Milky substance on the inside of my valve covers.......
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From: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Milky substance on the inside of my valve covers....... I'm in the middle of a cam job right now and when I took the driver's valve cover off I found this milky substance covering the underside of the valve covers, it was also on the top of the driver's head and rockers. The passenger's side looked just fine though, only normal looking oil on that side. What is this stuff?? My oil is obviously mixing with something, but I couldn't identify it by any smell. Thanks for any input.
This time of year thats pretty normal. Just moisture mixing with the oil. We get cars at work all the time comming from Jiffy lube telling the customer they have blown headgaskets cause their oil fill cap has that same residue on it.
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Thanks for the input guys! Any more opinions??
Yeah, I was thinking it may be coolant and maybe a bad head gasket...but this car only has 60k miles on it?!
Yeah but this much?? That would be a lot of moisture leaking into this car. Not to mention I don't drive it much since its being built into a drag car. It just gets fired up every now and then to move in and out of the garage.
Thanks for the input guys! Any more opinions??
Yeah but this much?? That would be a lot of moisture leaking into this car. Not to mention I don't drive it much since its being built into a drag car. It just gets fired up every now and then to move in and out of the garage.
Thanks for the input guys! Any more opinions??
The short distances you are moving the car allows enough heat to build up in the head to make it sweat/condensate underneath the valve cover. That water then gets mixed with the oil and you get what you are seeing. You should have seen the 97 corvette in our shop class at school, it was atleast 3 times as bad.
This time of year thats pretty normal. Just moisture mixing with the oil. We get cars at work all the time comming from Jiffy lube telling the customer they have blown headgaskets cause their oil fill cap has that same residue on it.
Right.
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Just be thankful its not a BMW, the internal condensation from short trips cost my over $3K last year 
That is normal now that cold weather has hit. Short trips are the culprit and if you are running a cooler thermostat that will make it worse.
That is normal now that cold weather has hit. Short trips are the culprit and if you are running a cooler thermostat that will make it worse.
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Let me explain a little more on this, those valve covers act like condensors cold weather. This means any moisture in the air is attracted to them. Now alot people don't know this but when you start your engine a by product of combustion is WATER VAPOR. Some goes out the exhaust and some goes past the rings and into the oil. Approx 1 cup per gal of fuel, its this water vapor you are seeing condensing on the cold valve covers.
The only way to get rid of most of it is get the engine hot enough so the PCV system can suck the water vapor out. Thats its main job, most don't even consider it. I've seen engines so full of water from short drives its almost unbelievable. I had a woman coming in with a car that you would swear had to have a coolant leak the oil was that bad, milky even. Tested it no coolant in the oilo it was from her driving a few blocks a week to get groceries.
If you look closely that moisture was collected along the PCV baffle.
The only way to get rid of most of it is get the engine hot enough so the PCV system can suck the water vapor out. Thats its main job, most don't even consider it. I've seen engines so full of water from short drives its almost unbelievable. I had a woman coming in with a car that you would swear had to have a coolant leak the oil was that bad, milky even. Tested it no coolant in the oilo it was from her driving a few blocks a week to get groceries.
If you look closely that moisture was collected along the PCV baffle.
exactly. also a faulty pcv valve would cause that. my pcv was malfuctioning and everytime i checked the oil cap and dipstick, there was chunks of that milky substance. so make sure u dont have a vacuum leak.
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Oh wow, thank you guys! I was getting ready to change my head gaskets but I guess I don't have to. I believe it all because as I said earlier I smelled this milky oil and it didn't have a coolant or fuel smell to it which at the time confused me beyond belief.
As long as we're talking about the PCV system, could I get rid of it by just placing a valve cover breather in the oil fill hole on the passenger's valve cover? When I took my LS1 intake off to replace it with an LS6 intake it was FULL of oil. I turned the intake on its end and oil just slowly drained out the TB port, and I've read its because the PCV system pulls oil into the intake.
As long as we're talking about the PCV system, could I get rid of it by just placing a valve cover breather in the oil fill hole on the passenger's valve cover? When I took my LS1 intake off to replace it with an LS6 intake it was FULL of oil. I turned the intake on its end and oil just slowly drained out the TB port, and I've read its because the PCV system pulls oil into the intake.
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Good for you but i'll bet you'll never get away with it up north in the colder weather. Heck I just checked my oil this morning and the oil cap was soaking wet.
This car is a daily driver and has 224,500+ miles on it and many of them have been up in yankee land when its cold...if all your trips are under 10 miles you will have condensation problems...I drive a lot of miles ... 2500-3000 a month so no matter what the climate is I will never have a condensation problem... my shortest drive is 25 miles one way...When I relocated the coils and went to the GMPP valve covers I changed out the PCV system and added the breather...no oil in the intake...and no phuchin catch can .. after that modification there was no change in oil consumption...it has been a half quart every 2500 miles since it was brand new...I believe that I have it figured out.
I happened to be watching my oil temperature gauge on a cool, but not cold morning (40 F) recently. I was surprised how long it can take for the oil to reach the 212 F required to vaporize water accumulation. Specifically, I drove to a point 8 miles from the initial cold start, parked for 30 minutes, and returned home. The oil temperature never got above 208 F.
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From: Turnin' Wrenches Infractions: 005
I would suggest a new style LS6 valley cover ($75 from SDPC) and possibly a catch can to supplement. Your issues will be forever gone completely. No need for breathers IMO, you can vent the air back into the motor as long as its clean. By the time it passes through the valley catch and catch can it will be clean enough to go through your engine. No need to vent it to the atmosphere with a breather.