'13 Journey 2.4L Crankcase Pressure?
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Joined: Nov 2024
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From: Ft Wayne, IN
'13 Journey 2.4L Crankcase Pressure?
Been looking at possibly buying a 2013 Journey SE, 2.4L, FWD. Shows around 80K miles and spent a bit of time poking around it on the used car lot. Interior and exterior seem pretty clean for the age. Started easily and idles smoothly.
Opened the hood after the engine had warmed up pretty well and nothing looked suspicious as far as wiring and various hoses go. But then I removed the oil fill cap to maybe get a peek into the cam cover to check for sludge or oil contamination. After unscrewing the cap it slipped from my fingers and dropped back down onto the filler neck. To my surprise the cap began to hover and flutter over the filler neck while the engine still seemed to idle smoothly. There was an obvious pulsing of pressure coming from the crankcase where I would have expected there to be a slight vacuum if the PCV system was working properly.
I didn't do any further diagnosis at the lot since I don't own the vehicle. But the oil didn't look contaminated and I didn't notice any suspicious exhaust smoke or see any vapors coming from the oil filler tube. Is the crankcase venting on these engines different than what I'm used to seeing in the past? If it had piston or ring damage I'd have expected to see some blow-by from the oil filler neck. But my tired old eyes sure didn't see anything.
EDIT TO ADD: I guess what I'm asking is if you have a similar vintage 2.4L, could you set the oil fill cap loosely on the fill tube wth the engine warm and idling? I'm curious to see if anyone else experiences this "dancing" oil fill cap condition.
Opened the hood after the engine had warmed up pretty well and nothing looked suspicious as far as wiring and various hoses go. But then I removed the oil fill cap to maybe get a peek into the cam cover to check for sludge or oil contamination. After unscrewing the cap it slipped from my fingers and dropped back down onto the filler neck. To my surprise the cap began to hover and flutter over the filler neck while the engine still seemed to idle smoothly. There was an obvious pulsing of pressure coming from the crankcase where I would have expected there to be a slight vacuum if the PCV system was working properly.
I didn't do any further diagnosis at the lot since I don't own the vehicle. But the oil didn't look contaminated and I didn't notice any suspicious exhaust smoke or see any vapors coming from the oil filler tube. Is the crankcase venting on these engines different than what I'm used to seeing in the past? If it had piston or ring damage I'd have expected to see some blow-by from the oil filler neck. But my tired old eyes sure didn't see anything.
EDIT TO ADD: I guess what I'm asking is if you have a similar vintage 2.4L, could you set the oil fill cap loosely on the fill tube wth the engine warm and idling? I'm curious to see if anyone else experiences this "dancing" oil fill cap condition.
Last edited by BurnUnit; Nov 25, 2024 at 10:16 AM. Reason: additional info
Thread Starter
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Registered User
Joined: Nov 2024
Posts: 7
Likes: 1
From: Ft Wayne, IN
Ended up buying a 2017 Journey with a 2.4 that displayed the same pulsations at the oil filler tube. So far it seems to run and drive just fine with 106,000 miles on it. The pulsations diminished when the idle speed is increased in park. I'm guessing that it's maybe normal behavior. Still seems strange though.