2004 3.0 A4 B6 PCV Valve Filled With Yellow Thick Goop

[coffeysm]

I've been doing a lot of work on the A4 my in-laws gave me and decided to change the PCV valve today. I been experiencing what looks like either an oil leak or blow-by near the oil fill neck, valve cover gaskets, or camshaft gaskets. The whole entire on the front driver side engine is caked in dirt/oil. Not really burning oil that I know of, but I know from my G35 PCV issues can cause oil leaks as well. Haven't really had any performance issues, but when I took out the old PCV valve it was just covered in this milky looking residue and decent amount of water came falling out. Some of this stuff is still in the hoses from what I can see.

I've never seen this before in the Volvo or G35 that I have worked on in the past. I'm just curious if there is something I need to be aware of?

[cschuster]

Clean it all out and you should be fine. Just gunk from the PCV system due to the bad valve. They can cause oil leaks. Check the cams for lobe wear if you end up changing the valve cover gaskets.

[imnuts]

Make sure the PCV valve is still functioning. I would guess that cleaning it out would be a short term fix and that it probably isn't working properly anymore. Be careful moving/removing hoses, as they are likely brittle. The "goop" that is in it is an oil/water mixture. Do you take a lot of really short drives? If so, that is likely where it came from, as the engine never got fully up to operating temperature and the oil and water vapors collected in the hoses, then condensed. Take a few longer trips once and a while and get the RPMs up some to help keep the stuff from building up after it is cleaned out.

[SJorge3442]

Make sure the PCV valve is still functioning. I would guess that cleaning it out would be a short term fix and that it probably isn't working properly anymore. Be careful moving/removing hoses, as they are likely brittle. The "goop" that is in it is an oil/water mixture. Do you take a lot of really short drives? If so, that is likely where it came from, as the engine never got fully up to operating temperature and the oil and water vapors collected in the hoses, then condensed. Take a few longer trips once and a while and get the RPMs up some to help keep the stuff from building up after it is cleaned out.

^^^^ Spot on. Just had this happen to me as I was recently taking a TON of short trips in the city throughout the winter. Mine was pretty gooked up too. This may be a good time to look over your PCV system as the hoses are likely severed and causing air leaks. A few of us have switched to heater hose for our PCV system and have had no issues by doing so. Much cheaper than the OEM alternative.