1997 850 AWD Milky oil, but white smoke doesn't last. PCV maybe?

Caffeind · Post by **Caffeind** » 12 Dec 2015, 02:55

My 1997 850 AWD has developed some pretty nasty looking chocolate-milky oil. I get some white smoke on start-up but once the engine is up to temp it goes away. I know these engines are prone to absorbing moisture in cold weather, and it's been cool and completely soggy for a month now. I was also under the impression that if it were a head gasket then the white smoke from the tailpipe would be constant, not something that goes away. The PCV system definitely needs to be changed on the car as well, is it possible that this combined with the weather is what's causing the milky oil?

I need to get my clutch replaced as well and I'm hoping it's the PCV since if I need to do two $1500 repairs I'll probably need to just sell/scrap the car, which I'd rather not do!

Thanks for the help!

- Justin

Post by **abscate** » 12 Dec 2015, 03:32

Change the oil and monitor it. Do you only do short trips with the car? That's tough on the engine as it never warms up.

If you develop milky oil in a week or two, you have a head gasket leak. If it is a small one, the white smoke won't be constant, and you can keep driving it monitoring fluid levels carefully

Post by **tryingbe** » 12 Dec 2015, 06:26

Milky oil on the dip stock or milky oil on the oil cap?

Post by **RussB** » 12 Dec 2015, 09:44

Could be a leak at the radiator where the oil cooler flows through the radiator

Post by **rspi** » 12 Dec 2015, 10:03

Caffeind wrote:My 1997 850 AWD has developed some pretty nasty looking chocolate-milky oil.

- Justin

Is this on the dip stick or have you ACTUALLY drained some of the oil out of the engine?

Caffeind · Post by **Caffeind** » 13 Dec 2015, 00:47

Thanks for the replies! I'll get the oil changed and watch my coolant levels and check the quality rigorously to see if it comes back.

I'll need to check the cap when I can get the car somewhere dry but while certainly in need of changing I don't recall noticing extreme milkiness under the filler cap when I last topped it up a few weeks ago.

Haven't drained any oil myself in a while, I usually take it in to get done since the cost of the oil and filter is about as much as the local lube places charge to do it for me.

I'll update once I've checked under the cap!

Caffeind · Post by **Caffeind** » 22 Dec 2015, 17:14

Just to update and close the thread, the oil under the cap looked dirty but not milky like the oil in the dipstick tube. Finally managed to do an oil change today and the oil which came out of the motor looked well-used but no milky either. Looks like it was just the engine sweating and there is life for her yet!

Now I can replace the clutch and continue the process of getting her in perfect working order. Thanks for your tips everyone!