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'97 SL2 blow by issues


ejazz
12-18-2008, 08:11 PM
I just bought a '97 SL2 and have a few questions about the Saturn engine. It doesn't look like the fella I bought it from took very good care of the maintainance on the engine. I went to look at the air filter and is was so plugged and the air box was slopped up with oily residue. The PCV valve and breather tube on the valve cover contain "milky" residue. The engine also seems to have an excessive amount of blow by when running.
Another symptom is that the valve cover seal was leaking around one of the spark plug tubes so I changed it with a new Felpro seal from Napa.
Now when I start the car, oil seeps out various spots on the valve cover seal. Everything was clean and the seal was installed correctly. I took it apart again to make sure. The valve cover also has some milky white residue in it. I thought possibly it was just condensation in the motor because it hadn't been run in a year.
I have done many head jobs and rebuilt several engines before but I am wondering if the Saturn engine has any tricks I may be missing. I do not think the head gasket is leaking because the temp stays put, no coolant is lost and no smoke out the tail pipe. What do think is happening is that possibly the rings are going and pressurizing the crankcase causing the excessive blow by and "pushing" the oil out the valve cover. The funny thing is that even with the PCV out and the oil fill cap off, oil still seeps out. Any ideas?

RC1488
12-19-2008, 01:24 PM
I think that the gasket may need to be installed again. A little RTV is needed where the timing chain cover meets the head.

Make sure the PCV rattles. Its the only thing that supposed to rattle on these cars haha.

Since the car has not ran in a while, a MMO soak may help loosen things up.

A oil change is also a very very good idea.

The milky residue usually is condensation like you said. Sort of expected since the engine hasnt run in a while

ejazz
12-19-2008, 04:40 PM
I am wondering if anyone else has a had a problem with using a non-Saturn valve cover seal. It seems like the cover does not tighten down far enough to seal. The shoulder on the bolts bottom out on the head and I can still push down on the cover and watch the seal squish.

Also, I have been reading some of the threads and will change the coolant switch. It does seem to run rich and not quite get to the correct operating temp.

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