Do I have water in my oil?

[Weatherlite]

Ok guys...I have a question that I sortof know the answer to but I still have to ask.

Yesterday I was checking the oil because I have a slow leak. Oil wasn't even on the dipstick. (oops...at least I have a huge sump and reserve in the bypass system) Anyway, I opened the fill cap to add a quart or two and I see the ugly white foamy film of death on the bottom of the cap and all over the inside of the filler neck!!!! So, I top off anyway, wipe off the cap and check the oil. Now, I ran the engine for awhile to mix in the new oil and then check it again. On the dipstick the oil looks fine. Nice color, doesn't look like any water is in it and when I put it on a paper towel there isn't any seperation of two liquids like there would be if I had water in the system.

So, I now check the filler cap which was wiped off 10 minutes earlier. Guess what? WHITE FOAMY CRAP!!!!!

I've been working on cars for 14 years...several of those years professionally. Based upon the dipstick I'd say there is no water in the oil. However, based upon what I see in the filler tube I would have to say that there is. I haven't noticed a sharp decrease in the coolant so that tells me that I don't have a problem either. Some might say that it's due to high humidity but I live in a desert....even though we just got dumped on by rain and snow.

So, what's your opinion? Do I need to have the engine cracked open or is she fine?

Mikie

 

[SteveD2]

I don't know what's wrong, but if it was me I'd definately change the oil before driving anymore.

 

[Gary Allan]

Too many short runs without the engine warming up fully, maybe???? I would find it hard for you to do that in the desert ..but I imagine anything's possible.

So is this a "short runner"?

 

[Weatherlite]

Driving time varies....little of both. Four days a week she gets run for about an hour straight twice a day. The rest of the week it's a short 2-3 minute trip twice a day.

I know about burning off excess water but this still seems extreme for that.

Mikie

 

[greencrew]

Wow, that's fast. Do you have a clogged PCV valve and the blow-by (which is full of moisture,) is blowing out of the filler tube?

 

[JohnBrowning]

What vechile and what engine???? This is normal on some engines. The Dodge 4.7 has this happen as a mater of course.

 

[SHOZ]

The cap is probably the coolest part of the oil system. I bet if you insulated the cap the water would not condense there.

The water is a product of the blowby and the PCV fresh air intake. Make sure the PCV and hose going to the intake manifold are not blocked.

I've found that plugging the intake hose of the PCV system will reduce the amount of water in the blow-by considerable. I also use a condensation can between the crankcase and the PCV valve. I was collecting about a 100-200 ml a week out of it before I went to a self purging system.

 

[wtd]

Do an oil analysis. I had an internal coolant leak on my 98 chevy truck and you could not tell by just looking at the oil on the dipstick because it looked clean as it could be. I never had white foamy stuff on the bottom of my oil fill cap but I did have moisture droplets. Turned out the intake manifold gaskets were bad.

Wayne

 

[Weatherlite]

This is a 2000 Ford Excursion with the 6.8L V-10. I don't even know if it has a PCV valve...they have something I'm sure, probably just renamed.

I will definitely do an analysis though.

Was thinking about doing some other investigatory work. I have access to a video borescope. I'm thinking of taking a peek in there. It takes digital pics whenever you tell it to so I think I'll record it and post my results here.

Mikie

 

[Drew99GT]

Take it in and get the cooling system pressure tested for pice of mind at least, then go from there if a leak is found. I'd say it is not normal to have white goo condense in only 10 minutes on your oil cap unless you live in an area where there is 100% humidity with cold temps and you have a stuck open thermostat.