[Chemo]

I got the old PCV valve out after alot of prying. When I went to put the new one in I noticed it would not seat properly. I also noticed the old one seemed to have torn off the bottom portion of the rubber seal. I felt inside the housing and there was a rubber seal that I could rotate but I didnt want to pry it out for fear that it is supposed to be in the housing.
My question in this; Should there be any rubber seal/gasket just inside the housing or is this something that tore off the old valve? I had a very hard time getting the old one out and it may have torn off the bottom part of the rubber. The old valve looks very similar to the picture TCDawg put towards the bottom of this thread. My old one is not missing as much rubber at the bottom

 

[TCdawg]

I got the old PCV valve out after alot of prying. When I went to put the new one in I noticed it would not seat properly. I also noticed the old one seemed to have torn off the bottom portion of the rubber seal. I felt inside the housing and there was a rubber seal that I could rotate but I didnt want to pry it out for fear that it is supposed to be in the housing.
My question in this; Should there be any rubber seal/gasket just inside the housing or is this something that tore off the old valve? I had a very hard time getting the old one out and it may have torn off the bottom part of the rubber. The old valve looks very similar to the picture TCDawg put towards the bottom of this thread. My old one is not missing as much rubber at the bottom

from my memory, there should be no rubber seal down in the hole. If you pulled your PCV and some of the rubber was left behind you will need to get that out of the hole. Once you do that, the new one will seat in correctly.

 

[CamoCop]

Thanks for the write up, just replaced mine at 70k. Unbolted the coil pack out of the way, first zip tie broke, used a beefier zip tie 2nd time around and jiggled it out, came out pretty easily. Oil was definitely dirty in the valve. Currently the Jeep burns about a quart every 1k to 1.5k miles. Cleaned the throttle body while I was at it.

if my Jeep burned that much oil, I would never perform an oil change. just change the filter every 5k and keep adding oil. IMO that is ridiculous and unacceptable. if I knew these 3.8L engines were doing this before I bought my Jeep, I would have never bought it.

 

[bruckus]

Just changed mine out, couple of notes/reminders/lessons learned

1) dealer cost (canada) was about $15
2) be careful removing coil pack, it's heavier than you think and mine dropped a few inches after removing last bolt - secured it out of the way using a zip tie once it was unbolted.
3) MAKE SURE THE ENGINE IS WARM as stated above, this will help with removal
4) even with warm engine, mine did not work using zip tie (have 135,000 km on mine, might have been original?) In my case, the vise grip/screwdriver method finally worked. When using this method, I suggest a quick "popping" motion, vs steady pressure to release it
5) size up the socket you need to re-install, before putting the new part in. This new socket should slip nicely into the black tube, and the walls should also line up with the non metal part on the valve itself. IIRC, it was a 17 or 18mm socket that was best - would also think that you need a 1/2 drive socket (or larger), to give the metal tube of the new valve some space to recess into...
6) had a hard time seating it fully, it really is tough to get back in and goes further than you think. I used a bit of oil from the old onto the surfaces of the new - did not try a grease as someone else mentioned. Ended up standing overtop, trying to get the new PCV to sit 2mm below the tube as specified above - not sure if it is fully seated/square, will see if it burns any oil over the next few weeks. The tubes above it make for a difficult straight shot downward, could be why it looks perfect on one side and off centre a tad. Using your hand you can kind of "centre it" and that seemed to have helped.

The valve I took out appeared oily, but seemed to rattle and move just fine - peace of mind I guess, although I did have a rough/jumpy idle at rest, so will see if that goes away now? UPDATE (9 weeks later): Jumpy idle not cured, at least i'm not burning any oil though

Thanks for the write up, really helped!

 

[CombatDiver]

Any follow-up on this? I'm already all in after ordering two valves from local parts store but am curious how many actually see improvement in oil consumption.

 

[Drjay]

After 70K on my 2007 JK it started burning oil. About a quart in 1K. I had cleaned the PCV valve a couple of times but it did no good. So this time at 81K I put a new one in and changed the oil. Now after 1200 miles it no longer burns oil. I think that maybe the last time I had cleaned the PCV valve that I did not fully seat it when I reinstalled it. Make sure that it is fully seated, and don't be cheap, buy a new one.

 

[ronjenx]

After 70K on my 2007 JK it started burning oil. About a quart in 1K. I had cleaned the PCV valve a couple of times but it did no good. So this time at 81K I put a new one in and changed the oil. Now after 1200 miles it no longer burns oil. I think that maybe the last time I had cleaned the PCV valve that I did not fully seat it when I reinstalled it. Make sure that it is fully seated, and don't be cheap, buy a new one.

The PCV valve is a calibrated/variable leak, so not having it properly seated could cause problems.
The factory service manual warns against cleaning the valve, and recommends replacement.