Found this soft plastic cap (on the right) after removing the plastic PCV part... any ideas what it goes to?



Do I remove the oil separator / plastic baffle (pic below) now that I have the metal PCV installed at the intake? The baffle came out in mostly one piece, there's some chipping on the sides, not sure how I'd retrieve those pieces ... Best's write-up said something about drilling a hole, is that only for yrs 03-04 ...

 

"The baffle came out in mostly one piece, there's some chipping on the sides,..."

That is not chipping. That is the design so the gasses flow around corners, not in a straight path, so the oil droplets are stopped, and the gasses pass through. Not that I know anything about passing gas...

 

HAHAHA. The plastic is like eggshells on these rigs... I assumed I had yet again accidentally broken a plastic piece

 

Drilling is needed if there is only a small hole in the end of the pipe that has that baffle inside.
And this is only on the never models like my 2004 had, earlier ones don't have that tiny restriction hole on the end, but the hole is same size all the way through the pipe.

 

Sweet, I don't need to drill. I will toss the baffle and reconnect the hose. TY!

 

With all the discussion about the oil separator baffle, no one answered your initial question about the "soft plastic cap".

It goes over the small port below where you install the PCV valve. Without it or something else in place there, you'll have a vacuum leak and get lean codes (P0171 and P0174).

And you can see, yours is torn, so you probably want to find something else to replace it to ensure no vacuum leak. In the meantime, however, go ahead and install it on that third port. Even in this condition, it's better than nothing.

That third port, I'm told, is used on trucks with SAI. Thankfully for you, and for me, our trucks don't have SAI.

 

Whoa, thanks for this info min01. This is kind of blowing my mind bc when I first got the vehicle, I had it serviced at a Rover shop where they fixed a vacuum leak and repaired a coolant leak at the intake gasket, and installed a bosch intake gasket kit. There's no way I ripped or damaged that cap during the PCV swap. Do you think it would be a good idea to remove the hose and flush carb spray down the hose until it runs clear?

 

That cap may have just split with age. Any vacuum cap will work to block it off.

 

And if you're wondering where to get a vacuum cap, just go to any auto parts store. No need to order. My local Advance Auto Parts sells them individually for 29¢ each.