PCV Valve

[Buford T. JuSStice]

Anybody know what the best way is to get a PCV Valve that's being stubborn out of a Buick 3.8? I know it seems like a bit of a trivial question to be asking on a forum where people are doing whole engine swaps, but I've tried everything and the darn thing is just being so stubborn.

I've tried pulling up on it with a pair of pliers, cut my hand when the plastic 90 degree elbow shattered, and nothing. It spins around easily enough, it just won't come out. It's mounted in the rear of the intake manifold in a plastic grommet.

 

[CHRIS.O]

That is odd. It should just pull right out. Especially if you can spin it. I know you said you used some pliars but maybe get some vice grips on there and wiggle and pull see what happens.

 

[Buford T. JuSStice]

That is odd. It should just pull right out. Especially if you can spin it. I know you said you used some pliars but maybe get some vice grips on there and wiggle and pull see what happens.

Tried that too, it wiggles back and forth easily enough, and spins freely but sure enough it simply won't come out. I guess it's a possibility that the rubber grommet has hardened on the bottom from heat and oil, and the flare on the valve casing is just having a hard time getting past that... maybe if I try using something like a long pair of pliers and try to use leverage to pry it upwards...

 

[Bonnewagon]

You have to kill it to save it. You are correct, the grommet is rock hard and that needs to be replaced too. Try a vice-grip and a crowbar, but watch you don't break something else instead. I'd use a block of wood under the crowbar. Try not to lose pieces of grommet in the intake as it will crumble.

 

[Buford T. JuSStice]

Thanks for the advice Bonnewagon. What I did was clamp a vicegrip to the neck on the top, crushing it, then I clamped another vice grip to that one perpendicularly and used a crow bar with a piece of wood where they intersected. Pretty much what you suggested. Took a LOT of effort to get it to come out, and sure enough the grommet is hard as a rock with absolutely zero pliability, and when it came out, the valve did not rattle freely. It also had a dent in the casing, likely from me wiggling it back and forth trying to free it.

For now, as a temporary fix, I've plugged the grommet with a valve stem from a tire, put a vacuum plug on the carburetor inlet, and placed a breather cap on the valve cover where the oil filler cap goes. I'm going to see if NAPA carries new grommets tomorrow and get one if they do. I'll also need to see if the PCV valves come separately with 90 degree elbows or if that's a separate piece all together, because the new PCV does not have that.

 

[Bonnewagon]

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