Just thinking back to my '85 VW Jetta. It had white residue on the oil cap when I check my oil. What caused it? Thanks in advance.
White residue on oil cap?
- Thread starter Employee#08
- Start date
- Status
As stated, its water condensing from somewhere in the engine. Some engines are more prone to this in cold weather than others. First check is the PCV valve. If the oil is looking like a milkshake, then think coolant leak...
I have an 89' Mirage that gets the white residue build up on the oil cap during the winter months, the oil is clean though, I discovered that when the car is driven long enough to warm up properly the oil cap is clean, I think that the condensation build up was caused by the engine not getting up to temperature.
No matter if I run the car 5 minutes or 5 hours, the milkshake like substance as MNgopher pointed out is always there. It probably was a coolant leak as I had to top up almost every week. I was young back then a didn't know that much about cars.
Aluminum head. My saturn reguarly has condensation on the oil cap in the winter before startup.
MolaKule
Staff member
Think about it for a second, the valve cover is the coolest part of the engine and if anything is going to condense, it will condense on the valve cover.
- Status
