Sludge in the oil fill tube???
 

I have alot of Sludge in the oil fill tube??? Is this normal in Florida and driving short distances?? I hear condensation is the problem. The sludge looks liike mustard colored yogurt. Its clogging up my crankcase vent and getting into the intake system!

oil cooler seals.... yech!!! check your coolant for "chocolate milk"

I second Oil Cooler Seals. I had the same problem over one year ago with a slow loss of coolant, chocolate milk under the oil fill cap, and no oil in the coolant. I replaced the oil cooler seals, and have not had any chocolate milk since, not a drop. I have only had clear condensation on short runs, not milk ! I have not had to add coolant in the last year as well. Good luck !

Is swapping the seals a major job? Mine just started making mustard yogurt as well.

Driving short distances can also create some sludge but not to much. If you start getting sludge on the dipstick that is to much. Do you lose coolant without any external leaks it is probably the oil cooler seal going bad.

//Magnus

Mine are bad too I believe.

How much to do?

<a href="http://clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/lube-01.htm" target="_blank">http://clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/lube-01.htm</a>

//Magnus

Isn't no oil in the coolant but coolant in the oil a sign of a blown headgasket and not oil cooler seals?

I thought that when the oil cooler seals is bad you get oil in the coolant.

I had coolant in my oil and is right now in the middle of a head gasket change.

Yeah, usually if the cooler seals fail you will get oil in the coolant first (because oil can be up at 5 bar pressure) then as they get worse you get the water in the oil.

But if you are driving short distances and not heating up the engine you can get exactly what you describe in the fill tube. It can become very, very thick. So I wouldn't give up hope and conclude it is the cooler seals quite yet. An easy and fairly cheap way to figure out what is happening is to get your oil tested. If there is no anti freeze in it then it is just condensation from all this short run driving you are doing.

where can you get it tested?

jason "florida951" was missing coolant one day, but the coolant was clean. then we noticed chocolate milk. then sludge... yech! it was his oil cooler seals, he did head gasket too anyway, he thought it was that first.

Tim, call around to the auto supply stores in your area. I have seen these little kits they sell, you are basically prepaying for the test. You fill a small vial with your oil and send it off to the lab. They test and send you the results.

You might also ask trucking firms in your area where they go as they test their fleet all the time and may use a cheaper service. I think the store kits are about 25 or 30 bucks.

I had a similar slow loss of coolant. I had a local mechanic drop some dye in the coolant, and I drove for a week. When tested, I found the dye in the oil which confirmed where the water was going. How it was getting there was another matter.

Having experienced a gross oil cooler seal failure, I went in just knowing it couldn't be the cooler seals (after all the oil pressure is much higher than the coolant pressure, so the oil would go into the coolant. Seems reasonable.).

So with all this great knowledge, I pulled the head, had it re-done and reinstalled. Ran for several hundred miles, and suddenly, I see a slow loss of coolant.

Well, the oil cooler seals and the seals for the oil/mist separator should arive tomorrow. So much for all my experience.

Well I have been driving the car short distances from and to work since August. Its a 15 minute drive and the engine doesn't get too warm. I think that its the condensation. But who knows it might be the oil cooler seals. Dammit I hope it isn't the oil cooler seals.

Should I notice a difference in the oil pressure?