2002 Pontiac Sunfire 2200 SFI sludge on dipstick

Hi guys this symptom popped up rather suddenly. I was checking the oriole on my sons car and noticed that there sludge on the dipstick and on the sides of the oil filler tube. There is also oil in the air box on top of the engine, and throttle body is very dirty. The car has a slight long crank but otherwise runs OK. I disconnected the tube that goes from the top of the valve cover to the Airbox and it also had sludge in it as do the hole in the valve cover. Haynes Guide says this engine does not have a PCV valve but has an air oil separator that is part of the inside of the valve cover. Can this air oil separator unit in the valve cover be cleaned out, or do I need to get a new valve cover?

I've never tried before, but I don't see why you couldn't clean those baffles out. Is there a decent machine shop around? Maybe see what they'd charge to run your valve cover through their parts washer. Just be sure to wash and dry carefully before reinstallation.

Before you tear it apart, maybe put a vacuum gauge on the dipstick/oil cap tube? See if it builds pressure/vacuum, or maintains atmospheric. Building pressure would be a sure sign of a restriction somewhere...

Well, as is usual on my kids cars, nothing has been done yet. Trying to get after them, but you know how it goes. But as this time has passed I remembered that my son also reported a mystery coolant leak. Coolant slowly disappears, but no leak is evident. Though I haven't had a chance to put my pressure tester on it yet. On the one hand I wonder if the sludge in the dispstick tube could be attributed to coolant leaking down the intake. On the other hand, I doubt this would explain the oil buildup in the airbox and intake hos all the way to the air filter. I suepect the sunfire probably has two problems. We'll know more once I get my Subruban (finally) done, and I'll report back.

~ Pop