2004 9-5 oil in the intake - is this a PCV valve

[MattCarp]

I am the second owner of a 2004 9-5 Aero with 83k miles (amazing? the first owner was in the Navy and didn't drive it much!).

The car is very well maintained, but recently I had a check engine light with code P1312 (error detected on cyl 1 or 2).

I replaced the spark plugs - the old plugs had 44k miles on them and looked "fine". The old plugs' gap was correct and they weren't obviously fouled. Old and new plugs are the OEM NGK-R Platinum plugs.

The check engine light went off, but re-illuminated the same day.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed oil around the intake! See attached pictures! The last picture is from the underside of the car. On the throttle body picture, I removed the intake pipe.

Some oil residue was in the pipe, but it didn't seem like enough to create the pool on the underside of the intake. However, I didn't see any other place where the oil was coming from.


Back in 2014 I replaced an oil check valve, (part no. 5955927) after I somehow broke it when moving some hoses during an engine mount installation. This was an aftermarket part from Eeuroparts.

Could it be that this check valve is faulty? Is this the PCV valve? ...or, do you think it's something else...


The car has only ever had Mobil 1 0W-40 and changed at the recommended intervals. The turbo does not sound loud and there is otherwise no blue smoke in the exhaust.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

[southsaab]

Why is your oil cap/dip stick missing?

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[MattCarp]

Yeah, I pulled out the dipstick so that I could take off the plastic cover from the top of the engine.

I've spent more time looking at this problem. There is oil residue at the other end of the hard black plastic intake pipe. I also have some type of leak at the upper left passenger side of the radiator, down along that side. It looks like some coolant but also some grease or oil. Without really knowing the radiator setup, I would say it's an end tank where I could have a crack and having oil enter the intercooler? I've looked at the parts diagrams to try to understand the different radiators to know if this is possible, but the diagrams are really poor.

The other very possible theory is that it is the turbo seals.... The car is 13+ years old....but, only 83k miles. Seals could be age thing..

Any thoughts appreciated.

The repair is manageable, and the car is in good shape otherwise. However, I'm starting to get the feeling that I want save the repair money and buy a different car...

[southsaab]

Just a guess, think turbo seals, too. That would cause oil to be in pipe at TB. Maybe low miles, but hard miles. Any grey smoke at start up or acceleration?

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[MattCarp]

No grey smoke at startup.....at least not that I can tell. I may have smelled some oil this morning - a drop could have landed on the catalytic converter. I'm starting to keep the revs down to keep the turbo from moving into the mid-range.

If it is turbo seals, I suppose the easiest route to go is replace the turbo for $800 - I can wrench it myself. While I can follow directions, I don't think I could replace the seals myself as well as a remanufactured would be...

....Matt

[southsaab]

Before you start buying parts, check out the coolant/oil leak around the radiator. Also clean up around the pipe into the TB, make sure the oil is leaking from the inside of the pipe into the TB. Take pipe off and check inside. Lots of oil in pipe usually means turbo seals. The other leak is a different matter. In other words, double check. Web diagnosis is not 100%.

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[MattCarp]

Good advice!

One follow up - does the radiator have a vertical side tank? The top hose connection on the passenger side is the radiator overflow hose to the expansion tank. Underneath that is a banjo fitting and hose, but I don't know where that goes. If that's the engine oil cooler (which I thought was a small radiator on the bottom of the radiator), then it could be that tank?

Thanks again for your attention!

[southsaab]

The transmission cooler is part of the radiator, the lower part.

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