Changed my air filter the other day, and this is what it looked like: http://img…terweb.jpg The large dirty side is the driver’s side. Smells like oil/gas. In all fairness, I had an internal coolant leak a few months back and I doubt that the filter was changed after the engine work, so this could be the result of an old problem. Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone has seen this before or might have an idea of what might be going on, thanks.
This is the result of blowby. Your engine is old and worn out, so the compression rings can no longer contain the combustion gases. Some of them leak past the rings into the crankcase, resulting in more crankcase pressure than the PCV system can deal with. The rest ends up venting out into your breather and will often end up on your oil filter, as is your case. It smells like oil and gas because that is exactly what it is. I would not be too concerned with it, though. Your engine is worn out, but if it still runs well, it will probably continue to run well for a long time. I have had a lot of vehicles that have blowby and have yet to have any problems out of them beyond the blowby.