disneytoy

Hi Guys!

Had my oil changed at Express Tires here in SoCal, and waited for the hard up-sell.

One thing that was said I needed was a new PCV valve. Now I have a 2002 Taurus standard engine 115k miles. I'm not having any error codes. Idling fine. Nothing out of the ordinary for a 10 year old car.

Is this something I should do? What other symptoms should I be looking for?

I've seen some videos and the valve is in a hard to reach place. So I wonder how likely it was that at their brief inspection they actually checked the valve.

Also, can anyone point me to a video or instruction on flushing the Power Steering fluid? I'm going to do the brake fluid and thought I should change the rest of my fluids.

Thanks

Carl

CatSkinner

You can have a loss of power, abnormal oil consumption, excessive carboning in the exhaust.

The PCV valve is just pushed into it's grommet on the valve cover. Generally, if you pull it out and shake it, you can hear the check rattling freely. Most of the time, if it's not free, you can clean it out by spraying carb cleaner into it and clearing out the old gunk.

Ehow has a fairly simple procedure for flushing the power steering, but it's pretty much draining the reservoir and refilling.

How to Flush Power Steering Fluid | eHow.com

jwko

If you have the Vulcan engine, the PCV valve is located in the circled area below. If you change it yourself, remove the hose from the intake before you remove from the PVC valve. The big end of the hose (red arrow) has been known to split.

chipset

PCV valves ? You don't clean them you replace them. If it's dirty enough to be cleaned
it's dirty enough to be replaced. $ 5.00 is going to kill you ?

CatSkinner

I can drive across town, stand in line for a half hour, have a kid wander the shelves for another 15, then drive back home, or I can give a 5 second shot of carb cleaner and if I hear a clean rattle, I've avoided a hassle. It's not cost, it aggravation avoidance.

disneytoy

Thanks for the info. Originally I was told the PCV was on the other side of engine below a lot of parts. But now with your pics its easy. Here are two photos I took today.

I notice two small cracks where the two "hoses" meet. Also I don't know why it appear oily when nothing else around it is oily? Not sure where the source of the oil came from. I cleaned it up and will check it again. I thought the PCV handled vacuum, not fluids? Correct?

Attached Images

	pcv2.jpg (119.5 KB, 6 views)
	pcv-1.jpg (107.5 KB, 5 views)

CatSkinner

PCV: Positive Crankcase Ventilation. I prevents the crankcase from going into a positive pressure and will also vent off any oil vapors.

Jeff Collision

If the PVC system fails, severe sludge buildup and oil leaks can occur. The PVC valve in your Ford Taurus requires attention from time to time. It is recommended to change it either every two years or 10-15k miles.

jwko

Can also cause condensation to accumulate in the crankcase.