replacing oil separator and its hoses
 

what's the labor hour for this job?

I just read it's about 4 hours max with the valve cover gasket.

Not to hijack this thread but, I encountered a "check engine oil level" on my way home tonight. 2003 3.0i 110,000 mi. Not overheating, no oil spilling everywhere and no white smoke. I opened up the oil cap to add oil and immediately saw yellow, milky gunk and my jaw dropped. Oh, shit... I got online and saw it may be related to the OS. Not seeing all the symptom but, would like to know if you all think it may be the OS based on age and the cold we are having down here. Burr....

Do a search on this board, there are lots of descriptions of the problem. The milky paste (condensate) that you see isn't caused by the oil separator, it is caused by condensation in the engine that doesn't get burned off (too many short trips, not enough drive time to warm up properly). Eventually, it can clog the oil separator, and in cold weather the separator can then freeze up.

See post #32 on this thread

I did read where a failed OS has a burning oil smell and oil leak associated with it and I have neither. Coolant level is good, so I don't think a gasket is blown. I put oil in it and started it up last night and looked for oil leaks, white smoke..all things associated with failed a OS. Nothing. I read (as you elude to) that condensate is normal and mostly appears under the cap and sometimes on the dip stick in cold situations as we are having here in Texas. I guess I had a premature freak out and panic attack. This truck has been awesome and (jinxing myself-knock on wood) have had little to no issues. Replaced half shafts, thermostat and had tranny fluid changed at 80K.

BigJ..clean out that milky crap under your oil cap and in that area..Give it a good solid drive for an hour if you can...this will help burn off that condensate..It looks like you don't have enough condensate yet to clog your seperator (this is good news) You're in Mckinney so when this cold weather system passes you should be ok..That is probably why you havent had the oil leak yet..It hasnt been consistently cold enough down there for long enough for you to blow your valve cover gasket and seperator..keep an eye on it, but I think you're ok..its when you start smelling the oil and seeing a leak or a little smoke out of the hood (I mean even a little) is when you should worry..Smoke out of the tailpipes means you're leak has sprung into a major leak and its tow truck time...