My maintenance light came on so i suggested the air filter would be bad, but when i checked i found oil in that closed loop hanging from the intake itself, it was filled to the top with clean oil? anyone know what happened? would this affect car performance as well? I already did an oil change so i figured it wasn't oil

 

"Maintenance Required" light means NOTHING more than you need a oil change "When reset after every oil change" it comes on for NO other reason and comes on every 7500 miles.

As for your issue, Are you talking you found oil in the small plastic resonator between the air box and the Throttle Body?

 

yeah thats what it is! why does that happen? why does oil go in there? i found oil in that resonator.. kinda strange cause the car has 41 thousand miles.

 

Must be related to the PCV valve, but wow...totally full?
Do you use a K&N filter that has to be oiled?

 

oh wow. gotta see how this turns out.

 

lets make sure which line we are talking about

Is this piece round tubing metal? and it comes from the front valve cover and goes to the right to the rubber tube from air filter to engine--it plugs into the tube?
Thats the PCV- positive crankcase ventilation- system

 

well those tubes come from the valve covers and into the intake. right? oil could have gotten up into the valve covers and couldn't drain out possibly? overfilled with oil, drainage pathways blocked?

 

everything is stock on it, i removed the oil from it, replaced the intake with another stock air intake,( i got parts laying around) still dont feel any difference only thing is a smoother acceleration. i dont abuse these cars, total luxury cars man. i remember messing up the first tranny, raced a g35x in step tronic, wooped it stock, from light to light. but removing the tranny is a b**** why are they so heavy? anyway you can buy clutch packs and have a transmission shop replace them and remember to clean those solenoid plugs with brake cleaner and put some lithium grease. anyway back to the topic. i cleaned the resonator, replaced the pcv valve, that plastic rubber line, and put everything back together, i just don't know how clean oil got in the resonator.

 

the pcv is located behind the rear valve cover near the throttle body, i got 2002 TL non type-s

 

You also have a line from the front valve cover to the intake pipe.

 

Some folks have reported an oily substance in the intake manifold when they clean the EGR port. I can't comment on what this stuff was as my IM was totally dry and fairly clean when I did mine. Your oil issue may be related to this "discovery".

smartypants.