88 245 Froth (coolant?) in flame trap, hoses, throttle body

[rgk]

Here's a good one for you all.

Car has been lacking power and hesitating. Replaced the spark plug wires, which fixed most of the issue. It still hesitated a bit once in a while, however, and seemed to still lack power. I looked under the oil cap, saw a bit of froth, and thought "Great, a blown head gasket." I looked at the dipstick, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. No coolant loss as far as I know.

Then I looked at the flame trap and saw the same familiar froth mixed with oil. Does NOT smell like coolant: just smells like oil. I can see the froth at the top of the EGR valve, going all the way back through the hoses, touching the throttle body, and stopping just short of the MAF in the rubber/plastic accordion hose.

Any ideas? Perhaps a bad EGR valve or gasket? Does coolant come into contact with that part?

Edit: I don't believe my car has an EGR valve. It appears the froth is coming from the flame trap. The black box which the flame traps sits atop of seems to be leaking oil at its base, where it connects with the engine block. I thought this might be the EGR, but it appears I am wrong.

Edit 2: It appears that the box which I'm talking about is the breather box. The flame trap sits right on top, right? Two bolts holding it to the block? Looks like I'll be pulling that sucker this weekend...

Thanks.

[lummert]

Does this car get driven enough to burn the moisture off from the oil? Has the car been sitting for an extended period?

[rgk]

It has indeed been sitting for a couple of weeks. I just started driving it three days ago. It has been limping severely, however, due to bad spark plug wires for two of those three days. Compression checks out fine: 138-150 psi in all cylinders.