White smoke from exhaust pipe.

Positive it's oil

 

I know the only way oil can be in your intake is through the PCV. Unless I am missing something. But I can't think of anything.

 

What CD20H said.

Did this all start after the valve cover gasket job?
Since you just installed an OEM valve, could there still be some residual oil in the intake? Maybe give it a few more miles.

The only other thing given your comp #'s might be a restriction in the oil drain passages in the pass side head causing some "pooling" of oil subsequently getting sucked up by the PCV valve. Could some detritus from the valve cover gasket job be blocking any of the passages? All your shop rags accounted for?

You could check for the presence of oil in the PVC system "air source" hose. It's the thumb sized one leading from the rear of the main rubber intake tube just ahead of the t-body to the driver side valve cover. A trace/film of oil is not uncommon but "dripping wet" is another story.

One more thing. This will be hard to accurately measure but might be worth a try.
Check the oil level then run the engine for a while, shut it down and quickly check the level. Try this at various combinations of warm/cold and time intervals. A significant drop in oil level immediately after running the engine might indicate some degree of "pooling". Of course some oil "coating" and clinging to the upper internal areas is normal, just see if any drop in level looks excessive.

Good luck

 

Yeah it all started a couple hundred miles after the valve cover job. I read on another form about a guy having a similar problem right after an engine rebuild. Turned out for him some rubber from the old PCV valve's grommet was blocking one of the drain holes of the head. So I guess my next step will be to pull the passenger valve cover off and have a look.

 

Fortunately the pass side is the easy one, definitely worth the time to rule it out. I wouldn't even bother with new gaskets including the t-body if it is the OEM steel type.

 

So took off the passenger side valve cover today and couldn't see the drain holes on top of the head to inspect if they were clogged or not. Did some more investigating and I think I discovered where the oil is coming from. On the bottom of the throttle body there are 3 places to plug in hoses. 2 of them mirror each other and are on the front and back. These 2 are for coolant. The third is on the very bottom of the throttle body, I think its a vacuum line of sorts. Well that one is where the oil is coming from. I hooked up a clear piece of hose to that line and can see the oil flowing through it. I cant really tell where that line comes from with the intake plenum on there so I'm going to take that off in the next day or to and go from there.

 

That line is the "air assist" system. At idle some of the air metered into the engine by the IAC valve is directed thru that hose (under vacuum) to a system of passages ending just upstream of each injector. This blast of air helps to atomize the fuel coming out of the injectors at idle when there is not much airflow going thru the intake.
The direction of flow is FROM the IAC valve towards the injectors. You may be seeing residual oil in that hose. It would be impossible for oil to be flowing towards the IAC in that hose and there is no possible source for oil to get in it other than from the PCV valve.
Assuming the new OEM PCV valve is not defective, that hose is connected to the right place (not the valve cover) and the oil return holes in the head are clear then it would have to be residual oil still working it's way out of the t-body and IAC.

 

as you described, on my 4 cylinder that 1/2" line goes to the air tube before the TB so it sends air to the engine when the TB is closed at idle.

perhaps someone mixed up the hose with the pcv line or something, that would explain why its sucking oil out of the valve cover.

 

The V6 is completely different from the 4's, both in plumbing and function. The hoses will not reach the wrong place.

 

All hoses are connected in the correct place. I'm 100% sure the oil is coming from the PCV valve, i hooked a clear hose to it and can see the oil flowing through it. Any one know where the oil return holes are on the top of the head? I took the valve cover off but couldn't see any obvious spots where the oil drains. Tried a third PCV valve and still got the same problem, starting to loose my mind over this phantom problem.

 

Above you say the oil is in the vac line at the bottom of the IAC and below you say PVC. I'm confused, but as long as you aren't that's all that matters. Oil can really only be coming from the PCV valve

Each head has 3 oil return holes they are somewhat covered by a casting part surrounding each pair of exhaust valve/buckets. Best to pour some oil around them and watch where it goes. Also check the sheet metal baffles on the underside of the valve cover for any crud/crumbs/sludge that might be directing oil at the bottom of the PCV valve.

"Air assist" host from bottom of IAC to each side of intake, no possible source of oil.


Oil return holes from the bottom. (exhaust manifold side)

 

I'm having a similar issue with my 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4 cly 2.7. I had the head rebuilt, replaced PVC and throttle body. No idea why it keeps doing it.