MAF question and sludge in intake

[4OYOTER]

I cleaned my MAF today and discoved what I believe to be residual oil sludge in the intake. Nothing looked fresh or wet, just thick gunk. 317K miles. '97 V6. This weekend I will clean the throttle body. My question is can I assume this is was a pcv valve issue that was fixed by PO but never took the time to clean the sludge? What is safe to use to clean this up since the intake tubing is obviously plastic? Also, upon reassembly I noticed this gap from the air box to the MAF. Is this much of a gap ok? Anyway to adjust and fix?

 

[d4nrunner]

Not sure about the sludge but my 97 has the same gap that I also noticed, I just put some foam tape around the maf and reconnected it to the air box, seemed to seal the gap.

 

[Ol'Blue]

Have a shop that offers a BG Induction service done. It will burn all that crap out. We do them in our shop and have good results with it.

 

[gamefreakgc]

It could just be years of fine dust particulates combining with condensation. 317k miles is a long run time for that engine.

Unless you see pools of liquid just clean it out and enjoy.

 

[4OYOTER]

Thanks everyone for the replies

 

[etc.]

It's normal. Oil vapors vent into your air intake, which accumulates with time. A catch can will help.