Hey, I started a new thread about this, but realized I should have posted it here:
So, intermittently I would smell something burning and would notice a little puff of white smoke coming from under the hood. I looked around and saw that oil was leaking around my PCV valve.
I had this on my list of maintenance as my truck has almost 90K miles on it, but had been dreading it as it’s so hard to get to. I wanted to post my experience to hopefully help others.
First, it’s ridiculous where they placed it, and also that the part is $40+ from the parts houses. OEM is $80+ online!
Anyway, it really wasn’t as hard as I was expecting and took me under an hour. First off, I would recommend having a good rechargeable light with a magnetic base. You will also need a small ratcheting bit driver with a T25 bit to remove the PCV valve. There are two screws, one at the top, and one on the bottom. I disconnected the snorkel hose from the intake and then removed the top of the air cleaner as one unit to give me more top access.
You cannot remove the top screw without first disconnecting the hose from the top of the PCV valve. In my case, this was actually the hardest part as mine was pretty stuck and you cannot get good leverage on it. This is where your light comes in handy. I had to push on the boot from under the truck with a very long flathead screwdriver to get it free. There are also some wires in a loom attached to the bottom of the valve that you need to detach by moving the attachment from left to right as you are facing the valve from under the truck. While under the truck I removed the bottom T25 with my mini bit ratchet.
Next I removed the top T25 with the mini ratchet and was glad that I had removed the snorkel as it gave me more room. You have to remove this one blind. Just take your time and you will get it. Then the old valve will come out. As I expected, the oring seal was deformed which was allowing oil to leak out and drop on the exhaust creating the burning smell and smoke.
My replacement part was a Dorman, which thankfully came with 8mm bolts to replace the T25’s. This allowed me to use my small 1/4” drive ratchet to reinstall. Simply push the new PCV in place and rotate it clockwise until it stops with the hose connector facing up and the bolt holes should line up. I don’t have magnetic sockets, so I used a little bit of electric tape to tape the bolts to my socket. This allowed me to start the bolts in with my fingers to insure no cross threading. Then I just snugged them up and worked from the top and bottom to final tightening. While under the bottom, be sure to reattach the wire loom to the bottom of the PCV valve. Push the hose boot back on, reattach the snorkel and air filter cover and you’re done!
Sorry this is so long, but hopefully it will help others and give you confidence to tackle this. I am sure others can probably also contribute tips and tricks that I didn’t think of!
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