Normal or Problem????

[yote41]

my car is a garage queen in the winter months. i did opg/cs about month or so ago. drove the car home and put back in garage. recently put procharger kit on. i have started the car few times to move it around. never saw the road though. went to do some data logging for my base tune and checked all fluids and was terrified when i saw a white foam residue in my oil cap. it was a thin white foam like residue inside cap and inside the neck. smelled like oil/fuel. i did notice some moisture droplets in the cap as well. dipstick looks and smells normal. still clear not milky. coolant level seems to be normal and normal color. Am i just getting this because the car has sat in colder temps without being ran? It was started few times but not driven. Let me know your thoughts.

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[BmacIL]

my car is a garage queen in the winter months. i did opg/cs about month or so ago. drove the car home and put back in garage. recently put procharger kit on. i have started the car few times to move it around. never saw the road though. went to do some data logging for my base tune and checked all fluids and was terrified when i saw a white foam residue in my oil cap. it was a thin white foam like residue inside cap and inside the neck. smelled like oil/fuel. i did notice some moisture droplets in the cap as well. dipstick looks and smells normal. still clear not milky. coolant level seems to be normal and normal color. Am i just getting this because the car has sat in colder temps without being ran? It was started few times but not driven. Let me know your thoughts.

When you drive it, make sure you're driving it for a while (a good 30 mins), so all the oil gets fully hot and for long enough to evaporate the moisture out of it.

 

[yote41]

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[BmacIL]

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Yes I see why you freaked out. Honestly looks like moisture buildup in oil.

 

[Competition Orange]

Its common as a result of the oil not getting up to temp, nothing to worry about. As stated, run it for 30 min and get the oil nice and hot, it'll be gone.

 

[Boston23]

Bmac and CO have it right. It’s condensation that would normally vaporize if the engine was brought up to temperature. If the car is going to be a garage queen for the winter, you’d be better off with a trickle charger and wake her up in spring.

 

[kluke15]

holy shit that scared me lol hope you get it figured out

 

[bootlegger]

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Common moisture buildup problem. You aren't running the car long enough to get the moisture out, and the hot/cold transitions are causing condensation. This was a common issue back when I did cold start testing. The vehicle would go from 70F into a cold cell, chilled to -20F, started, run to operational temp, then shut down and chilled again. I would remove the valve cover and see the same moisture sludge in my test engines. Nasty looking stuff.

 

[ctandc72]

Welcome to the reason that I personally would never buy a car that sat - no matter how well it was taken care of - more than it was driven.

It's not a knock on you at all...you actually noticed this right? That puts you ahead of a lot of owners. How many "weekend or summer only" cars are in the same boat?

The others have it right - you just need to drive it. The 'old school' method of starting a car up when in storage (like for Winter) and letting it run once in a while has never been a good thing.

 

[Threebanger]

Condensation mixed w/oil in the crankcase ventilation due cold weather. 100% normal but I'd get a catch can if you don't have one. It'll keep a lot of the moisture from getting back in the intake.

 

[wildcatgoal]

5W20 Skim Milk

 

[bootlegger]

Welcome to the reason that I personally would never buy a car that sat - no matter how well it was taken care of - more than it was driven.

It's not a knock on you at all...you actually noticed this right? That puts you ahead of a lot of owners. How many "weekend or summer only" cars are in the same boat?

The others have it right - you just need to drive it. The 'old school' method of starting a car up when in storage (like for Winter) and letting it run once in a while has never been a good thing.

You are usually fine if you store in in a climate controlled place. If the temp stays consistent, you won't have many of the common storage issues. If you just store it in a place where the temp fluctuates, you are much better driving it a couple days a week. I drive mine 2-3 days a week, and I make sure it is run a while when I am actually driving. Simply getting to operational temp and shutting it back off only makes things worse. FYI, this issue also can exist in daily driver only used for very short trips. I had condensation issues in my 08 Mustang, because my drive to work was only 2-3 miles.

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