Today i started to disassemble the air intake from the throttle body just enough to get the cleaner tube from the Seafoam can directed into the throttle body. ended up the Air Duct body came off and much for my entertainment, i got to watch about 3 oz of yellow mustardy goop mixed with lots of moisture drip out. i then took the air intake hose, the Air Duct, and the bypass hose going into the crankcase completely off. spent the next hour or so cleaning the air duct body.

photo of air duct:
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4ab37208.jpg
View is looking into the duct body and you can see the clogged baffle holes

Another of air duct:
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps686c6d7d.jpg
Shows the moisture and goop build up inside the duct airway

Finally, here's the Air Intake hose feeding between Air Filter housing and Air Duct body:
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psea90bfc1.jpg
Moisture inside but the buildup is more oily and less like mustard

So, I used diesel fuel in a spray bottle to degrease the air duct body's internals. cleaned all the pieces up with rags and then blew everything out with compressed air. Re-assembled and test drove with no issues. will do the Seafoam spray when i get more time

Curious if anyone else has seen this buildup & what it is. Do i have a clogged valve somewhere that's causing blowback into the air intake hose ... along with water in my gas? or could this be related to the 15% ethanol we are forced to purchase with our fuel in Dallas? I also see some of this yellow mustard goop and moisture when i pop the oil cap to add oil.

 

I'd suggest you check your PCV system along with the PCV valve. That looks to me like you're not getting the proper ventilation the crankcase needs. BUT, keep in mind I'm not a mechanic.

 

bumping this thread. the situation is still the same as back in Jan 2014. I believe this could be related to colder weather & maybe even rain/humidity - not sure? Last week, i added Berryman Fuel treatment in gas tank (8oz), then filled up with gas. then i sprayed Seafoam spray entire can into throttle body intake while neighbor held RPM at ~ 1000 to 1500. I took apart the intake (large plastic housing with baffles inside, plus sm vent hose going into valve cover, plus large intake hose) cleaned all parts with degreaser & let dry. even after that, i still have symptom of rough idle occasionally at stop lights. occasional engine dies but restarts. oil looks normal / don't suspect coolant seepage or fluid interactions at this point. just moisture buildup turning into yellow goop. goop present underneath oil cap, and obviously in air intake & PCV vent hose. maybe this car doesn't like 10% ethanol from gas pump in wintertime? Here are more photo links:
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psnkd0wdtu.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psyr97vigw.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...pssguituxd.jpg
i did some research and found out that this 2.2L Ecotec engine has no PCV valve. See below info i found on another forum while searching Ion moisture & PCV:
Here is another bit of info from a different forum (keep trying, it was giving me a "server busy" msg, but you can find this same thread by searching "Ecotec PCV test"): SaturnFans.com Forums

Removing cam / valve cover next and will post back photos of what i find. if anyone's had this same experience, i'd love to hear what you tried, what worked / didn't work.

 

so, i was able to get the valve cover removed. I also checked the large air intake hose going from air filter past MASS airflow sensor into the throttle body housing. I dumped about 6 oz clear watery fluid out of that hose & housing as i removed them together today. This is similar to what i found a week ago; just not nearly as bad. Last week, was the yellow mustard goop heavy buildup. but i suspect by cleaning, i've done little or nothing to solve WHY the moisture keeps coming back. root cause TBD. one hope is that there is an orifice (part of the PCV system as described in previous post earlier today) that is hidden but integral to the valve cover. if so, maybe soaking the whole valve cover in a vat overnight will clean it & restore its normal function. i'll be taking it to a shop Monday to do that. Here are links to photos of valve cover, cams & gears & cyclinder head. One photo of valve cover includes the PCV vent tube. A short hose connects this to the throttle body housing, and this tube was very clogged last week:

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...pst3yvhq55.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psjk0tmulg.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psrr4fgpck.jpg
http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psu2ikxbwq.jpg

I also have a question: in link below i show my oil cap. this seems poor design. Moisture can seep into the valve cover through this wobbly cap mount. notice i can tilt it with my hand. should i RTV it to seal it up?

http://i756.photobucket.com/albums/x...psmjqqyu7i.jpg

 

From the description you gave above and the thread you referenced above, it sounds like the "PCV passages" in the intake manifold gasket are clogged w crap, and that you need to remove the intake manifold gasket, clean the passages, and reassemble. I find it interesting that no one mentions a need to REPLACE the intake manifold gasket, as these are not often reused. In the end, based on what you find, it may actually be easier to replace it.


There were also comments about the possibility that internal passages in the crankcase which lead to the intake manifold and gasket could be plugged. Only way to find out is to clean gasket passages, reassemble, and see what happens. There may be ways to clean out blocked PCV passages from the crankcase o the intake manifold -- but I do not know what they are

 

Thanks, Derf. i picked my valve cover up from the mechanic shop after they soaked it overnight. it looks a lot better now; but i don't have gasket for it yet. probably be the weekend or next week before i can get back to work on the car. i've been reading more & also talked with my mechanic. He suggested not to worry so much with trying to find source of moisture and focus on the rough idle & stalling issue. he did agree with your post that there are likely some clogged passages in the ventilation system. i'm hoping that since that mysterious PCV orifice that no one can see inside the valve cover is now clean. and i am hoping that will be the end of the rough idle. as far as the moisture & yellow goop, my mechanic says he occasionally sees that same issue - usually on cars with poor or less than ideal crankcase ventilation. He said if i drive the car for several hours non-stop it would most likely vent out. i only drive 18-20 miles to work, then shut off & drive about the same route home with a couple stops sometimes.

i tried removing the intake manifold but ran out of time over the weekend. also i ran out of an easy way to remove said manifold on this 2.2L. i thought it would come off easier than the 2.0L engines mentioned in my Chilton manual; but i may end up having to unbolt the A/C compressor or somehow get the A/C pressure line shifted out of the way. that line plus my oil dipstick are mainly what's in the way. i may just leave the manifold alone for now and see if the ventilation system is better just with valve cover being soaked. i'll post back in a few days.

 

i cleaned up my throttle body really well with it removed & used wet vac to suck out the 3-4 oz of mustard goop that was at the bottom crevices of my intake manifold. Got my valve cover very clean, and installed with new gasket. I got the Fel-Pro gasket kit from O'Reilly (VS50596R) for less than $30 that included the openings for the spark plugs. fit great.

Running again. drove to work Tuesday & Wednesday, but same symptoms. got much worse today & i saw my check engine light flashing at same time as the engine starting coughing and car actually shook. It's like the engine is fuel-starved when this happens. Shop pulled code P0300 (cylinder misfire - random). not a specific cylinder. at least i'm getting further along.

Next try will be to replace the ignition coil or maybe the ignition coil module ... or both (never has been touched on this car). plugs were replaced at around 100k. parking this thing for now, as driving with misfire may cause damage to catalytic converter i'm told.

 

I have a theory about the flashing cel. It flashes to indicate a condition that will cause cat damage, I have read that. Unburnt fuel causes cat damage not lean but rich. Bad spark will lead to rich exhaust. If the light flashes long enough the pcm will shut off the injector to the non firing cylinder. Of course the pcm has to identify the offending cylinder.
My car did this same thing, it identified #6 and would shut the injector down. The car would have a dead miss until a key off cycle rest. I could make the car missfire with the throttle. I replaced the front three plugs which are the even cylinders on my car. I moved two plug boots to different locations just in case it wasn't the plugs.

Now for your crankcase ventilation issue, you can clean the air supply hose all you want and it will not solve your problem. The purpose of the vacuum bleed is to pull filtered air through the crankcase and burn the oil vapor and remove moisture. Since your vacuum bleed is plugged, the moisture and vapors get pushed into the air breather by crankcase pressure. This a very European design, Mercedes has done this for decades. The Ecotec engines both the v-6 and the four cylinder versions are Opel designed.

 

sorry, i thought i posted back on this but just got busy. wanted to let everyone know that i bought both the ignition coil module as well as the coil pack itself from Rock Auto. the casing on my coil pack was all cracked. installed both at same time, but am about 90% certain the coil pack module was bad. A friend helped me do a test on the module with a test light he had and 1 of the 2 coil packs was showing as not firing. sorry i don't have more info; but he found a youtube video on a Saturn ion coil pack test. it was very advanced and about 30 mins long. was good info though, enough for us.
running great now & has been since February. fault code reset and cured.

I suspect that the occasional mustard goop in the intake may be something i have to clean out every once in awhile - esp. during the wet & somewhat cold winters we have in Dallas area. we have wet & cold, then next day will be dry and warm. probly great climate for mustard goop growth combined with 10% ethanol in gas. hope this all helped someone.

 

Thanks for the update, glad your car is running well.