Had my Clubman fixed at the dealership because of the timing chain tensioner service bulletin. and as anticipated, i would get an update call regarding other found issues. one of them being the pcv valve, the service rep said that it needed to be replaced, if not then oil would spew out the back and down the motor, and since these engines were designed the way they were, i would need to buy the whole valve cover. he said he would be able to comp me the 1 hour of labor since they needed to remove the valve cover anyways to replace the chain. is there a way i could "unclog" the pcv? i know in some cases it can be cleaned and would work again. parts cleaner and compressed air perhaps?

 

From what I understand, the PCV is not serviceable. There are a series of valves and doors that can get gummed up over time. The valve cover must be replaced to improve PCV function.

Mike

 

Does that mean we need to buy a new valve cover every 80k-100k miles? :-/

 

Are you referring to the old or updated valve cover? If you put 80k on your mini in just a year then I doubt it. People that do 90% highway driving will see a bit more mileage out of them. I'm seeing the same thing with the plastic coolant thermostat housings.

 

Ask Captain ripoff what pressure values he saw in the vacuum system to determine it was bad. There are defined GOOD and BAD values that are clearly defined in the Bentley manual.

These are listed for the N12. I can't imagine the N14 would deviate much since the turbo only affects vacuum under engine load.
Crankcase ventilation clogged = +100 mbar
Crankcase ventilation internal leak = -170 mbar