I have a Land Rover LR4 2016, had a check engine light on for a few weeks, it was code P2189 System Too Lean at Idle Bank 1 and P2187 System Too Lean at Idle Bank 2. Shop did a deeper dive on what the issue might be and came back and said PCV Valve needs replaced but also need to replace the Valve Cover with it? This has me confused as I have always know to just replace PCV valves. Replacing just the PCV valve myself would this be labor intensive as they quoted me at $2200 which seems ridicoulus for a simple PCV Valve replacement, they said the labor is more intensive because it is on the right side. Has anybody had to deal with this issue before?

 

If it’s just the PCV valve diaphragm that’s bad (which is usually the case), the valve cover does not need to be replaced. Land Rover dealers used to replace the whole valve cover because LR didn’t make the diaphragms available separately (so stupid). Eventually, LR started making a “kit” to replace the diaphragm, which is the diaphragm, spring, and plastic cap. I bought one from an LR parts counter and did it myself, but there are lots of third-party kits available as well. It’s a little tricky getting it back together with the supercharger on, but doable. This is a 20 minute job. Here’s the writeup (started by another poster, added to by my own posts).

Now, one caveat to the valve cover does not need to be replaced: if when removing the PCV cap, you accidentally break one of the tabs on the valve cover that hold the cap, then you will need to replace the valve cover. Hopefully the mechanic that took a look was careful if he removed the old one. It’s fine to break off the cap tabs (they usually are pretty brittle), just don’t pry on anything else. Just grab the little cap tabs with a pick.

The other thing - if the valve cover gasket is leaking oil badly, then it probably should be replaced. The oil will eventually get into your alternator and take it out too. You can replace just the gaskets, but sometimes the plastic valve covers are little warped and won’t seal tight. It is labor intensive getting the valve covers off - all the fuel injectors need to come out (and those need to be re-sealed with a new seal kit).