Can old PCV valve cause the engine to seize up?

That's a lot of detail to digest. I have a 1988 Dodge Grand Caravan that went 14 years / over 300,000 miles without an oil change. I added one quart of oil every 1,000 miles which kept the additives replenished, and I put a new filter on every other year. I did that to show my students what some engines are capable of. I wouldn't do that with my newer vehicles that use oil pressure for the variable valve timing system. Those newer models calculate when the oil should be changed based on driving variables. For me, that means less than two oil changes per year. The oil and the additives don't wear out when the vehicle is sitting for long periods, so going by the calendar is pointless.

I also have a '93 Dodge Dynasty that I plan on changing the oil every 2,500 miles. It might get its second oil change this coming summer if I drive it another 52 miles. So far it has had one oil change in 30 years.

I'm not sure why you're putting so much importance on the PCV valve, or how you're correlating that with mechanical engine trouble. With the oil changes you've been doing, it's highly unlikely there's any sludge in the engine. There's also little reason to worry about the PCV valve. There's almost a dozen vehicles in my stable, some with well over 400,000 miles, and I can't remember the last time I bought or replaced a PCV valve. Is it possible someone commented to you about yours and exaggerated how much you need to worry, or they were trying to sell you extra parts? There are a handful of engine models with really bad designs that we know every one is going to suffer very expensive breakdowns. No amount of oil changes are going to help them. Yours is not one of those poor designs.

Cost of tools doesn't have anything to do with this issue, but to address it, no mechanic starts out with a $10,000 tool set. For a beginner, he's going to already have basic hand tools or they can be purchased for a couple hundred dollars. Later on, specialty tools can be added as needed. Specialty tools and advanced training are what all of the better mechanics invest in. That takes place throughout their careers, never all at once. The people who drive the tool trucks to the shops each week sell most of those high-end tools. Mechanics look at them as a means to do jobs faster or more efficiently. That allows them to do more jobs per week which translates into a bigger paycheck and more happy customers.

You can buy a perfectly fine set of wrenches for less than $30.00. Later on, you can buy the same set on the tool trucks for $500.00. Some mechanics do that in the belief it will make their jobs easier. You also must consider mechanics have it much harder than doctors. Doctors need to learn two models in varying sizes. Only the cures change over their careers. Mechanics need to relearn dozens of models, often more than once per year. Like doctors, most of us specialize in just a few areas, so that cuts down on the types of specialty tools we seek out. Doctors bury their mistakes. For many patients, if they don't like the diagnosis, they run to multiple doctors until they get a diagnosis they like, and they pay for every visit. With cars, our mistakes keep coming back, and we often work on them for free. Try getting that kind of warranty from the medical profession.

After rereading your story, it occurs to me you're comparing the cost of past repairs, which is known, to the investment in tools. You aren't a professional, and as such, you don't need all the tools they have. Competent do-it-yourselfers can handle many of the maintenance and basic repair problems with just basic tools found in most garages. Our bigger concern is causing bigger problems due to improper procedures. Brakes is a perfect example. A professional brake job entails a real lot more than just slapping a few new parts on. There's a list of things we do to avoid problems like noises and vibrations, and there's a long list of things you can accidentally do to cause problems. That's why you have us to guide you through many of these repairs. Don't look at the cost of tools when deciding if you want to pursue a repair. You don't have to buy new tools for every job. You get to use them over and over. Here at 2carpros, we spend most of our time helping you with the diagnosis of a problem. Most people can handle the repairs once they know what is needed. Even when you don't feel comfortable tackling a repair, we can help you to know if the repair estimate you got seems fair. We can also offer alternatives or multiple ways to solve a problem. When one of us gets stuck, we can get other experts involved too.

To boil this down, I think you're losing sleep over a potential problem that has little chance of occurring. Keep up the oil changes, and come back to see us when you have another question or problem.

Actually, that '88 van has multi-point fuel injection and a high-pressure electric fuel pump in the tank. It was by far the best vehicle we ever had in my family. I only stopped driving it at 440,000 miles because it got so rusty, the carpet was the only thing holding the front and rear together. Even both rear shock absorbers rusted off. That's because up here, our highway geniuses think snow on the road is some mortal sin. They've gone beyond throwing a pound of salt on an ounce of snow. Now, before the snowfall even starts, they coat the roads with a brine, or liquid, that is much more harmful than salt on our cars. If they'd just leave the roads alone, packed snow is much easier to drive on than the slush they create. I've been trying to find another '88 from down south. There is an identical twin to mine that got traded in a few years ago. I found out about it from a former student who works at the dealership I used to be affiliated with. He says the fellow won't sell it at any price. The only difference is his has running boards.

We have the nation's second largest old car show and swap meet 55 miles from my house. I used my van to drag a tandem axle enclosed trailer to that swap meet for 15 years. The trailer is bigger and heavier than the van, but I never even needed the trailer brakes.

I never heard about starting problems. Before the Mitsubishi-built 3.0L, they used a 2.6L Mitsubishi 4-cylinder that used a carburetor. The only problem they had was running too rich after warmup. Three rivets had to be drilled out so a cover could be removed, then there was an adjustment for the choke to solve that problem. The whole repair took about 15 minutes.

I'm going to start driving my Dynasty this summer. I saved it all these years to not wear it out. I bought it new because nothing else at the time was so comfortable. It's also real easy to diagnose and work on. We used to use two quarts of rust-proofing on customers' cars. I took the carpet and trunk liner out and used 14 quarts, inside and out. I spent six months on it before it ever left the dealer's lot. They ask me about it every time I stop in.

Today I was helping a friend in his body shop with his latest truck. He specializes in rebuilding smashed one and two-year-old Ram trucks. His last one was a 2012 that he extended the frame to turn into a Megacab with a full-length dually box. His latest is a 2022 that was hit in the right front. He tried to straighten the frame, but there's a kink in one rail that he can't get out. Instead, we spent three days transferring everything over to a used frame. It should be in the paint booth next week.

We're both very disgusted at the over-use of unnecessary technology. He says this is going to be his last truck. I have a 2014 Ram rebuilder and a 2014 Grand Caravan that I feel the same way about. All of the manufacturers have done everything they can think of to make me not want a new car. Some of them are making you pay subscription fees to keep things working. On BMWs, for example, if you don't keep making payments, they turn off the heated seats that you paid for.

GM is one of the worst manufacturers to get involved with. They have so many ways figured out to separate you from your money after the sale. Since the 1950s at least, Chrysler was always the innovator in things that benefitted the car owners. They had anti-lock brakes in 1969. They even developed the "AC generator" for 1960 models, and copyrighted the term, "alternator"

Anyway, enough whining and sniveling about the horrible new cars. Once I get old enough that they want to take away my driver's license, I'm going to find a little red wagon and push myself to town each day. Going will be fun down that long, steep hill. Coming back will be a chore. It's hard to make coaster wagons coast uphill.

You got the 3.0L details right. It does drive the water pump. My water pump developed bad bearings at around 250,000 miles. It let the shaft walk away from the seal, so the only symptom was I was losing coolant at a pretty good clip. I ignored it as long as I could, but eventually I could only go about six miles before it started to overheat. For the benefit of others who might come across this conversation and assume it's okay to wait for a timing belt to break, you must be aware of one hugely important point about your engine. That is whether or not it is an "interference" engine design. My 3.0L is not, so if the timing belt breaks or jumps a few teeth, nothing else gets damaged, but the engine won't run or it will run very poorly and be hard to start.

With interference engine designs, which every manufacturer has at least a few of, when the timing belt breaks, jumps a few teeth, or is installed incorrectly, the pistons will hit and bend any open valves. That requires removing the cylinder head(s) to do a valve job. That's a relatively expensive job.

Every manufacturer does list the recommended interval for replacing the timing belt. For Hondas in the 1980s, that was 75,000 miles. They commonly broke at 60,000 miles, so there were a lot of unhappy owners. I will never own any vehicle with an interference engine. To do so would mean driving in constant fear of sitting on the side of the road in a pile of tears.