oil leak from valve cover breather

I'll take a pic when it's light out tomorrow to give you a view of the problem. '97 cherokee country, 120,000+ mi, mostly stock- I just finished a 6 hr trip on the highway, and noticed a bit of burnt oil on the valve cover coming from the front(radiator side) breather tube that goes to the air filter box. can someone please tell me what the problem is- I get the feeling the little pothead punk at the jiffy lube wasn't very gentle checking the air filter when I was there last week and loosened up the fitting. - I also probably need to clean the thing- any thoughts greatly appreciated-

-B

Your engine is equiped with a engine oil/vapor ventilation system called a ccv system. when oil leaks out of the front one usually that means that there is a clog on the further one (one near firewall). Your best option would be to search for "blow by" on the forums, but you can basically take out the front and rear elbow/hoses and check for clogs and clean them up.

pete

The CCV gromet on the rear of the valve cover has a "metered orrifice" (2.6 mm) in Moparspeak. Clean out any burnt deposits with a paper clip. If it's really hammered, I'm afraid it's a dealer-only part that comes attached to half the CCV tubing.

http://www.madxj.com/ See the write up on CCV upgrade.

thanks for the links. I cleaned the front and rear elbows, the front was almost spotless, the rear had a tiny bit of build up, cleaned it out- valve cover looked pretty clean from what I could see- trying to put these damn things on now- any special trick I don't know about to get them to fit back on the valve cover?

thanks-B

First, make sure you clean the whole thing, not just the metered hole. Even consider pouring a product like sea foam down where the CCV elbow goes or something that advertises to de-sludge the oil (just a little ok) because carbon builds up on that plate underneath and blocks off the venting of the gasses. Best is to take the valve cover off and clean if youve never dont this, but its a big chore. Also, clean the elbow, the metal barb on the intake and the tube that goes between them. I recently had a blowby-oil leaking problem, it really stumped me. I kept hearing "metered oraface" and I said "guys thats not the problem I cleaned it". But the plastic tube was completely blocked in the middle.

Also, I read your first post and don't understand what you mean. Where is the oil? Around the elbow grommets (make sure theryre tight), around the valve cover, in the air filter? It seemed you were saying that oil was on top of the valve cover which means the pothead punk at jiffy lube spilled some.

To put the elbow back in- seperate the elbow and grommet, grease it up good, press ONLY the rubber grommet in then press the elbow into the rubber grommet once the grommet is reinstalled on the valve cover.

The little pothead punk at the jiffy lube knew how to do it.:rattle:

sorry if I offended any jifffy lubers but the kid was noticably wasted-

as for the oil leak- It doesn't seem the same as the blow by problem in other threads. the hose to the airbox and the air filter are completly dry. My leak is coming from between the valve cover and the grommet that seals the elbow in place.

when I cleaned the elbows this morning, I wiped off the valve cover then ran the engine for a few minutes nothing leaked. I then drove about 10 miles around town getting up to around 4500RPM when I checked again, a little bit had leaked out- so it only happens when the engine is really going .

I think I'm just gonna order the replacement parts from the links above, since the grommet is really stiff and needs replacing anyway

thanks baja and others for your help

B.

Well this past weekend i changed the whole ccv system on my cherokee 94 and i was too getting some oil residue around the grommets plus my hoses where crappy.The replacement grommets where made out of a rubber material. The old ones on my valve cover were very hard and small nudges with the screwdriver cracked them. The only way to replace them was to slowly remove all of it using a screwdriver and rag and then pry it out.

Good luck and take your time.

pete