about this idea?

Seems easy enough to clean the sludge etc. from the oil trap, oil pan etc.

[Georgeandkira]

I like the idea and mentioned it here (I think) and included my favorite, denatured alcohol.
Someone "reading comprehension challenged" said running an engine with denatured alcohol in the sump would be bad.

I had not given a thought to your idea of pouring it down the highest pipe. I like it.

[SuperHerman]

Honestly I don't see a short cut on the PCV. The main blockage is at the block. If the system is well serviced a flush may help, but I don't see much gain. I did the PCV on a S60 with 120k plus miles at the entire system was perfectly clean. Original owner ran synthetic and changed oil every 5k or less.

After I clean at the block I do flush with solvent (usually gas) but diesel or kerosene is much smarter as it is much safer.

[cn90]

My idea is...

- If you pour something down the PCV hose and it comes out of the drain, then the return port (of the Oil Trap) is open.
- This way you don't have to spend hours removing I.M., removing the Oil Trap and clean it.
- I guess you can get the really cheap oil ($2/qt) and pour it down the PCV hose, if it runs out of the drain then you are OK.
- Then do the usual oil change.

Anyway, if anyone ever tries this trick, please post...

[abscate]

The take away here is short cuts don't always work. Taking out the intake is not that bad a job with a swivel 10mm socket. It also allows the PCV system to be fully inspected and TB cleaned.

There are many write ups and videos on the process it makes sense to just go for it. I suppose if one is experienced with the car and the process a short cut would be warranted.

I worked on a PCV ON an 2004 R recently and a crows foot 10 mm was the easy way to get the intakemanifold bolts loose, especially near cylinder 1

[SuperHerman]

I have found a Snap On 10mm swivel socket the ideal tool for Volvo Intake bolts. I found the tool - left in my XC90 by a prior mechanic.

[- Pete -]

Keep an eye on ignition coils for cylinders 2 & 3. Those are not genuine/OEM coils. They typically fail at much earlier mileages than the Bosch/Volvo coils.

One thing not mentioned on this thread is that the griminess of your oily mess indicates the return oil flow path to the oil pan (from the breather box) might be clogged.

I'm gearing up to do my PCV system (bought the parts) on my 2007. My glove test doesn't blow up (BAD) but it doesn't suck in either. The glove just sits there.

I was wondering is long strong pipe cleaners (think chemical lab supply shops) would be enough to run through the passageway.

I was thinking to drain the oil and run said pipe cleaners with liberal amounts of solvent (denatured alcohol) in and out like a madman.

These (link below) are great for cleaning those passages. If you’re leaving your oil pan attached to the block, keep in mind that any stuff that you brush out of the passages (especially the lower one) can end up clogging the screen in your oil pickup tube, unless you give the oil pan a healthy rinsing with a solvent before refilling with oil. If your oil pickup tube screen becomes occluded, you lose oil pressure completely, posing serious and rather immediate risk of damage to expensive & hard-to-get-to parts and typically ruins the pickup tube (screen) also. Now if this occurs, ultimately you will have to drop the oil pan, spend several hours scraping & scrubbing the gunk out of it, replace the pickup tube (not cheap) and all the seals down there. I think when I did the PCV & oil pan removal/reseal & new pickup tube I was $4-$500 into it in just parts (FCP). My case was on the extreme end of the spectrum. I'll share my experience HERE .

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-t ... 61923.html


Somebody was talking about cleaning the PCV tubes & box by dumping solvent based solutions down the top tube at each oil change interval.
I firmly believe this is completely unnecessary, I highly doubt that even if doing on a regular basis this would emulsify the junk that has previously built up, if indeed you are trying to combat buildup endoscopically.
I may get flak, but our 280k XC70 still has the original PCV system & it is fully functional, and has excellent vacuum at the filler neck & dipstick tube.
Honestly, and this is well known, the worst things you can do to promote sludge buildup & end up with a clogged PCV system are:

1. Short driving intervals/heat cycles (stuff never gets hot enough). 20 minutes/drive cycle gets stuff hot enough to burn off the sludge creaters.
2. Long oil change intervals (5k should be the max here, longer than that is just dumb)
3. Cheap & Inferior lubricants. Not pushing any brands, but seriously avoid the “$10-20 oil change” places.

These things promote sludge buildup. Sludge kills motors.

[cn90]

Back to the original issue (broken PCV hose).

Installed a brand-new PCV Hose (Genuine Volvo) 1K miles ago, but used clamp instead of Oetiker clamp.
After 1K miles, the hose popped off.

As it turned out: if using screw clamp, ROTATE the clamp so it can go down almost flushed with the metal surface.
There should be only 1mm of rubber sticking out below the clamp. This is bc this engineering setup is no good:
the metal nipple has no snub, and it is itself short, so the hose has a tendency to slip off...

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