Help needed with PCV. Unexpected result after removal.

[Pashabg]

Hi guys!

A bit of a history...
The car is S60, 2006 model with 2.0T petrol engine. I bought it two years ago. During the glove test, the glove neither got inflated or sucked in. Basically nothing. I decided to go ahead and disassemble it. During disassembly, I was surprised to find out that some of the intake manifold bolts were loose (almost could turn them by fingers) and the the removal of some of the hoses was unexpectedly easy, I took them off by fingers with the clamps still on. When I took the box off, instead of the expected gunk of carbon deposits, I discovered some mayo-like nasty thing, as shown on the pictures. I think it is worth noting, that I have been loosing a bit if a coolant since I got the car (probably a litre over 5000 miles. Also there are some traces from what I believe is coolant and engine oil on the pipes around the turbo. The car looses a bit of engine oil in the summer and even less during the cold months, but nothing alarming. Before removing the box, the car sat for few days, without use.

Any help with what the situation might be would be greatly appreciated! I am not sure what this is and how to deal with it.

Thank you very much in advance!

[Georgeandkira]

I would be amazed if that was the residue (expected or accepted) of 15MY's worth of normally occurring moisture.

Your bit of disappearing coolant and that mayo suggests to me a leaking head gasket. I am not certain.

Hopefully a person with more experience will be along.

1) Is cleaning up the best you can, refreshing the PCV system and dumping the car something you'd consider?

2) Would you also clear the "pipes around the turbo"?

3) If you're going to replace the head gasket I suggest dropping the oil pan too the clean it thoroughly.

Given the apparent slowness of the coolant leak it'd be interesting to see if driving hot 'n hard after PCV replacement kept it clear.

[ASt85]

If the clamps are loose then "air" will be inducted via what should be an airtight joint.

That would explain why you didn't get a +v or -ve response to the glove test - if the joints allow air into the system there will be no crankcase vacuum developed and moisture from the air around the engine will be inducted it may or may not contain antifreeze droplets depending upon where your leak is actually coming from - that creamy goo you can see is an oil/water emulsion where fine water vapour droplets are mixed with oil vapour - it used to be found in the "cold area" oil filler caps of cars prior to the introduction of PCV systems, mini's were particularly prone to it when using multigrades in stop start motoring - but, as Georgeandkira writes is often found in engines where water is finding its way into the oil via the head gasket.

Whilst it may be worth doing a compression check on each cylinder to rule out a damaged head gasket, I would only do that after re-installing the cleaned/petrol washed PCV system with the hoses clamped securely and doing a glove test.

Make sure you remove as much of the goo as possible from the block to sump return bore - if you can't get it out, consider using a narrow bottle brush and a twisting motion, withdrawing it every few mm and then re-inserting after washing with alcohol or petrol - what you can't remove will drop into the sump and effectively evaporate the water content in the goo as the oil heats up, OK not ideal solution but not likely cause a problem due to the operating temperature of oil.

[Pashabg]

Thank you so much for the extended response! Really helpful indeed.
Getting moisture from the loose hoses does make a lot of sense, I do hope that this is the reason. I am incline to think that (or at least hope) that the head gasket is good. I had issues before with other cars and I noticed no traces on the dipstick/oil cap. The car does not overheat, even thought the radiator has desperate need of a clean, the least.
I intend to clean the residue as suggested and get the kit which contains new box, some hoses, intake gasket and new clamps. My dilemma is whether to spend money on the large hose with the banjo bolt. It looks OK to me. On the other hand, I really don't want to do this twice.

I am very reluctant to sell the car, I really like it. However, I am even more reluctant to deal with head gasket issues, so I will contact a specialist, once it is back to one peace.

Thank you again!

[oragex]

The bolts are only 15ft.lb because the genuine gasket is paper made - of course, some may have loosened up

[Pashabg]

For anyone, who might get the same problem.....after further reading, I found out, that this issue could be also caused by frequent short journeys. This could also explained my problem, as the car has been constantly used for 4 minute drive to work and back, over the past two years.

[barrybritcher]

Don't forget the PCV has coolant lines itself, did you replace the entire PCV system / hoses?

There is a tiny black elbow made of plastic in the PCV near the lower left intake manfold with the banjo bolt - mine was snapped.

[barrybritcher]

Originally Posted by Pashabg

For anyone, who might get the same problem.....after further reading, I found out, that this issue could be also caused by frequent short journeys. This could also explained my problem, as the car has been constantly used for 4 minute drive to work and back, over the past two years.

yea my mother does very low miles and bought a car that hand been sitting at the dealers - when I gave it the once over the dipstick and oil cap looked exactly like this - I borrowed it for a week and drove it properly - no more mayo!

[Pashabg]

After closer look, I think the PCV has been done by the previous owner, however, I don't think it has been done very well. As seen on the pictures, the part with the banjo has been done in a DIY fashion, with zip tie. As far as I know, the banjo bit comes with a smaller white hose, that goes inside the big one. Here it is missing and the banjo fitting was attache strait to the big rubber hose. Needless to say it was very loose and I took it off by fingers without much of a problem.
Yes, I am going to order the kit (box, hoses, clamps and head gasket) and the big hose (with the banjo) tonight and install them when I get the parts. The car is not in much of a use at the moment anyway.

[barrybritcher]

also make sure the bit that goes to the engine block is on very tight - I didnt do mine up well and it leaked oil LOL