Is there any way I can verify that this might be the problem without pulling down, would any of the guages show anything is wrong?
The normal gauges will not tell you anything, you need to do a compression test.
Worn rings will show up as low compression but I would be surprised to find that in an engine with only 38,000 miles on it. That's providing it has not suffered from lack of lubrication at some point.
Also I did say that a blocked breather was only a possible, I will try to find out more on how the crankcase breathes on the 3S-GE. I will post up what I find out unless Mat comes back sooner.
I appreciate any help I can get, so thank you for your time and energy helping me. B)