CCV failed - oil in combustion chamber - what to do

[karmtec]

Hi All,

I have searched the topic alot but in most of the posts, vehicle ends up at the mechanic

My 2002 X5 3.0 was idling for 30 seconds in -12 so I could move it into the garage, By the time I got in to the garage, it was filled with smoke and the vehicle died. I tried cranking and it made an awful noise.

Took out the spark plugs to find oil as expected. I cranked with the plugs out for a few seconds and oil came out of the holes.

How do I know if I bent a rod or messed up a cylinder wall?

Aside from replacing the CCV and oil, how do I get all the oil out of the combustion chambers and what else would need to be cleaned of oil?

[SlickGT1]

Um, leaking valve cover gaskets maybe.

[FCBuff]

Not sure about the dignosis, but if the CCV is determined to be bad...I just changed my mine. It was a b$tch of a job, but doable. My advice do read all the threads you can find. The key was doing enough dissassembly to be able to reach your left hand around the last manifold runner and apply pressure on the tube connecting with the CCV while rotating it. The other key is to look closely at the way the tube and CCV join and how it rotates etc while out of the car. This is critical because you will be doing it in a tiny, tight dark space with no visibility, it is all by feel.

[JCL]

First do the CCV and hoses. Then look at the valve cover gasket, including the seals around the plugs. Spin it over with the plus out. Clean and dry the plugs. Start it and see how it runs. If it is smooth and quiet, don't worry about a rod.

Many worry about ingesting oil, and it is possible if the CCV freezes open, but it is equally likely that the CCV froze shut, it pressurized the crankcase and blew the valve cover gasket out, then oil ran down around the plugs and they got wet when you removed them.

[sockethead]

You can look on some of the e46 forums for DIY's too since it's the same motor

[Bayerische E53]

Originally Posted by JCL

First do the CCV and hoses. Then look at the valve cover gasket, including the seals around the plugs. Spin it over with the plus out. Clean and dry the plugs. Start it and see how it runs. If it is smooth and quiet, don't worry about a rod.

Many worry about ingesting oil, and it is possible if the CCV freezes open, but it is equally likely that the CCV froze shut, it pressurized the crankcase and blew the valve cover gasket out, then oil ran down around the plugs and they got wet when you removed them.

^+1 I'm with JCL. I think you're likely ok, OP.

[karmtec]

And it happened again a year later...

Driving home from the train station when I experienced loss of power plus tons of smoke out of the tailpipe. Towed it home and pulled the plugs which had a fair amount of oil on them.

I'm going to try and fix it myself this time but wanted to know if I should somehow try and clean the oil out of the combustion chamber or does it leak down when sitting and burn off when started after a valve cover replacement.

[bcredliner]

Assuming you have remove the plugs, are the plugs wet with oil or does oil come out of the plug holes when you spin it over?

[karmtec]

Yep the plugs are wet with oil I didn't crank it without plugs. Would that be enough oil removed?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by karmtec

And it happened again a year later...

Driving home from the train station when I experienced loss of power plus tons of smoke out of the tailpipe. Towed it home and pulled the plugs which had a fair amount of oil on them.

I'm going to try and fix it myself this time but wanted to know if I should somehow try and clean the oil out of the combustion chamber or does it leak down when sitting and burn off when started after a valve cover replacement.

Two posts in 2 years and both on the same thread. Doesn't look like you're a DIYer and if you never worked on a car I would suggest you take it in. You can do more damage if you don't know what you are doing and that will cost you more money in the long run.