Hello everyone,

Today I was doing some maintenance on my LS430 by getting an oil change done and the PCV Valve changed for good measure. I did read that grommet is prone to breaking into several pieces so I went to a shop to have this done.

I asked the mechanic to show me the old grommet and once I got home I realized what he had shown me was only the upper lip of the grommet. I'm assuming the bottom portion of the grommet fell into the valve cover. The upper portion the mechanic showed me was broken into two pieces. I have driven the car about 20 miles since then and I am extremely stressed about the bottom portion of the old grommet that might still be in there. I plan on taking it to another shop on Monday to have them remove the new PCV valve and see if they can fish out the old grommet. But that is about another 20-30 mile drive for me.

How screwed am I driving that long of a distance with the old grommet potentially in the valve cover still? I do know there is a baffle in the valve cover to prevent any large portions of the grommet from going into the valvetrain but that's assuming the bottom portion of the grommet is one large piece.

Should I be worried? Should I just replace the valve cover gasket at this point to be sure the grommet will be removed?

 

The baffles inside the valve cover prevent it from getting into the engine. I suppose it is possible the grommet degrades and turns into little pieces and gets into the engine but even then doubt it would do any harm. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I wouldn't worry about it either. As long as the new grommet seals you'll be fine. The old rubber parts like this get really brittle and they turn into what feels and acts like hard plastic. Trying to remove the other pieces might cause them to disintegrate further and make removal more difficult.

 

When I decided to replace my pvc, the valve cover gaskets had been recently replaced. My Indy asked if I wanted my pcv gasket replaced which was of course rock hard. He explained that there was a very good chance some piece or pieces might fall into the valve assembly. I told him to leave it alone. . Hopefully you’ll be fine.

 

Since the vehicles already been turned over and driven at least 30 miles, wouldn't it be too late to use a vacuum or pliers to retrieve the grommet anyways?