# I See Oil On My Air Filter?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-see-oil-on-my-air-filter/5205>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [September 28, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-see-oil-on-my-air-filter/5205 "2007-09-28T04:44:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![littlerock316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@littlerock316](https://community.cartalk.com/u/littlerock316)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-see-oil-on-my-air-filter/5205/1 "2007-09-28T04:44:28Z")

</div>

For some resone i have a toyota tercel year 1989 I See that ther is oil on the air filter and wounder if the motor hase a leek or a crack or if its just going can u hellp mee its on a carburator air filter and looks like oil on the carb too not just the air filter

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SteveF](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevef/32/2_2.png) [@SteveF](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveF)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 11:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-see-oil-on-my-air-filter/5205/2 "2007-09-28T11:51:02Z")

</div>

A likely cause is a bad PCV valve. This is a cheap item. Replace the PCV valve and air filter and see if this fixes the problem.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Rod-Knox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Rod-Knox](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Rod-Knox)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/i-see-oil-on-my-air-filter/5205/3 "2007-09-28T12:19:05Z")

</div>

As engines wear more and more compression is lost past the rings resulting in a positive pressure in the crankcase. The majority of this pressure is vented to the air filter housing or its plumbing. Oil is carried with the escaping gasses in greater and greater amounts as the miles and wear accumulate. Close attention to maintenance might keep the car running many more miles but the best years are in the engines past. High speeds, hard acceleration, pulling loads, and extended oil change intervals hasten the decline of the engine.