Hey guys...How often does the PCV system need to be replaced? It was done at 144k by the previous owner and I have 170k on it now. I'm thinking of driving it down to Ft. Myers from Chicago next month and want to make sure I have all my maintenance up to date.

I posted a thread last week about the oil level after the car has been running. On mine, if I check the oil immediately after running the car, the dipstick shows almost no oil but, is fine after letting the car sit for about 10 minutes (also, I'm not getting the smoke on the dipstick symptom). Some people said theirs did the same thing and somebody mentioned I may have a clog somewhere and to check the PCV.

 

You should turn the engine off and let it sit for 1 minute before checking the oil level. It needs to drain back to the pan from the valve train.

 

35K miles is not enough time for a PCV to clog if it was originally replaced correctly. Normally, it is about 100K miles.

As for the oil level, as long as it is good after 5 minutes of sitting, then you are fine.

 

Not to sound too pessimistic, but you may have a problem.

I have a clogged PCV and I have noticed that during the winter, I have no oil level problems - 5 minutes after turning off the engine, it's right where it needs to be.

But now that it has warmed up - it takes her about an hour to reach (drain) the actual oil level.

Are you sure there is no smoke? Pull the dipstick a little bit, then pull the throttle cable.

 

Nope, no smoke on it at all. In both cold and warm weather, it only takes a few minutes to drain back down. The previous owner took the car to the same independant Volvo shop for the 10 years he owned it so, I trust the PCV was replaced correctly (although, for all I know it could have been a new guy who worked on the car that day). As long as it's rated for 100k as Andrew says and it's draining back down in less than 10 minutes, I will leave it as is.

Thanx guys for the advice!