98 V70 awd w/180k. Lately I started noticing a oil smell while ideling at a stop, I popped the hood and found thet the entire engine compartment was covered in a thin film of oil and the dipstick was up out of its normal position by 1/2 inch. I thought I solved this problem about 20k miles ago when I replaced all of the oil trap components. Now what? Any ideas?

 

Any chance you didn't get something hooked up right when you did the previous work? You still have positive pressure in the crank. I'd look for a cracked line etc.

Jerry

 

I did some more investigating into the problem over the weekend and found a split in the rubber connector for the vacuum line from the intake manifold to the PTC valve at the PTC valve. I cleaned the valve and replace the connector and I've been checking the dipstick every time I stop for a while and it hasn't popped up yet. Amazing that something that simple can cause so much trouble.
Can anyone explain how the PTC valve actually works?

 

I'll bet it is a backup for the PVC valve.

http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repa...ques079_1.html