The little "PCV" oil separator is so caked with gunk and sludge that it's really not budging much. Can I help free it up by spraying a bit of carb cleaner on it? Is it OK if a wee bit of carb cleaner made it's way past the separator, into the head, and mixed with the oil a bit? It's a 2002, so I'm not removing the brass housing the 03-04s have, just the plastic separator.

 

Yea that wont hurt anything.

 

Thanks sir!

 

It's a bitch. Don't just pull straight up, but try rotating it as you pull up, like you are trying to unscrew it. My husband was finally successful in removing mine.

 

I drill slowly thru it, insert a wood screw thru it & gently pull up on stubborn ones.

 

Couple notes for internet posterity in addition to all the posts above...

1. Mine might as well have been glued in there with all the gunk jamming it.
2. Seafoam soak worked OK and let me get one ring of it out before cracking off. Luckily the way it broke left basically another nipple to hold on to with pliers.
3. Carb cleaner instantly removed the gunk and let it loose as if it had never been jammed at all. Crazy effective.

Ended up discarding it altogether and installed the FV308 adapter. Curious to see if that helps the overall coat of oil moistening the motor and undercarriage. I know valve cover seals need to be replaced soon, but at least hoping it turns the stream into more of a weep for now.

 

Exactly what happened to me. Broke off. Tried drilling and screw. Tried to open up the top the way AB did in the video. FV308. Yeah....

 

On my write up I listed using carb spray to remove them (99-02) and if that failed drilling a hole thru it & using a wood screw to help pull it out. FV308 beats that plastic nipple/plastic baffle any day of the week.

 

Any day of the year!

I still need to do this

 

The only way I could get the plastic PCV piece out was to totally remove the metal tube from the valve cover (I think the '03 & '04 V8's are different).
THE FV308 mod is definitely the way to go.