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Old 01-29-2019, 04:32 PM #1
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What the hell just happened???

As many of you know, the entire midwest is being battered by this "polar vortex".

It is currently 0 Degrees and a wind chill of -30 here in Wisconsin. Tonight it is supposed to be -30 temp with wind chills approaching -60.

I just left work and my truck started up just fine as expected. About half way home (15 minute drive) I started smelling something burning (like oil).

when I got home I quickly popped the hood to see what was going on and found oil all over my engine! It appears oil puked out of several of the spark plug tubes onto the valve covers.

This has never happened and the truck otherwise does not drop one speck of oil from all things valve cover gaskets related.

what the hell happened? the pcv valve is maybe 2 years old and the grommet was replaced at the same time.

I'm concerned because I'm about to leave on thursday night for a 4 day ice fishing trip up north. It's supposed to be a little warmer on Friday and pretty mild the rest of the weekend.

I checked my oil level and it was maybe a 1/4 quart low on the dip stick.

Should I reconsider taking my 4runner or is this a known thing to happen when its bitterly cold like this?

the truck ran normal and wasn't making any funny noises or anything, just the smell from oil burning. I also let it warm up for a good 15 minutes before I drove it.
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Old 01-29-2019, 04:35 PM #2
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Old 01-29-2019, 04:40 PM #3
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My guess, and it's just a guess, that some of the vacuum hoses froze up. Several hoses such as the PCV valve hose will actually contain a fair amount of water vapor and it might have froze up completely causing backpressure in the crank case. Spark plug seal would be the easier place for vapor and pressure to find it's way out.

The sort of cold you guys are having really is uncharted territory for these 4Runners. Pretty sure driving in -60 degrees was never part of the initial testing. There's also no guarantee if you take another vehicle that it won't have similar issues.
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Old 01-29-2019, 04:46 PM #4
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I'm going to go out and take another look around and see if anything stands out.
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Old 01-29-2019, 04:49 PM #5
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Maybe the guy that treks across Siberia will see this thread and chime in,
know he see's cold. Been over six months posted pics of his Treks.
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Old 01-29-2019, 04:59 PM #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gamefreakgc View Post
My guess, and it's just a guess, that some of the vacuum hoses froze up. Several hoses such as the PCV valve hose will actually contain a fair amount of water vapor and it might have froze up completely causing backpressure in the crank case. Spark plug seal would be the easier place for vapor and pressure to find it's way out.
That's a good guess. I've had my brake booster check valve freeze up on mine during the first really cold spell.
Maybe a good run on the highway will burn off any excess moisture.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gamefreakgc View Post
The sort of cold you guys are having really is uncharted territory for these 4Runners. Pretty sure driving in -60 degrees was never part of the initial testing. There's also no guarantee if you take another vehicle that it won't have similar issues.
Windchill doesn't impact machines like it does exposed flesh so it's really only -30.
-30 or more is not a problem for most vehicles.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:07 PM #7
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I cleaned off the oil with some brake cleaner, let it dry and fired it back up again. I didn't see any new oil come out initially but after 5 minutes or so, it was coming back out of the spark plug tubes again. I shut it down.

I pulled off the PCV valve and it passes the "shake test". I did not see any moisture/ice in that hose.

So what could cause this excessive crank case pressure? This isn't the first time this truck has seen brutally cold days and this has never happened.

Should I replace the PCV anyways?? I've never heard/seen this before....
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:31 PM #8
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Quote:
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I cleaned off the oil with some brake cleaner, let it dry and fired it back up again. I didn't see any new oil come out initially but after 5 minutes or so, it was coming back out of the spark plug tubes again. I shut it down.

I pulled off the PCV valve and it passes the "shake test". I did not see any moisture/ice in that hose.

So what could cause this excessive crank case pressure? This isn't the first time this truck has seen brutally cold days and this has never happened.

Should I replace the PCV anyways?? I've never heard/seen this before....
if the tubing or PCV isn't clogged the other options might be really bad.

blown head gasket? pushing compression into the crankcase? or stuck valve also allowing excess compression thru?

I don't know if it's possible but I know a chev hot rod guy who had this happen on his beloved El Camino. messed up head gasket was allowing compression inside case and he was blowing oil all over. not sure if this can even happen on the 5vz?
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:38 PM #9
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I would pull the coils (inspect for oil) and clean it up as needed. Agree with gamefreakgc, PCV freezing and created excess pressure.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:40 PM #10
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I may have a spare pcv laying around, maybe I'll swap it and see what happens.

I have no normal symptoms of a head gasket failure (coolant loss, rough idle on cold start up, white smoke etc).

And I doubt its just a bad spark plug tube seal since its all of a sudden happening on 4 or 5 tubes at the same time.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:51 PM #11
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I have no idea - but at some point I definitely remember seeing a video of some people being interviewed in Northern Russia, and it was so cold that their eyelashes were freezing...it was something like -60 Fahrenheit. Behind the people being interviewed, someone walked up to their 3rd gen, started it, and drove off like it was a normal day. Best of luck, OP.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:53 PM #12
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Unfortunately with the rushing cold temps you're experiencing, any moisture can freeze and cause crank case pressure. Hopefully its a one off event.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:53 PM #13
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Quote:
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I have no idea - but at some point I definitely remember seeing a video of some people being interviewed in Northern Russia, and it was so cold that their eyelashes were freezing...it was something like -60 Fahrenheit. Behind the people being interviewed, someone walked up to their 3rd gen, started it, and drove off like it was a normal day. Best of luck, OP.
Never had this issue before and its been colder here before.

I found an old PCV that I swapped over. I'm letting it idle right now and will see if its still puking oil.
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Old 01-29-2019, 05:59 PM #14
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I wouldn't say it's normal, but it's not uncommon either.

As I'm sure you know, when temps drop your fluids thicken. When the oil becomes more viscous it can force it's way though internal seals like what you noticed. You could have internal issues since the oil was forced from the engine. I haven't seen/heard of this happened on a 4runner, but have on other vehicle. Might not be a bad idea to run a compression test.
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Old 01-29-2019, 06:44 PM #15
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Well, I think it may be fixed.

I swapped out PCV's with an old one I had laying around. I cleaned the valve covers and fired it up.

The engine started right up, ran completely normal and made no funny noises.

I revved it up several times (2800 rpm for 2 minutes), let it idle for about a half hour and there is zero oil coming up the tubes now.

Either the PCV was bad even though it passed the shake test, or if there was a line frozen, it un-f'ed itself.

I called my local stealership and of course, they do not have the PCV in stock and can't get one until Friday after I'll be gone.

At this point, I'll replace the PCV anyways as soon as I can.

It supposed to be -30 tomorrow morning, should I take it to work (actually drive it around) or wait until I'm 100% confident the issue is resolved.

I really need it for the ice fishing trip this weekend.
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