I am thinking I might just swap out my PCV. A bit worried about it being frozen in place, however. I plan to do this Saturday. Anyone with any experience --- did you have trouble breaking it loose. Any suggestions? I am used to PCV's that just slide into a rubber grommet. Do the threads of the new valve need any sort of "treatment" to prevent leaks?
I just replaced mine... the original was still rattling at 165k miles, but had visible oil deposits inside. It was not too difficult to unbolt. It bolts into the valve cover with no gasket. It has some king of self-locking thread, which gets tighter as you spin it in... As I remember , there was about 1/3 of an inch of thread in the valve cover for it. And the valve did not go all the way in (flange did not reach to the valve cover), before it got very tight, so I stopped and said "good enough" Alex
You will need a wrench with a sufficiently long lever so you can exert sufficient torque to loosen the valve. Probably need to exert at least 30 ft.-lb of force to loosen. No sealant is needed on the threads of the new valve.
I just did mine too. It's a standard (tapered) pipe thread in a pretty benign, non-corrosive environment and mine spun right off with minimal torque.
Thanks to all of you for the answers. I appreciate it. Again, I have never worked with a PCV that threads into the engine and was a little leery of the whole operation. Your answers have been very helpful!!
Don’t overtighten when installing new one. Its tapered thread so opening torque is lot more than tightening. And it’s possible to crack the valve cover if you overtighten it. Torque speck is 27Nm or 20ft lbs which isn’t much.
Well, took the afternoon off and did it. No real issue, a bit of a chore to get the hose off, though. Bought a deep well socket and put it on my breaker bar and no issue in getting it out of the cover. I was extremely careful putting the new valve in. I don't have a torque wrench, but I tightened until snug and then just bit more, all while gripping the handle of the socket wrench down near the head so I could not apply too much torque. The old PCV seemed a bit gunky, but still was rattling, so I suppose it was fine, but once I had it out, no way was I going to re-install it. I over "thunk" it and had myself a bit paranoid about the whole thing, but only took a few minutes. Ordered it online from Checkered Flag Toyota in Virginia (Beach?). Got here in two days and was about three bucks cheaper including shipping and less hassle than going to the local dealer, who told me they would have to special order it anyway.
19mm BTW, NOT a lot of room in there. After posting here at the first of the week, I read and searched, and read some more. And since everyone offered encoragement here and the things I read were not too bad, I decided to do it. But, a caution. A couple repair guides suggested a conventional deep socket would not work as the space is tight. That scared me, so I went to the local auto parts store and the parts guy at my local parts store told me to go "down the block" to a specialty hose and fitting shop that was near the waterfront. They sold me a special socket for $14. I think if I did it again, I would use a nice long crowsfoot, which according to many guides I read, works and would probably be a lot cheaper. See this thread for some tips and a "special wrench" he recommends. How to Replace Gen II Prius Spark Plugs and PCV Valve | PriusChat
Was trying to get to the egr on 3rd gen. While I was there, thought I would remove intake to get at pcv. Removed intake enough to get at pcv, though unable to remove it. Put some generic wd40 on it and would not unscrew. Advice ?
Weird, a PCV removal thread in the Gen 2 forum, and it doesn't have these pictures yet: That is to say, on a Gen 2 (or Gen 1 ... and probably c), be verrry careful about loosening that thing with an open-end. Socket is safer.
The PCV valves come with a thread sealant already applied. That said, when I backed ours out it wasn’t hard. Could someone have had it out before you, reinstalled with a more serious thread lock. If so, careful heat up with a torch should loosen the adhesive. Just a plumbers propane torch on low should do.
