White creamy paste on the oil cap...

Stewart18 · Post by **Stewart18** » 27 Jan 2021, 15:07

So the other day i went to check the level on my oil stick. that seemed fine.. and then i lifted up the cap and there was quite a bit of this pasty whiteish sludge on the underside of it instead of oil. What gives?

Post by **oragex** » 27 Jan 2021, 15:22

May want to test your PCV - yout

Stewart18 · Post by **Stewart18** » 27 Jan 2021, 15:54

I did that test about 3wks ago with a rubber glove over the cap area and it was sucking in which is a pass. Looking online the problem is a blown gasket (hardly likely in my case) or water mixing in the oil by not driving long enough to let the engine warm up enough to evaporate the water. That seems to be my problem since i do mostly short trips.. For example my work is only 1.5 miles (3min) away and to get downtown for me is 3-4min. Longest trip i may make in a week is 20 min there and back to the store or whatever.. Point is no trip i've made in the last six mths was even 40 min long.

Post by **SuperHerman** » 27 Jan 2021, 16:46

This is a fairly common problem in extremely cold climates. Water vapor and oil mix together and freeze forming the white creamy frozen gel.

The solution is to drive the car at operating temperature for long enough that the frozen gel does not form. Short trips don't permit the engine and all related systems to get hot enough.

So if you do a bunch of short trips in extreme cold the risk of problems is very high. Drive the car every few trips long enough to get it plenty hot. The heat will keep the gel from forming and break down any that has formed.

In the BMW world on some of there older models, more so than the Volvo world, the frozen gel would actually form a plug which resulted in the system dumping all of the oil into the engine - destroying a number of the engines completely.

Post by **oragex** » 27 Jan 2021, 16:47

It is true a head gasket can cause that white cream, but it's not always a head gasket. May want to look inside the coolant reservoir for any floating 'oil' or darker deposits on the walls. If the PCV is good, it may also be caused by very cold weather, and possibly by the oil condition. I suggest not letting the engine idle after a cold start, I drive right away gently for the first 1-2 minutes then rev to 3000rpm to warm the engine faster so it's reaching the operating temp faster. Myself I had that white cream, I believe it was before replacing the PCV, since then I didn't notice it any more
Edit: basically saying as comment above