Gunk in the oil dipstick tube

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Nov 2018, 06:35

There's no PCV valve in your car. What did your mechanic say had varnish? Or even better maybe he showed it to you.

Dave in Maine · Post by **Dave in Maine** » 24 Nov 2018, 08:31

The one in this video.

or this video

The part all the way at the end had about 50% closed with varnish that had been oil. I saw it.

Post by **abscate** » 24 Nov 2018, 17:10

It’s often ( mistakenly) called the PTC valve but it is just an orfice with a heater. It’s a maintenance item to be cleaned every 30-60k miles

Post by **erikv11** » 24 Nov 2018, 18:19

What he said. the PTC is a heating element, it has no moving parts. If that was clogged up then it's good it was cleaned.

The PTC is indeed part of the PCV system and one of several places that need to be inspected and cleaned when servicing. The heart of the system is the oil trap and it's hoses with their passages into the block, hopefully that was all cleaned out too. If the PTC was clogged, good bet the main PCV areas were clogged too - these are more prone to clogging and arguably more important to service.