Shortly after getting Kitacamry I pulled the PCV valve and saw it was gunked up...
I cleaned and reinstalled it with the intent of replacing it 3k miles later at the next oil change when I would pull the valve cover and see the condition of the top of the engine.
The concern was that the gunk on the PCV valve was a sign of worse in the engine...
Welllllll....it's 3k since the last OC (with Pennzoil Yellow Bottle 5w-30) and here's what the engine and valve cover's underside looks like @ 100k miles
Lots of colorful varnishing on the engine, and the beginning of what looks like creosote/sludge building up on rough surfaces inside the cover.
The PCV valve was clean, but a bit oily and was replaced along with the PCV hose...
...cleaned up the worst from inside the cover and put it back on with a fresh fill of Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 (the 1st synthetic fill for this engine) which will get drained at 5k miles before doing regular 7500 OCIs...
I cleaned and reinstalled it with the intent of replacing it 3k miles later at the next oil change when I would pull the valve cover and see the condition of the top of the engine.
The concern was that the gunk on the PCV valve was a sign of worse in the engine...
Welllllll....it's 3k since the last OC (with Pennzoil Yellow Bottle 5w-30) and here's what the engine and valve cover's underside looks like @ 100k miles
Lots of colorful varnishing on the engine, and the beginning of what looks like creosote/sludge building up on rough surfaces inside the cover.
The PCV valve was clean, but a bit oily and was replaced along with the PCV hose...
...cleaned up the worst from inside the cover and put it back on with a fresh fill of Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 (the 1st synthetic fill for this engine) which will get drained at 5k miles before doing regular 7500 OCIs...