Technical Punto 1996 - oil in air filter

[chesh]

Hey, I've noticed some oil in the upper side of the air filter
I cleaned it all up + the pipe that goes from the head to the box
drove it for 1 day and I saw it got oil again

why is it? I've read something about a PCV valve. can someone show me exactly where it is? a picture would be nice

here's a picture of what I cleaned:
in the red is that pipe, and the blue area is where I see oil

 

[thedigger]

Noticed the same thing the other day.... did a search and all I could find was either Rocker cover gasket or too much oil... will watch this thread

 

[Mdeko]

The pipe you have circles red is your engine breather pipe. It takes any oil vapour and gasses from the engine into the air intake, which then are in turn burned through combustion.

If you have oil around it check it is connected securely at both ends (to the rocker cover/head extension and to the bottom fo the air filter normally) and check it hasnt got any splits in it. If its split as a tempoary measure use insulating tape to wrap around it then get a replacement pipe from fiat.

 

[chesh]

I've cleaned these 2 pipes:

they seem to be ok without holes or something. the pipe doesn't have oil on it or any oil leaks from it. it's just oil in the airbox filter.
after few days I cleaned everything the box area gets a little wet. where is that PCV valve everyone talks about and say it gets blocked?

 

[chesh]

bump.....

can anyone answer?

 

[Punto_2008]

Hmm, i have a '95 1.1 55s and have the same problem. Its not really a problem i guess as ive had it for a year now and still get 50mpg out of it. The fatter tube of the two you've circled, on mine, there was only a small hole running through the tube as the rest was filled with a nice creamy mayo stuff. I get oil in my airbox as well as petrol which often drips when i seperate the two parts of the air box. Hope that puts you at ease, not sure what this valve thing is btw, all i can think is that it could be the valve mechanism on the inside of the airbox? Theres like a plastic flap and a spring. Also, the big circle bit to the right of those pipes, have you stripped some stuff off of that, other than than the airbox cos mine has lots of little wires and connected running all over it...

 

[VII CKS]

Hmm, i have a '95 1.1 55s and have the same problem. Its not really a problem i guess as ive had it for a year now and still get 50mpg out of it. The fatter tube of the two you've circled, on mine, there was only a small hole running through the tube as the rest was filled with a nice creamy mayo stuff. I get oil in my airbox as well as petrol which often drips when i seperate the two parts of the air box. Hope that puts you at ease, not sure what this valve thing is btw, all i can think is that it could be the valve mechanism on the inside of the airbox? Theres like a plastic flap and a spring. Also, the big circle bit to the right of those pipes, have you stripped some stuff off of that, other than than the airbox cos mine has lots of little wires and connected running all over it...

Basically what everyone is describing of the oil getting to the filter, is from the crankcase breather pipes, if they get clogged it can cause oily residue to escape or overfill, often blocking pipes and causing poor performance of the car as it can't breathe correctly. Usually you can cure this by taking the pipes off and cleaning with carb cleaner, if not you can buy a breather mod which is like a box with metal gauze/filter in that filters the gasses out, and lets the oil condense in it, rather than going back into the system.

Also you are mentioning mayo/creamy stuff, that is signs of a headgasket failure, other problems may be white smoke from the exhaust, poor performance, oil/water mixing, the creamy deposits, misfiring or poor performance.

The only valve I think that you are all on about is called the ICV (Idle Control Valve) sometimes people call it the PCV, basically it controls the idle of the car, and can be cleaned out with carb cleaner as oily deposits get into that as well, inside it is a spring, when you remove it and clean it you should be able to hear the spring rattle again inside before you return it back to the car, and then also refit the paper type gasket, for a tight seal.