PCV question

[marcre]

Tonight I'd thought I'd run some Seafoam through my PCV in hopes of maybe bringing some life back to my catalytic converter. Maybe it will work, it's worth a shot.

Anyway, I've only done this once before and I had a helper to hit the gas if it was going to die. My Rodeo dies instantly with the PCV disconnected. My question is, anyone have any tips to make it easier when doing this? I finally did alright, but it stalled often. I am sure it'll get easier after some practice.

Another problem is, I didn't see a big cloud of smoke like people say they see. Did I not use enough? There was a lot of liquid comming out of the tailpipe though.

Is it possible that this will work and bring some life back into my catalytic converter?

Marc

[Cat Fuzz]

Originally Posted by marcre

Is it possible that this will work and bring some life back into my catalytic converter?

Marc

I doubt it. Usually, once a cat goes bad, its done.

[rodeo02]

It's worth a try Marc. A guy over at an F150 board claimed it worked for him. Dunno about long term, but it cant hurt. It would be difficult to run any engine with the PCV valve disconnected, line wide open. It's too much of a massive vacuum leak. The PCV valve is flow metered to prevent this. Leave the PCV valve in place & just dunk the PCV valve right into the liquid cleaner.

G/luck
Joel

[wb4lbg]

Would this also help to clean the PCV valve itself? That alone would be beneficial. Of course, with Seafoam at $6 per can around here, it would almost be cheaper to buy a new PCV...

[Canucklehead]

Originally Posted by marcre

Tonight I'd thought I'd run some Seafoam through my PCV in hopes of maybe bringing some life back to my catalytic converter. Maybe it will work, it's worth a shot.

Anyway, I've only done this once before and I had a helper to hit the gas if it was going to die. My Rodeo dies instantly with the PCV disconnected. My question is, anyone have any tips to make it easier when doing this? I finally did alright, but it stalled often. I am sure it'll get easier after some practice.

Another problem is, I didn't see a big cloud of smoke like people say they see. Did I not use enough? There was a lot of liquid comming out of the tailpipe though.

Is it possible that this will work and bring some life back into my catalytic converter?

Marc

Here's how I do it.

Tip 1 - Get Seafoam Deep Creep instead of the regular Seafoam.

Tip 2 - Disconnect the vacuum line to the PCV and replace it very lightly so that it easy to remove once the engine is running.

Then simply start the engine, remove the vacuum line from the PCV and start spraying into the vacuum line.

I spray at least half of the can of Deep Creep and usually spray until the engine stalls (if the engine sounds like it is going to stall before you think you have sprayed enough, just put your thumb over the opening or kink the vacuum line).

Then you just replace the PCV vacuum line and let it sit for 15 minutes or so before starting the engine.

[Canucklehead]

Originally Posted by wb4lbg

Would this also help to clean the PCV valve itself? That alone would be beneficial. Of course, with Seafoam at $6 per can around here, it would almost be cheaper to buy a new PCV...

IMHO, replacing, as opposed to attempting to clean, a PCV that you think may be dirty is a no-brainer. They are cheap and take all of about a minute to replace.

[wb4lbg]

No doubt about it, PCV's are cheap. I think the one I have right now is a Fram from Autozone. I've heard that the OEM ones are best. Anybody have any strong feelings (or evidence) on this?

[marcre]

Thanks for the replies. I guess what I am doing is right. I was under the impression that I was the only one that it died easily on.

I am going to find out about a new cat one of these days, I was under there looking and the whole system looks bad.

Marc