TOPIC: Need someone's help with my 2008 Mazda Tribute

Wow Karl I am impressed with your knowledge with PCV Valves and your general information on car engines. I'm really not sure how my PCV Valve on my 2008 Mazda Tribute is designed. I've never have seen it. Only in pictures. Because the engineers decided (not sure why) to put it underneath the intake manifold. When I do have the intake manifold off. I will take many pictures and post it on the forum.

ok, so on the mazda there is one tube going from the pcv to the airbox side of tb right or wrong if it is then nothing has to be done. some pcv valves have 2 hoses not all or, what does the small line do, i thought it opened the valve for the blowby gases to exit the crank case. if that is not what it is for what is it then for? here is a clip explaining the pcv.

At 1.45 the explanation of the small vac line, Im a little wery about how this works, i thought tht the small line activates the flow of flybygases, if im right then it would not be the same as a vac leak or? it pulses with the engine vaccum. and that would then disturb the groovy wind i take it. on the other hand how mutch vaccum is nessesary to lift the ball off its seat. any how, i blocked the small hose on both sides on my car and it worked fine no oil leaks and plenty of flyby gases still cme thru to air box side of tb. Hope im not being a pain here, Im just learning.
here is the link. have a groovy day over and out for now, mob

here is a detaild explanation off the 2 hoses, I see where i whent wrong.


the second part of this guys vids is very interesting.

I will soon be taking off the intake manifold to access the PCV valve which sits underneath it. I was just wondering if their is anything else that I should do? The only vacuum lines I know of is from the intake manifold port connected to the PCV valve and the brake booster. I'm not sure of any other vacuum lines.

Just get to it!

You'll find it's not really all that intense of a job on that engine. Of course, as with most things, we usually feel it's too much until once the job is finished. Then, we see it wasn't as tough as we thought it was!

The beloved Dale Carnegie says this about action. You would do well to remember this in all things.

He said "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."

In this, all in Gadgetman Land shine above the rest of the world, for we have taken action.

Be proud.

Ron

Well wish me luck. I can't afford a mechanic to take off the intake manifold so I will be doing it myself. I wish there was a shortcut to access the PCV valve which sits underneath the intake manifold but I'm thinking there isn't. I have called around every shop around my house and they all say 4 hours to take it off and put it back together. I think this will take the whole day for me. lol.

I just wanted to let everyone know I will be doing this very soon. As Ron requested I will be taking pictures of it and posting it here. I just wish there was a mechanic on these forums that can advise me if their is any shortcuts.

Juan by doing this job yourself, you will gain confidence, far more than any other way. $$ you would have spent paying someone else can go to your own tools and materials. Ya need tools anyway to be a Gadgetman. BTW if you are tool shopping, the Kobalt line at Lowes is made by Snap-On's parent company and has many of snap-on's features/qualities at FRACTION of the price.

Craftsman at Sears, or whatever you like. My buddy out in Fallon Nv goes to estate sales, yard sales and watches the local shopper weekly rag for tools for sale. Even Harbor Freight has some OK stuff, but I'd be careful w/ cheap Import tools...

A Haynes or Chilton manual for your car in hand, or go to a library and see if can photo-copy manuals there. My local library has pro-quality manuals in Reference Section. Cant check 'em out but can copy all I want .25 per page... or search Internet for "intake manifold remove/replace procedure" for your car and save/print what ya find.

Have a box, pan or something handy to put bolts and parts in as you dis-assemble. You could use a trick I use where I get a heavy piece of cardboard, and use a new intake gasket, draw an outline of gasket onto cardboard, then use a pen to punch holes in cardboard matching bolt holes in gasket. This way if some bolts are different size,no prob. Ya just stick each bolt in its matching hole in cardboard you marked/punched. So if it takes longer or goes till later you don't need to rely on memory for where different bolts go cardboard remembers for you! Also mark top, bottom, Left right on cardboard for reference.

Get a can brake cleaner or carb. cleaner, some clean rags, a flashlight.Might need penetrating oil, I like PB Blaster brand, but you will see if anything is rusty, I would not be surprised if there are no rusty bolts on your car its not real old. If something is rusty or tight just shoot some PB on it a wait a bit. Tapping after letting penetrating oil has soaked helps loosen stuck bolts/parts. An old toothbrush is great for cleaning surfaces off. Mounting surfaces that join together need to be clean gunk-free! A piece of light duty Scotchbrite kitchen scrubbing pad will take off most stubborn junk along w/ spray cleaner. Carb. cleaner is hard on the skin, might want disposable nitrile gloves--auto parts stores carry various kinds disposable gloves.

If I remove an intake on anything--and I'm working outside OR if I have to leave the engine "open" ahwhile, I will stuff the ports in the head w/ paper towels to keep any crap out. If I see much built up crap on intake valves I just spray a bit of cleaner on toothbrush and clean 'em off then use paper towel to remove crap. Avoid spraying too much carb cleaner into a port w/ an open intake valve, that washes oil off inside cylinders. That crap on back of intake valves hurts engine performance I clean it off best I can. A lot of the crap on intake valves comes directly from the PCV Valve. That's a big reason why I figured out the Air-Oil separator thing.

And pay attention to torque specs and tightening sequence for when you re-install manifold. That's important, should have a torque wrench available, O'reilly and Auto Zone rent tools like that. Order in which the bolts are tightened matters--most manifolds are tightened from inner bolts working to outside. Sorta like if squeezing bubbles out from under a wet decal, you would go from middle out, see? Also- good practice to tighten intake manifold bolts on 2 or 3 steps. Say the spec is 25 ft. lbs. I would go maybe to 15 ft.lbs all through tightening sequence, then 20 then 25. The manual and possibly info w/ new gasket set, will show the tightening torque spec and order to tighten the bolts in.

I think your manifold (it's black plstic, right?) may use silicone ring gasket on each individual port instead of single flat gasket. No prob. Some bolts might be longer than others, use the cardboard to hold each in its proper matching hole to help putting back together.

Just be methodical take your time and be sure to have information there so you know more what to expect. Worst thing to me about this Ford 4 cyl. engine is you cant see what's down behind the intake manifold, that's where the darn PCV valve lives on this critter! Don't worry, when you are done w/ this job we will be asking YOU for how this job is done! you will know!

Juan you will gain valuable experience from doing this. Just do it. There's nothing holy or magical here. Let us know how it goes, if ya get stuck, call on us for help. Take lots of pics, I'll bet there are others on here who face the same engine.

That's all I can think of to point out for now.

Git 'er done!

Tracy G

No need to pay for photocopies if you have a cell phone!

One other note: You don't really need to know much more than where the intake manifold is to find the PCV valve in most cases. All you need is the ability to follow hoses. Check every line attached to the intake manifold, starting with the largest. The Booster line will be one of those. Follow the lines and you will find the PCV valve.

When unable to locate it manually, go to Google! It really is a vital resource.

Ron

FINALLY! After a LONG LONG LONG Time I finally found an easier way to access the PCV valve on my Mazda Tribute.This procedure is WITHOUT taking off the intake manifold. The engine on my 2008 Mazda Tribute is a 2.3 Liter 4-cylinder Duratec engine. Apparently after researching for a long time. It's quite common on Ford Escape's, Ford Rangers and Mazda B2300. I found this Youtube video on an "easier" way to get to it. Here is the link:



I hope this helps out other people on these forums.

Holy Keeerap, Batman!! LOL!! Of course... I completely forgot your Mazda is basically a truck, the engine is oriented fore/aft, NOT transverse as in FWD cars. GEEZ! just slapped myself

I was thinkin' FWD style, like the Ford Focus my buddy has. No pullin' the Intake manifold for you, Juan! but I'll tell ya what, I'd shoot some carb. cleaner down it's hose to clean the hose out once ya had that PCV out, before you replace it. Then I'd do the Re-route gig w/ the hose. No need to go after the PCV Valve itself to do a re-route w/ the hose, that would all happen up at the other end of the hose anyhow. But if the PCV Valve were replaced and the hose sprayed out then you could basically forget the bugger.

I like the idea of an air-oil separator integrated into a re-routed PCV, because that way you can now keep nearly all the crud coming from the PCV valve system out of the intake tract that way. See my thread about Air-Oil Separator in the Index under Service bulletins. I think Ford HAD to mount this PCV onto an air-oil separator mounted to the side of the crankcase like they did, it's likely a set of internal baffles between crankcase and PCV inlet at it's bottom. But just look at the intake ports in the first pics in the video, still look cruddy to me.

dig?

My 2 cents. Juan, Thank You for that very informative video, that's gonna save somebody a headache!!

Tracy G

@Tracy: Thank you. I did try out the procedure. No go on my vehicle! It's setup differently than the one on the video.

Also I have been trying to get a hold of you Tracy. Rob the owner of the Corvette wants to talk with you regarding the rerouting of the PCV line. He has a few more questions for you. Every time I try to call you. Straight to your voicemail. If you are on vacation. My apologies. I don't want to interrupt your vacation or anything else that's important going on in your life.

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I did find instructions on the Internet that works with my vehicle and it's the same exact engine. Here are the instructions. I will be doing this tomorrow morning. I hope this helps out others.



Correction: You can change the pcv hose on a 2.3L without removing the manifold. You can get to it from underneath and it connects at bottom back of manifold and at the top. Look through the space on right of manifold in front top and you will see it. You''ll need lighting and flashlight possibly to see it as it is in a hard to get place. The ends of the hose are offset 90 degrees.

Unbolt the starter and move out of your way. I also took off the throttle body and hose, the two shuttle valves also. Then you can stand in front and reach underneath to attach the top part of the hose on the nipple. The nipple is made out of nylon so don't break it, after its on work your clamp into place. I had to take the insulating cover off and clamp the top first then put the cover back on. You''ll have to lay underneath to clamp the bottom connection. I jacked the front side up and used a stand as added safety. Just jack it enough to get under.

The top connection is a hassle and you may need to pry it with a large screwdriver just don't break the nipple. Lube the hose and nipple first. The old hose had a 2 inch slit/crack in it. It caused the car to idle rough/stall and shift hard from 1st to 2nd. After replacing hose the car runs great. It has 80k on it. Bad engineering to replace a $15 hose that is so critical to the emission system. This job is for shadetree mechanics that like to do this stuff and have some knowledge of auto mechanics etc.

Well good for You,Juan! I bet you feel better about wrenching now, eh? That had to feel good to find and fix that pesky leaking hose!

BTW, I was trying to get your info from my darn phone, but it got lost again!

So please call again, and SAY your phone # in a message. I'm a putz w/ this ##@$% phone. apparently I need a kid around to be my tech assistant w/ it...frustrating, feel like great-Grandpa looking at a Model A for first time grumbling 'bout how the horse will Never be replaced...!

I'll help the 'Vette owner on the phone if he needs it.
Congrats, Juan!

Tracy G