So this past fourth of july weekend i stumbled across a 1996 teal camaro for 1000 bucks. Said hey ill go check this thing out. got there and the car had some body work that needed done, but nothing i cant handle, and only had 118k miles. now that it was in my driveway i was taking apart the intake and i noticed that there was oil in the throttle body. It wasnt like it was dripping but there was just a light coat, enough to tell something was there. It also didnt have the screen there either. I drove it home on the highway about 30 miles away and didnt even sputter or have any problems. could the oil in the throttle body be an early warning for a leak? will post pictures....eventually...haha

 

Check the PCV valve to make sure it is free and not gummed up. Did you check the air filter? Does it have oil residue in it? Congrats on the car.

 

How is your '94 a 3.8L -- did you do an engine swap?

 

yes i did, and an auto to 5-speed swap.

anyone know anything about oil in a throttle body?

 

So we hear a lot of stories about the work involved in swaps -- how bad was it from 3.4 to 3.8? In the end, was it worth it? Would you have still done it today if you knew the effort involved from the experience?

Sorry can't advise on oil in the TB, although if there was an oiled aftermarket filter, it may just be excess from one being over-oiled...

 

This is a great question! I wonder the same thing. Is it worth it? How much would it cost to do? How in depth is it and what all has to be swapped? And will the 5-speed on my 3.4 work with the 3.8? Or will I have to swap transmissions too?

 

To everyone who was wondering if the swap is worth it. In the long run i would say yes, EXCEPTION: i had a donor car, another guy and lots of tools to help me with this, it wasnt easy, and there are parts that will not just transfer over. Also, the computer was a PITA to deal with. If you had a spare car to drive around, had a donor car and some friends who know what they are doing, it could be pulled off. MY ADVICE: unless your die hard v6 fans, dont waste your time, swap for a v8. (and i dont particulaly like advising that)


Also, the 3.4 tranny will not work with the 3.8 engine. you will need another tranny for the 3.8.


Back to the problem, i did pull out the filter and it looks like it hasnt been cleand in many years. no oil that i could find in the tray of the filter so i dont think it was an overoiled filter, although it was a KN filter. Tomorrow when i have time to take another look i will in the PVC valve.

 

As OSduck said PCV valve or a blown intake gasket. Normally the blow intake gasket will cause smoke and a rought idle because vacuum is highest at idle.

If the car has to much blow by and its building pressure in the crank case it can "over run" the PVC system and cause oil in the intake.

If there is a bunch of sludge under the valve cover and the oil is backing up it can cause oil in the intake.

It is fairly common is high miles cars. There is a good chance it only does it at High RPMs and you are just seeing the left overs from that. I have seen many old school V8s run for years like that. You just had to wipe out the air cleaner every month or so. course on your car you don't have to wipe out anything since its in the intake.

 

the car idles fine, no hesitation or smoke whatsoever. still gotta look in the pvc valve area as well. glad im not going to have to deal with any kind of internal engine repair.

 

The oil is usually caused from the PCV valve. I dont know where the valve is, I have a hose going into my valve cover and no pcv valve. Give it a look see what you got. Clean the intake tube and TB and you should put a new MAF in the car that still has the screen. The screen does not restrict the flow enough to rob any HP that a human would ever notice.

Massey