Brownish sludge in Oil fill tube
01-12-2003, 02:26 AM
#2
Advanced
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Annapolis, MD
Posts: 65
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Are you in Orlando or Denver?
If it's the sludge I'm familar with it's just a mix of oil and water which condenses underneath the oil filler cap and is most noticeable in the winter.
To explain: Water is always getting in the crankcase from combustion, heat/cool cycle etc.... The water in the oil slowly evaporates/boils off when the car gets up to temp. What you are seeing is a condensate of water and oil "mayo" collecting at a highest and coldest spot in the oil system.
If you do a lot of short drives in the winter it can get pretty thick. The cure is a nice long drive where the oil gets nice and hot and all the water in the oil gets "boiled" out.
It's also, IMHO, the main reason to avoid low mileage used cars which just go to church and back. The oil never gets hot enough to boil out the water and it just keeps building up. Water sitting in the crankcase will corrode the lubrication system over time.
Possibly worse:
You can also get this mayo if you have a cooling system leak (like a head gasket in some cars), and coolant leaks into the crankcase. This is real bad since Hellmans (Best Foods west of the Rockies!) makes a poor engine lubricant. If your car has a dipstick, pull it when the car is hot and see if you have brown mayo on it. Here's hoping you don't find it. My '73 Vega used to run on the stuff.
PS Never seen the mayo on the TT (only 600 miles so far), but the Benz always has it in the winter after a bunch of short drives.
Just my personal experience.
Others?
If it's the sludge I'm familar with it's just a mix of oil and water which condenses underneath the oil filler cap and is most noticeable in the winter.
To explain: Water is always getting in the crankcase from combustion, heat/cool cycle etc.... The water in the oil slowly evaporates/boils off when the car gets up to temp. What you are seeing is a condensate of water and oil "mayo" collecting at a highest and coldest spot in the oil system.
If you do a lot of short drives in the winter it can get pretty thick. The cure is a nice long drive where the oil gets nice and hot and all the water in the oil gets "boiled" out.
It's also, IMHO, the main reason to avoid low mileage used cars which just go to church and back. The oil never gets hot enough to boil out the water and it just keeps building up. Water sitting in the crankcase will corrode the lubrication system over time.
Possibly worse:
You can also get this mayo if you have a cooling system leak (like a head gasket in some cars), and coolant leaks into the crankcase. This is real bad since Hellmans (Best Foods west of the Rockies!) makes a poor engine lubricant. If your car has a dipstick, pull it when the car is hot and see if you have brown mayo on it. Here's hoping you don't find it. My '73 Vega used to run on the stuff.
PS Never seen the mayo on the TT (only 600 miles so far), but the Benz always has it in the winter after a bunch of short drives.
Just my personal experience.
Others?
