Ben Taylor

I have some white gooey stuff on the inside of my oil cap, is this water in the oil?
If it is it's probably coming from the intake manifold, right?

Binnie77

This is typical of an engine running very cold. I am sure there will be other opinions on it as well.

CWUin82

Had a truck once thathad the same thing happening. White stuff did turn out to be water in the oil. Previous owner of the truck must have overheated and warped the head (4 cyl) causing the leak.


[Modified by CWUin82, 2:11 PM 1/19/2002]

trw

It isn't snow!! :D

Either you are leaking water or if there is only a small amount it could be condensation.

If you are driving the car regularly (as in completely warming it up) it is probably a water leak.

Terry

sorry no good news with water in the oil.

Milest

FYI
I had the same problem on a recently rebuilt 440 Chrysler in a Century Coronado ski boat. We re-torked the head and added "Bar's Leak (a radiator stop-leak that has been around for years) to the cooling system. No more oil in the cap or valve covers. We followed with severial oil changes after 5 or so hours to clean the system.

Phlash

There is an easy way to find out if it is a cooling system leak. Go to a good parts store and see if they have a radiator cap tester. Most of these testers can also be used to check the cooling system by placing the pump and test cap on the radiator. Then pump it up to ~15 psig. If it holds pressure you are most likely ok, but if it don't it :U then it is either tear down or ZZ4 time.

Phlash 72 BB Roadster

73-454

Alwasys replace the thrmo-stat with at least a 180 or even better 192. Your engine is running to cold can't evaporate the moisture from the oil. That white crud you are seeing is an acid compound eating away at the insite of your engine.

Ben Taylor

I do drive my car all the time, so it's not condensation. I did notice that I was loosing some coolant, would replacing the head gaskets fix this? Or will I need new heads?

8T8T2

Ben,
I had this problem with my truck several years ago. During the winter months I would get the white gunk on dip stick, inside valve covers, ect. Had presure tests done on cooling system to check for leaks all was good. I don't know how or why but I cured the problem by replacing the $2.00 PVC valve. Give it a try before pulling heads. I haven't had a problem since. :chevy

fauxrs

If you know you have been losing coolant then you can be reasonably certain that its not condensation, and a mere oil change aint gonna cut it.

At the very least get your coolant system pressure tested, As to places where it is leaking - if the engine still runs smooth and you do not have white smoke coming out the tailpipe then it is not a head gasket. At least not a blown gasket in the traditional sense - although the gasket could be leaking into the lifter valley as opposed to one of the cyliders.

The most likely place is an intake manifold leak = remove the intake and look inside the lifter valley - the condition of the gaskets at the four corners of the manifold will tell if its leaking there, also there would be a lot of the white stuff there as well.

If you have water in the oil dont drive it.


[Modified by fauxrs, 8:30 AM 1/20/2002]

Ben Taylor

Looks like I've got a blown head gasket. Well at least it will be easy to change my spark plugs with the heads off.