Hello. First off I have searched and I did find threads with reported oil in the intake manifold and a oil catch being the best solution. Last night I was installing the NWP block plate and I have pics to show what I found. I dont think this is a normal amount of oil. Most of it is very dried up but around the vias valve most of it seems to be fresh oil. I only looked in from the vias hole so I can only start to think of how much oil is in the rest of the mani. I have noticed a decent power loss since I bought the car and i have so far cleaned the maf with no difference in feel and replaced the front 3 spark plugs (lazy right now to do the rear 3) I also replaced the front valve cover. I still have the rear to do as well. I also have intake spacers waiting to go on. Is this a normal amount that you think the catch can would take care of? What should I use to clean this up? What else could cause this? Butterfly valve did seem a lil dirty but not saturated in oil at all. I was able to smell oil and smelt like gas along with it. I am getting about 16 to 17 mpg highway right now. Seems to be pinging a lil. I test my knock sensor and the voltage is correct at idle but should'nt it change when there is a ping? It stays the same. Does this indicate a faulty knock sensor? Help please!

 

Looks normal to me. Time to clean it up!!

 

What should I use to clean it? Should I do the SSIM? so many mixed reviews out there. Another thing that wasnt clear on my search was what hose am I using for the oil catch? Should I do the second one for the front valve cover as well?

 

From my experience, SSIM isn't beneficial unless one's boosted. I do recommend; however, a block-off plate.
As far as the can, tap it in the line between the PCV and the elbow.

 

search around for HD or Home depot .. catch can....basically you use a air to water seperator made by huskey for compressors and run it inline on your pcv and it collects oil before it goes into the IM....

you can see it in this pic... on the left.. its blue..

 

Thank you. I have everything from home depot I need. Just was'nt sure what PCV to use. I got the block plate on and I was leaning towards staying away from the ssim as well. Thanks guys. Big help.

 

prob obvious.. but make sure the flow arrow on the catch can is flowing the proper way..

 

Empty that bad boy!!

 

Thanks guys. Would this be the cause of my front 3 spark plugs getting coated with oil after about 2 weeks since i replaced them and the front valve cover?

 

LOL its not that full..... it was prob not even 1/2 full in that specific picture.. the sides have pretty much become stained black because its been on there so long

 

Looks like the normal amount of oil intake manifold to me too.

I added a catch can to the PCV pipe for the rear valve cover and another catch can to the front cover. The rear catch can collects oil. The one in front catches nothing.

Has anyone placed the catch can against the firewall?

 

To update you guys.
I replaced my front and rear valve cover with one of a 2004 Maxima from Dave B. I also installed all new spark plugs, NWP Spacers and NWP Black Plate as well as my oil catch home depot special. I also cleaned out the intake manifold of all the damn oil. A lot. 2 cans of carb cleaner and it is mostly clean. when spraying in there and tiping it over it looked like straight oil. It was a lot.

Results: Once everything was dry and I started her up a few times I got a check engine light I believe it was p0507. It was crap about the idle was to high. It actually was high. I performed the idle air relearn procedure and cleared the light. Idle dropped down to where it should be and I took her out for a spin. First 20 miles were city driving and I felt a huge loss of power at the low end and was thinking about taking off the NWP mods because of this. Top end did feel better but not huge. I reset the ECU hoping to clear the fuel maps and relearn my new beast. I started my 200 something mile round trip to ny and back. all highway. My gas millage was about 16 mpg before the work was done and after my trip avg mph of 80 I had a 24.5 mpg average. I love it. I parked her and took her out the next day and wowwwwwwwwww. Bottom end feels the same and the top end freaking scremssssssss... I love it.... although this before and after is not to accurate because my spark plug number 5 was literally drenched in oil even over the porclin portion. Rear valve cover and all new plugs took care of that but my god the car sounds more aggresive and pulls very nicely.

I still experience a slight misfire at idle and I cant stand it. It really bothers me. I wanna do the 2 degree timing advance but dont want to if I already feel a ping. I mean I know it can be normal but its random and its not a huge miss at all but it still bothers. I did probe the knock sensor while the engine is running and it does not come off of 2.4 volts. I know it may not actually be a ping but shouldnt this change with the slight mis at idle? i mean when it misses u feel it on the pedal and steering wheel. You really dont feel it if you are just sitting in the seat. Any suggestions there?

My oil catch can is more then half full after just one tank of gas. Holly crap. I know its normal to get a lot for us but that much? Also after reading another thread about the oil cooler leaking and being full of gunk got me thinking. Is it possible that the oil buildup in here is pretty much plugging up the passages for oil return coming from the top of the rear engine and causes a build up of oil in there to get throw and sucked up by the pcv? I will do a comparison once I clean that up if there is any gunk at all. It just boggles my mind how much oil is in there. Is it safe to dump this oil back into the block? Can we pinch the line a little to not allow that much air/oil to travel out of the pcv? I wonder if we could tap a new pcf in another location on the valve cover that would eliminate the issue altogether. Any thoughts on this?

I will be putting back the vias and reset everything to give the mods a fair shot to see if the car performs better with the spacers keeping vias. the block plate alone without the spacers didnt satisfy me. It was to much loss down below. The two together feel amazing but time to try spacers alone. I will keep you guys posted. For now please keep this thread alive with your thoughts on the pcv issue and thoughts about what I said in the post. There should be a way we can get Nissan to look into the issue and come up with a damn solution.

 

Thought id share some pics...
My 93 altima SE on eibachs and kyb gr2's with my baby as well.




cops thought it was disabled because I did not clean the snow off so I left them a little note.

 

 

 

Oil drenched plug number 5

 

unrelated but oh well

 

bump! Anyone have any thoughts on my post before the pics?

 

Bumpppp come on guys... ANYTHING?

 

looks good..but i have a question as i am tackling my moms i35 (same engine of course as your 5.5..i have a 5th gen) i have to remove the intake manifold in order to get that one last coil pack off to change teh spark plug huh?

 

I found this online re: oil buildup:

http://www.netcrafting.com/car_mx/pathfinder/oil.html