plenum gasket out

[Sapper69]

I check and sure enough my plenum gasket is shot. with my daughter's softball games it might be a few weeks before i can change it myself or i might have to have someone change it? ( hoppe not) I was wondering if i unplug the PCV line and capped off the intel into the intake will that help (for a short fix) or cause more problems. I noticed on my brother's power stroke the pcvs are vented away from the engine. was just wondering about this as a short term to prevent oil consumption and the engine from burning the oil. thanks for any advice.

[scoutinkeith]

plugging the PCV line isn't a good idea. the PCV (posative crankcase ventilation) valve dose just what it says, it vents the crank case, and prevents seals from blowing, and all that really gets into the engine from it is oil vapor. even if you were to plug it, you would still be drawing the same amount (if not more, due to lack of crankcase vent) of oil through the plenum gasket.
the best bet is to fix it.
from the way my intake looked, my plenum gasket had been bad for quite a wile before I noticed it, so unless you are using a lot of oil, I would imagine that you would be ok if it took you a little wile to get it fixed, just don't drive it hard, and keep an eye on your oil leval. just don't let it go to long, 'cause it can lead to some bigger problems if let go for to long.
whichever way you go for repair(new gasket, billet pan, or M1 intake) it would be a good idea to run some combustion chamber cleaner through the engine once you get it fixed.

[Sapper69]

sorry i was miss leading!!!!!!!!! i was talking about letting the Pcv vent and pluging where it plugs into the intake to stop the vacumn leak. please tell me more on the billet pan and m1 intake. thank you

[scoutinkeith]

check out KRC performance, http://www.krcperformance.com/newcontent/home.html
or Hughes engines, http://www.hughesengines.com/
both of these places, as well as others have the parts, and info about the billet pans, and the M1 intake.
basically, the billet pan eliminates the expansion differences that you have with an aluminum intake, and steel plenum pan(stock set up). and the M1 is a compleat single plane intake manifold, which gets rid of the plenum pan all together.