Condensation on oil fill cap

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About a year ago I started noticing some condensation in the oil cap on my Blazer. (The 4.3 v6 engine has a stalk attached at the valve cover which moves the cap about 6in above the valve cover...probably allows enough cooling to show the condensation)
I figured the breather tube/pcv valve was getting clogged/not breathing free enough...
I removed the pcv valve and that breathing tube and cleaned it all out with carb cleaner...did get some gunk out of that tube..
the condensation cleared up immediately after that.
 
It's normal.....happens often in the winter from condensated water outof thefuel and air......especially when the car is only driven over short distance in city traffic
 
It could be "normal" or it could be a sign of a leaking head gasket or intake manifold gasket. The only way to tell is to do an oil analysis and see if you've got glycol in the oil.

Generally, if a long drive that gets the engine fully warmed up burns the moisture off, it was just low temp condensation. If you've still got moisture, especially if it's the nice "whip creme" variety, chances are you're getting coolant in the oil.
 
I drove around for 20 minutes or so and there was still condensation but the oil fill cap has a 4 inch neck going to the valve cover so the water boiled off could rise upinthere as steam and stay there I guess right?
 
Forget I asked that... the search thing is pretty handy
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quote:

Originally posted by 94 formula:
I drove around for 20 minutes or so and there was still condensation but the oil fill cap has a 4 inch neck going to the valve cover so the water boiled off could rise upinthere as steam and stay there I guess right?

My Z28 would always have the same stuff on the cap in winter. In summer, it has nothing
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My two F150's both have a neck on top of the valve cover for the oil fill. I get the smae thing in the winter. The water vapor rises to the high point in the engine, which also happens to be one of the coolest points on the engine due to air flow over it and no major heat sources keeping it directly heated. Nothing in the summer.

[ December 02, 2002, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: MNgopher ]
 
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