Help me out here. Im going thru my maintence book for my truck and it says im due to replace the PCV Valve. What is the PCV valve, what is it for, where can I get it, and how hard is it to replace?? Help!!
Thanks in advance!!

 

its only a few bucks, and about 2 seconds to replace once you open the hood lol its on the passenger side valve cover.... when you buy the new part, you will know what to look for... its the only thing extremely visable on that valve cover, and has a fat vaccum hose attached....

 

Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. In order to flush any unburned fuel from blowby and vapors from hot oil back into the intake, one of the earliest EPA regulation ('66 or '67?) was to connect a vacuum line to the crankcase. The vacuum line draws crankcase vapors in through the breather (used to be an oil soaked fiber pad in the oil cap, now is a line to already filtered air from the air snorkel) flushing the crankcase with fresh air which also removes humidity and acidity from the engine.

The valve serves two purposes. First, it provides a restriction to meter the air to a constant amount so the computer can correct the fuel calculations by that amount during open loop. We used to have to take it into account in carbs, it is literally a vacuum leak. The second purpose is as a check valve. If there is a backfire in the intake manifold (which is where the PCV line goes to get vacuum), the flame in the manifold won't light off vapors in the crankcase. On some European cars, it isn't a check valve at all, it is a perforated metal flame trap and is called a flame trap.

 

On my 97 I pulled the PCV valve once to see if it would still shake and rattle freely. I sprayed carb cleaner into it and reinstalled the same one.

If it is still working why buy a new one?

 

i agree with ellenberger... you can spray those things down and re use em all the time... new ones are for the really NASTY PCVs that stick even with a little carb cleaner through it... heres what you can do, if you can take your PCV out, shake it, and hear the little valve inside moving around and clacking and stuff, then clean it... if it is TOO stuck to move around freely, i would replace it.... they are cheap, so you might as well.. but if it is still somewhat functional, why not just hose it down and re install?

 

I think I'll spring for the $2.50 and buy a new valve. Check out this thread for some pics.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ight=pvc+valve