jaoviedo

looks like my PCV valve cover hose got clogged and was not ventilating properly or at all! I had white residue in the oil cap but thankfully none in the engine oil when I drained it..Now I have a major oil leak towards the back of the oil pan/bell housing(passenger side)

I'm assuming that this happened because the pressure in the crankcase may have increased when the PCV valve failed, so the oil was pushed out through the seals and gaskets since there's no other way for the pressure to be released. PCV valve hose is all fixed now. Are my gaskets shot now? what measures should i take to fix the leak? Could I have possibly damaged anything?

any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Dano523

White residue in the oil filler cap, means that you had water in the oil, and chances are this is what clogged up the vent baffle as well. Hence same way that salad cream is made, hence water and oil whipped up.


The down and dirty, pull the valve cover, use a spray cleaner to clear the valve cover baffle of the mess, and then install the cover back on with a new O ring seal and the mating surfaces clean as well. Also, since one valve cover had the baffle clogged, pull the other one as the same time to clean any mess for it and install a new O ring seal on that side as well.



Also, might want to get to the bottom of the why you had water in the oil in the first place. GM service history may shield some light on the problem if GM resolve it, hence head gasket or some other problem, and if it was truly repaired of not, not going to be a problem again. Hell who knows, and if you just got the car, may be a flood damage car that either did not get reported, of someone did some thing fishy with the paper work so the car is not showing up as a flood damaged car on a salvage title isntead.

jaoviedo

Thanks for the insight! I had this motor built by a very reputable shop here in Houston about a month ago. I know for a fact that nothing was wrong with the motor as I ran it 800 miles with no issues. I honestly believe that my PCV valve was causing my issues, it was completely clogged.

Tech

PCV valves shouldn't clog. Picture of white residue? If the car sits awhile, some white residue can form on the oil cap that gets burnt off under driving at normal operating temp.

gliot1

White gooey residue is a sign of water in the oil....keep an eye on this; may times it is a sign of a blown head gasket. I have seen it a couple of times using a billet oil cap, where when the car sits it collects condensation being aluminum, then the condensation mixed with oil turns white. I switched back to the plastic cap as a test and no residue. Keep an eye on it.....

jaoviedo

the hose circled in red was clogged. This is not my engine but very similar. I have an ls2 TB.

Dano523

Pressure goes from the clean side (valve cover) to the TB port.

So if the hose was clogged, that means that the vavle cover baffle system (plate under the vavle cover) was clogged with water/oil that was whipped up by the motor to create that white collar salid dressing, to clog the barrel system in the first place.


The dirty side is the hose that is marked pvc vavle goes to intake manifold.

Could have been that the valve cover was clogged by an older engine that has a water problem in the oil, but one would think that if the valve cover was to be reused from another motor, that the person building the motor (or at least reusing the valve cover) would have cleaned out the baffle system before he reused in again.

Bottom line, I would get the engine builder on the phone if he is the one that installed the valve cover, and more so after the valve cover baffle was cleaned correctly, would install a clear see through fuel filter in the port house to just make sure that the problem is not coming back again as well (engine does not have a leaking gasket that is allowing water to get back into the engine oil again).



Hell, if nothing else, having the clear fuel filter in line allows you to see just how much oil so being passed through the clean side, and if enough, then it like the dirty side, can have catch cans installed on both.

z06scentair

Frothing is very common in these LS motors in general especially if living in a cold climate.

It's common process for catch can installation on my > Gen 3 cars now. They transfer a fair amount of blow by directly into the intake manifold which can and will become saturated.

You most likely have nothing to worry about.

88redconvert

jaoviedo

I really appreciate you guys! UPDATE: I took off the valve covers and thankfully I did not see any sludge or residue on either of the heads/rocker arms. looks like the engine suffered from blow by. I had very little water on the dip stick but non when I drained the oil.. I changed the oil and fixed the hoses and unclogged them. How do I get the small amount of water out of the engine and what could i have possibly damaged? I'm assuming this problem a occurred within the last 30-40 miles of driving.

Tech

Water turns to steam at 212* F. It will correct itself just running the car at operating temp.

Too much water can cause premature bearing wear. A little won't hurt anything. Just make sure engine gets hot when you start it.

88redconvert

If you changed the oil and didn't have any white, milky streaks in it I think you are probably ok. As has been suggested, start your car and let it get completely warmed up then give it another check. I doubt you damaged anything.