Change CCV (Crank Case Valve)? 2005 x5 4.4

[duckseatfree]

Thanks albarran,

Originally Posted by albarran9

I changed mine at 60K miles and it was so brittle that the VCG was melted stuck to the valve cover and when I tried to take it off, it broke into small pieces. Most get this way and crack so oil leaks out. If you aren't loosing oil, have rough idle, and your engine runs good, I wouldn't worry too much about the smoke.

So I'm trying to understand how bad VCG's cause smoke. I can see how bad CCV's cause smoke from the tailpipes - oil gets gunked up and burns oil from the inside. But if I had bad VCG's wouldn't the oil leak out and cause smoke from the hood? How would bad VCG's translate to smoke from the tailpipes?

(Sorry if the question sounds dumb, I'm just trying to wrap my head around how everything works)