Grease on oil cap???

[vasrani]

Hi All,
This morning when I took off the oil cap to add some oil(car burns a little) I noticed some grey/beige grease like stuff on the inside of the cap. It smells like oil, but is definitely NOT like oil. I also noticed some of this stuff on the inside of the valve cover. The car was at a repair shop for a few days and I dont completely put it past them to have put somehting in the engine to mess it up. Do any of you know what this might be? Any tips on how to be sure this does not mess up t he engine? If you know of a reputable shop in houston it would be great too, for work that I may not be able to do myself.
Thanks a lot.
Vik.

 

[DevilSperm]

TASTE IT TASTE IT!!

are you trying to get suspended?

 

[Boost Lee]

Very common in cold climates, if it's only on the bottom of the cap you have zero to worry about. Oddly enough, I just changed the oil in my v-dubb yesterday and guess what, same sh!t on the cap.

 

[6bolt2gen]

well i don't think that the crap on your oil cap is anything to worry about and i don't think its your turbo either normally if your turbo seals go its the oil seals and it would be smoking blueish, and you said its smoking white which would be coolant,and in turn i would point to a blown head gasket

 

[chicagoboostin]

no im not trying top get suspended, but i mean comon seriously if someone is dumb enough to taste something thats under there oilcap... there something seriously wrong with them. i thought he was just joking about the tasteing it thing... i never asked you if you were trying to be a human pincushion did i? j/p <33 devilsperm

 

[johnk]

Anyone know what this stuff on my oil cap is looks like boogers.

 

[InFlames]

Is that stuff on your dip stick too? When coolant mixes with oil, it looks like that (headgasket maybe).

 

[mavisky]

That's coolant mixed with oil. I'd drain the oil and replace it then do a leak down test. You most likely have a blown headgasket, although large amounts of boost can float the head at only higher levels allowing the coolant and oil to mix sometimes.

 

[92redman]

That could be just from moisture getting in the engine. Chrysler 4.7L engines always have stuff that looks like snot under their filler cap.

 

[juso]

Redmans right.
Its just condensation under the cap.
I have found that if i drive short trips and don't get the car hot i get it more often.
But nothing to worry about its quite normal.

If you get a milky solution when checking your oil on the dipstick then a flag should go up.
And from what i've seen with our motors is when we do blow a headgasket it USUALLY ( I repeat USUALLY) just pressurizes the hell out of the coolant system.

 

[johnk]

Ok its not on the dipstick. I did an oil change and the oil didnt seem different. There was a few small bubbles in one corner of the pan. Also I tried unhooking the wastegate for a week and I didn't get this crap on the oil cap. I rehooked it and after a week it reappeared again. My water doesn't appear to be dropping and if I open the thermostat the coolant is bright green like normal.

So does this sound like head float?? Would retorqueing fix this or do I need to replace the HG asap? I'm just asking cause its damn cold out with no garage

edit: what would cause condensation bad PCV valve?

 

[AWDPetmitsu]

It's not a head gasket problem. There is nothing wrong with your car. It's just condensation.

Refer to this thread.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158928

 

[johnk]

Cured my worries thanks for the link AWDPetmitsu I was just a little worried since I had done the HG 4 months ago.

 

[lazer1985]

well had the mechanic come look at my car today cause it was overheating today and stuff. got the fans working since they werent working before but still it was overheating. so he was about to go get all the parts to replace what we thought we needed when i asked him before he left " hey the head gasket should be ok right? it not blown or anything?" he says well we checked the oil yesterday and it looked fine then he lifted the oil cap and what do we see???? that frickin white residue ugh now that puts a twist on every thing so now i gotta get the head gasket switched and a bunch of other things. which means my car is outta commision for a few days

well here is the breakdown of what he is gonna do and the price. let me know what you guys think

-head gasket and seals
-thermostat
-coolant relay or switch (something like that)
-powersteering belt
-water pump
-new antifreeze
-new oil and oil filter
-new plugs(wires are still good and pretty new)
all for 700 bucks labor included( familly mechanic ftw)

good price? what you guys think?

 

[romeen]

You're HG could very well be blown causing the overheating but I wouldn't assume that based only off of removing the oil cap and finding the white "residue". Have you done a compression test or checked the coolant for signs of oil in it? Is your exhaust smoking? That seems like a lot of work when it might be as simple as your thermostat being stuck shut (less than $10). Has your water pump been leaking? Most water pumps are designed to start leaking when they are about to fail.

 

[luvmygst]

I have seen white residue on the cap from condensation before. What does the oil look like after you start it an let it run for a minute ir so? If the oil is milky then its probably the Head gasket. But I would check the oil in the pan before I did anything.

 

[Flash]

I have a feeling that its just the thermostat not opening. When was the last time the thermostat was changed?

If the headgasket was blown or leaking at least all the oil would be in coolant or all coolant in oil and be burning out the exhaust. You could also see bubbles see foam in the coolant if you took the cap off (not while its under pressure). But I'd change you coolant and see if any oil is in it.

 

[lazer1985]

Well I just got the car on Wednesday so I called the dealer and told him about it and they came and towed it and now they are running a bunch of test on it to see if they can figure out the problemo . Hopefully they fix it cause I bought it as is with no warrenty but I put an exhaust and header so hopefully they fix it. I told my mechanic to hold on ordering any parts so hopefully this won't cost me much

 

[dacowgod]

I am having problems with a 6 bolt engine. I am working on my brothers 91 gsx and I put the engine together twice now and still have an issue. The first time I put it together I used a 6 bolt block with a 1g 7bolt head with the holes reamed to accept the bigger 1ga head bolts. .. Anyways I got it together and run the car.. It runs fine has ok compression.. but there is a milky substance on the oil cap. I automatically guess headgasket or cracked head.. So i tear the engine back down and switch to known good 6 bolt head and another head gasket (mitsubishi composite head gasket) .. Anyways I fire the car back up and let it idle.. runs fine... after about 5 minutes i pop off the oil cap... and theres a while milky substance there again..

Well i let it run for about 5-10 more minutes at idle and shut it down and let it cool down overnight. I asked a friend who said if there is coolant in the oil than as long as the oil is settled I should be able to crack the oil drain and have coolant run out before the oil does. well... Theres no coolant coming out.. I dont really see the milkyness on the dipstick only on the oil cap.


I have been told this could be caused by condensation... but it seems to be a little quick (5 minutes of idling) .. for condensation.

I Assume its still a coolant leak into the oil somehow ..

There is no oil to water oil cooler. it has the 90 housing and oil to air cooler.. so That would not be the cause..

The turbo could be the cause I suppose yet i highly doubt it.

I do notice a considerable amount of blowby that comes out of the breather hole on the valve cover.. i knwo that will cause premature contamination of the oil but I really doubt it would cause the oil cap to be white so fast.

another tidbit of info is I have changed Oil and filter 3 times, and also flushed out the oil cooler to make sure there was no lingering coolant in there somewhere. .

Also I dont notice coolant levels suffering from this .. although I havent really driven the car it has just been an idle for 10-20 minute intervals to try to determine the cause...

anybody with any suggestions on testing or what else it could be i really appreciate it....sorry for such a long post.

Thanks

 

[turborebel]

After all your work you should drive the car and see what happens. You need to break in the
motor by driving. Tell us if this keeps up or if anything else changes.

 

[dimon2000]

i just rebuild my engine and got it back into the car. the engine has o km. I just let it idle couple of times for about 20min and everything is fine, but once i took it for a spin around the block and came back. I checked the oil cap and it was white from the inside. I know it could be a headgasket. But could it also be that i didnt break in the engine yet and something is not sealing? thanks for any help

 

[dacowgod]

If it is just the oil cap that is white, it may not be as bad as you think. Condensation will build up in the crank case and will coat the oil cap and the rest of the valve cover with a white goo. I learned this the hard way after I put an engine together, and changed the head gasket again as an automatic reaction and that was not the case.

Anyways the best the to do would be check the oil level on the dipstick, and also the oil color.

If you have a higher oil level than you did, and the oil looks milky on the dipstick, than you more than likely have coolant in your oil and you need to check your head gasket, or any other place coolant may be making its way into your oil. Also, if you let it sit for a day or so, and crack the oil drain plug ever so slightly, If there is coolant in your oil, it will come out green and just like coolant before any oil does. That is because after you let it settle, Oil is more dense, so it will actually float on the coolant.


Since you just rebuilt your engine, your rings are probably not set all the way and you have more blowby than you will once your rings totally seal. The blow by introduces many more contaminants into your crankcase, including more condensation, so as long as you have thoroughly checked your oil, I would not be worried, although it is always a good idea to change your oil very frequently after a fresh rebuild, to keep all those contaminants to a minimum.

If you determine you do have coolant in your oil, Do not run the motor until you resolve the problem and change your oil. Antifreeze will murder your bearings and you will be back to another rebuild if you run too long with it running around in your oil.

 

[dimon2000]

i got all new fluids. oil level is good and both oil and coolant are clean. i drove the car around the block and it has less than 1km. checked compression 150 on all 4. I noticed that there is a little of oil on the pistons. its only milky on the oil cap and a little on the cam shafts but now in the oil it self. I just think i need to drive the car for a little. thanks for the help

 

[dacowgod]

Sounds like you're probably ok then.. Glad to hear it!

 

[dimon2000]

thanks for the help.i'll try to drive it and see how it goes.

 

[DanThMan1983]

I work at a dealership and see that on 80% of the vehicles I work on, its normal and nothing to worry about as long as thats the only place you see the milky oil at. Im sure it is. Peace