What causes oil to blow back into the resonator? PCV valve? And how do you get the PCV valve out anyway? It's at an angle in a very tight space. I found the longest 9/16th open end I had, but I can't budge it. Suggestions?

97 3.0 6cyl C'van

 

I would agree that it's probably the PCV valve. I don't know how it comes out on the 3.0. Chilton's shows it, but it's hard to determine if it screws in or is push on, where it enters the valve cover. I guess I would get a replacement and see if it has threads. Haynes isn't any clearer.

 

I know where it is, and it's a screw-in, and I bought a replacement yesterday. I just can't get to it. There's about 2 inches of clearance from above, absolutely no way to get to it from under the van. It takes a 9/16, but it's too long for a socket, and using a crescent, I can't get any leverage. It's at a 45 degree angle. There's no way to get a grip on it. Here's some pics, so y'all can see. Yeah, I know it's dirty lol!

 

How much oil in the resonator are we talking about? You could probably get on that with a crows foot socket attachment or a mid-deep socket on a swivel. Another thought is to try double wrenching by putting another wrench into the box-end of the wrench on the pcv to get you the leverage distance you need. Good Luck.

 

There's not a lot of oil, best I can tell. I'll try the double wrench later. I just checked my book, and it says use a 15mm box wrench. Guess I'll have to find one lol. One thing I did notice, my air filter still looks new, and I changed it a couple oil changes back. The one I took off had probably been on there 60,000 miles, and it still looked really clean.

What does the resonator do?

 

The resonator just quiets the sound of the air intake.

You can get a extra long handled wrench. Another option is to put a piece of iron pipe over the existing wrench to add to the leverage. A bit of PB Blaster on the threads might help too.

 

Even doing all that, I still can't get a grip on it because of the angle! It's angled toward the front of the van at a 45 degree angle. The way it's situated, to get a grip on it, I need to be able to get at it from the back (impossible) or have more than 2 inches of room there. Can't get a wrench on it the way the flat surfaces are situated. It must be the original part, I don't see how anyone could have gotten it into the position it's in with the rest of the engine built around it. Lord have mercy!

 

step 1: go to an ace hardware (or similar place for cheap tools)
step 2: buy 15mm wrench
step 3: heat up 15mm wrench
step 4: grab hammer
step 5: beat until desired angle is acheived
step 6: try new special tool



-greg

 

Heeeeyyyyyyyy, that might just work! Thank you! I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

sometimes stuff just takes a little trick to work, i have a few tools 'specialized' for certain things, hehehe, goodluck!

just be sure you bend it close to the head so you still have something to put a pipe on or whatever


-greg