oil foam on the dip stick

Post by **vjaneczko** » 12 Feb 2011, 15:17

I only see two pics - did you have more? I've never seen that kind of froth on a dipstick. The milky condensation I've seen is usually a darker color and never that high up the stick. Is your stick properly seated in the tube or does it stick up a bit? What’s the condition of the gasket on the stick and the oil cap? If they’re old & brittle, they may be letting in some outside gunk. Just a hunch.

Have you done a test of the PCV by seeing if smoke comes out of the dipstick tube or if you place a balloon over the tube, does it get inflated? Maybe what's happening is that the smoke is condensing on the stick. Again, just a hunch...

How's your anti-freeze level?

Are there any oil leaks that you can see? You may want to wipe down areas that have oil on them and check in a day or two.

You may want to go with a 5W-30 during the winter, but I don't think it'll be that important in your neck of the woods. As for a type, you can go with the high-mileage oils which have additives to help with gaskets. If you do, you may notice that there’s a little smoke now and then, or you may discover a leak. This is normal as the additives can breakup clogs that cover small holes which suddenly leak more than usual, but then can dissipate as the gaskets ‘rehydrate’. If the oil hasn’t been changed on a regular cycle, you may want to change the high mileage oil after 2 or 3 thousand miles to remove any gunk it’s broken up.

jack98s70 · Post by **jack98s70** » 13 Feb 2011, 06:17

Thanks for your time on this one.....

What's the trick with the ballon on the dipstick tube? If I remove the dip stick, place a ballon over it and it inflates partially with smoke(?), does that mean the engine is pulling in air from somewhere???

There seems to be a small leak somewhere on the top, under the "Volvo 20 valve" cover on the top of the engine.

Post by **vjaneczko** » 13 Feb 2011, 07:41

Spot on. If the balloon inflates, it's a good indication that the PCV needs to be replaced. If you don't have a balloon, just pull the stick after its warmed-up and look for smoke venting from the tube.

Pull off the spark plug cover and clean up the oil as best you can. If you haven't replaced the gasket on the oil cap, that can cause oil to splash out and cover that area of the engine (lesson learned!). Some have said they replace that gasket with every oil change, but that seems a little too often for me - but it is only a buck or something so it won't hurt your wallet.

The small hose that runs up the front of the engine and into the top of it (between 2nd & 3rd plug, I believe) is part of the PCV system and can come loose over time. That may also be a source of your oil issue.

Post by **jimmy57** » 13 Feb 2011, 12:00

I have seen that before. A car that does numerous short trips in cold weather when the crankcase vent system is perfect and it has no coolant loss into oil (i.e., nothing is wrong with engine) can get enough condensation to show up on upper end of dipstick. Warming up the engine by idling and then driving very slow on icy roads makes this even worse.
If your driving included a lot of short trips and idling warm ups in subfreezing temps them you may have nothing wrong you can fix other than drive farther and shorten idling warm up time.

jack98s70 · Post by **jack98s70** » 13 Feb 2011, 15:46

I ran the engine for 15 minutes, removed the dip stick and noticed the smoke coming out the dip stick tube. I'm guessing this means I have a clogged PCV system. Are there any relevant posts for cleaning / replacing the PCV components?

Post by **vjaneczko** » 13 Feb 2011, 16:41

Plenty of posts how to repair - not clean (hint hint

) Here's a great one:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=28487

Did you just idle the car, or drive it "spiritedly"? If you ran it hard, did you still have the foam issue?

jack98s70 · Post by **jack98s70** » 13 Feb 2011, 17:28

I ran the engine for 15 minutes and pulled the dip stick; smoke came was visible coming out of the tube. So....I'm based on responses, I need to clean / fix / repair the PCV. Right?

Do you have a MVS link to instruct me on doing this job?

Post by **vjaneczko** » 13 Feb 2011, 18:14

jack98s70 wrote:I ran the engine for 15 minutes and pulled the dip stick; smoke came was visible coming out of the tube. So....I'm based on responses, I need to clean / fix / repair the PCV. Right?

Right.

Do you have a MVS link to instruct me on doing this job?

Read that last post

jack98s70 · Post by **jack98s70** » 13 Feb 2011, 19:06

The car idled in the driveway; I didn't drive it. But, I think the foam is still there after 1/2 hour driving on the highway (6o mph).

Thanks for the link. You're the best!

oil foam on the dip stick

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