Hey guys,

This -may- be a stupid question if this is actually normal for these engines (Aurora Northstar) but I thought I'd ask anyway.

There'* a small mechanical valve or maybe a sensor near the firewall that enters the black part of the engine right above the steering fluid reservoir that'* making an awful lot of noise that sounds like arcing. If you pull the sensor out (there'* nothing but a gasket to hold it in) the piece of metal inside it flops around freely. I took it out with the engine off, of course, so I don't know what it actually does when it'* on but I'd imagine it just vibrates rapidly.

Seems to use a similar wire to the spark plugs but the wire leads into the top center edge of the engine, if you hold the wire you can feel a strong vibration coming from it.

I can't find the part anywhere on any diagrams or by a google search of the part number.

I'm not sure if the noise is normal though as I've heard it on a lot of GM cars and it'* only really noticeable if you open the hood, though I haven't heard it on any other brand of car so at the very least I'd like to know what it is and what it does so I can satisfy my curiosity

It says "2057" and "Made in USA" on the outer barrel and it'* a silver cylinder with an "F" stamped on the inside disc I think.

that is the PCV valve. if its sticking or not functioning properly replace it with a new one they are under ten dollars and can cause issues when not working right. basically it controls the airflow inside the motor.

Sweet, that'* it! I don't know if it'* broken or not but I'll go ahead and replace it anyway since they're pretty cheap.

Thanks a lot!

If it is making a rattling noise it is working, if it is not rattling it is most likely stuck.
They are cheap so you can replace it if you want, but if it is still rattling it is not necessary.

I replaced it and yeah it seems to make the same noise but I can't hear it outside of the engine so it'* no big deal.

check for cracked vacuum lines that may be affecting the pcv, it shouldn't rattle when car is running. doesn't affect much but could cause poor performance when not functioning properly. I had this issue on an impala 3.8, it was more annoying than anything else..pcv wasn't sealing right, changed the O-ring to fix impala.