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Old 01-31-2026, 12:14 AM   #1
JDM_AUTO_CARE
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Drives: 2011 Chevy Camaro RS
Join Date: Jan 2026
Location: Houston, TX
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Post Question about the PCV system (2011 Chevy Camaro RS)

Good evening everyone, name's John, I'm a 23 yr old journeyman level mechanic that generally works on Japanese imports, hence the cringey name.
My sister owns a 2011 Chevy Camaro RS with the 3.6L V6 engine, and i just wanted to ask some questions and see if i could get some solid answers from y'all.
So she has a leak coming from the right (driver side) PCV valve as well as a leaking valve cover gasket and oil seeped into her spark plug holes and caused the cylinder 3 coil pack to fail and cause a misfire and flashing check engine light.
I replaced the coil pack and its running fine now, no codes, but the leaks and oil in the spark plug cavities is still a concern.
I plan to replace the valve cover gaskets and the PCV valve and hose and use an evac pump to suck the oil out of the holes before unscrewing the spark plugs on Sunday. The PCV hose connected to the right side valve is inundated with oil leaking from the valve and its collected a concerning amount in her air intake tube so it will be replaced as well.
Doesn't seem like it made it farther than the intake tube as the throttle body is clean, so I'll count our blessings.
So i was wondering, as far as the right PCV valve goes, would I need to remove the valve cover to replace it?
Any links to relevant forum posts or videos on replacing it or any educational materials are greatly appreciated, as she has finally entrusted regular maintenance of the vehicle to me.
(Image files of relevant parts attached)
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Old 01-31-2026, 01:07 PM   #2
xstuntman

 
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You can remove the PCV without removing the valve cover but the pre 2013 valves are known to be undersize causing significant buildup under the back portion of the passengers valve cover. If it were me I would remove it anyhow to clean and then install the newer PCV. Drilling the old one to correct size is an option to since you will have it out. No valve on the driver's side.

And the intake valves will be heavy with carbon. CRC is my weapon of choice and if you work on import direct injections you will be familiar.

Maybe post some pics of what you find.
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Old 02-02-2026, 10:28 AM   #3
JDM_AUTO_CARE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xstuntman View Post
You can remove the PCV without removing the valve cover but the pre 2013 valves are known to be undersize causing significant buildup under the back portion of the passengers valve cover. If it were me I would remove it anyhow to clean and then install the newer PCV. Drilling the old one to correct size is an option to since you will have it out. No valve on the driver's side.

And the intake valves will be heavy with carbon. CRC is my weapon of choice and if you work on import direct injections you will be familiar.

Maybe post some pics of what you find.
Alright, I'm back with an update. For context, all this work stemmed from the fact that she had a misfire on the freeway upon sudden hard acceleration, and upon inspection after pulling the related coil and seeing oil down in the hole, I told her it was only a matter of time before this happens again.
I started at 6PM, and was finished around... 3:30AM, yeah that job took a while, but i was being thorough since it's my sister's daily.
The intake manifold was absolutely caked with oil, wish I would've thought to take pictures but it is what it is.
Inspected the cams, and spark plugs, and other than some normal wear on the cam lobes, and a bit of oil on the plugs, nothing to worry about.
The old valve cover gasket was hard as a freaking rock, had to use a pocket screwdriver as an emergency pick to pry it up piece by piece.
Got everything back together, torqued the spark plugs to 13ft/lbs, and simply hand tightened the valve cover bolts with a ratchet, the spec is something like 8ft/lbs so I could do that without even touching a torque wrench, same for the intake manifold bolts.
Once it was ready for a test drive, I cleared the codes, fired it up, drove it to the gas station and back and everything was fine... until I tried recreating the situation that caused her misfire on cylinder 3 in the first place, and what do you know, it misfires again on cylinder 5, so I told her I'd do some research and no drag racing until then. What dk you think it could be, think i should replace cylinder 5s coil just to be safe?
An interesting thing i noticed in the left bank had all aftermarket replacement coils, whereas the right was all original OEM, so I'm led to believe this was an issue in the past.
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Old 02-02-2026, 10:31 AM   #4
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Drives: 2011 Chevy Camaro RS
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDM_AUTO_CARE View Post
Alright, I'm back with an update. For context, all this work stemmed from the fact that she had a misfire on the freeway upon sudden hard acceleration, and upon inspection after pulling the related coil and seeing oil down in the hole, I told her it was only a matter of time before this happens again.
I started at 6PM, and was finished around... 3:30AM, yeah that job took a while, but i was being thorough since it's my sister's daily.
The intake manifold was absolutely caked with oil, wish I would've thought to take pictures but it is what it is.
Inspected the cams, and spark plugs, and other than some normal wear on the cam lobes, and a bit of oil on the plugs, nothing to worry about.
The old valve cover gasket was hard as a freaking rock, had to use a pocket screwdriver as an emergency pick to pry it up piece by piece.
Got everything back together, torqued the spark plugs to 13ft/lbs, and simply hand tightened the valve cover bolts with a ratchet, the spec is something like 8ft/lbs so I could do that without even touching a torque wrench, same for the intake manifold bolts.
Once it was ready for a test drive, I cleared the codes, fired it up, drove it to the gas station and back and everything was fine... until I tried recreating the situation that caused her misfire on cylinder 3 in the first place, and what do you know, it misfires again on cylinder 5, so I told her I'd do some research and no drag racing until then. What dk you think it could be, think i should replace cylinder 5s coil just to be safe?
An interesting thing i noticed in the left bank had all aftermarket replacement coils, whereas the right was all original OEM, so I'm led to believe this was an issue in the past.
Pics attached
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Old 02-02-2026, 01:29 PM   #5
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Thanks for the info. I like ALL the pics.
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Old 02-02-2026, 01:33 PM   #6
xstuntman

 
Drives: 2012 Victory Red LFX
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The passengers side isn't as dirty as I would expect and it looks like it wasn't lead footed a lot. You can see the difference in the two tho and that's the PVC at work (kinda).

Maybe swap coils around and see if it jumps to a different cylinder. I have bought coils for my daughter's car and aftermarket seems to be lacking in quality compared to the originals.
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