I was comming home from work last night, and got a low oil light. Still had good pressure, so I got home and found this in the oil cap, and catch can. It was about a quart low too. WTF?

 

dude that's bad, that's water and coolant in your oil......if that's what you thought it was....you were right.....sorry to see that.

 

What exactly do you think it is? Looks like water/condensation in your oil to me.

If you take a lot of short trips during the cold winter months, you will get this. Take a nice long hour+ drive from time to time to evaporate all the condensation out of your oil.

 

that would be water or coolant. thats not good. are you low on coolant and does it look like that? could be a head gasket prob...

 

Looks like water/coolant in oil (is that what you were thinking?)
Check radiator level, change oil quickly and monitor again within a short span. Sometimes in stop and go traffic condensation from water vapors accumulate if you only do short trips and car doesn't see steady high temperatures for oil to be hot enough so the water can evaporate. Otherwise, Hmmm gasket leak? or a crack somewhere.

 

that's a blown head gasket or worse case....a cracked head dude or possibly your block, has it been smoking, dripping fluid, etc. either way....my condolences. Don't know what your budget is, but your going to be out some time and money man.

 

that looks like a little more than condensation, looks to me like the "chocolate milk" sludge from a significant amount of coolant/water getting into the crank case. Don't know i could be wrong but unfortunately i don't think so.

 

time for the mods to begin,1st up=forged shortblock !

 

Ive seen some nasty foamy **** trapped in my catch can and oil cap before, and ive never had a problem with my head gasket. Im hoping for the best, but i would be waise to start preparing for the worst.

 

Are you guys trying to scare this dude so bad he drops a full load in his skivvies? Why would he need a new shortblock? The way I look at it, worst case scenario is its a headgasket. $25 bucks for a set of GM MLS gaskets, and about $30 for a set of head bolts. The unfortunate part is its about 20+ hours of labor for the average first time head R+R.

 

I wouldn't say that worst case scenario is a head gasket. Worst case scenario is it ends up like my old motor - There's a reason have a stroker now.

 

thats just condinsation the builds up. all the gen 3's do this do to the way the oil fill tube is designed, espically on the trucks. like stated above take your car out on the highway and get it good and hot. just keep an eye on coolant level. no need to worry.

 

Have you changed your oil recently? Might be a good idea, check it ansd see what it looks like. If your not loosing coolant, you could be ok. Need to investigate more.

 

A blown head gasket is definatly not worst case scenerio. That looks like a lot of coolant/water in there. You need to drain the oil, check the radiator, check for leaks, inspect the head gasket area (before taking heads off), and other miscellaneous stuff that could cause it. If things check out you need to take the heads off.

 

Normally if you have coolant getting in the oil, the oil level will be higher not lower. Also you'll see it on the stick, not just the cap. (the catch can is seeing the same vapors that the cap sees).

Where is Hurst in TX? Usually it takes some colder temps, and a lot of short trips where the engine doesn't get fully warmed up, to create that much condensation.

The other good news, if it is only condensation, is your catch can is doing its job as an air/oil/water separator, and it's getting the moisture out of the oil.

 

Thanks for all the input. I am going out to start looking.

 

me neither....but maybe im used to old school SBC engines....if the oil looked like that, the last thing i would do is drive it and get her good and hot, but that's me. BTW i said it was worst case a cracked head or block, that's why i asked if it had been smoking or leaking any fluids.

 

Check the oil and check the coolant, that simple. If you don't have a crankcase full of that stuff as shown on the dipstick or have it in your coolant, it's just condensation and don't worry about it.

 

A simple shure fire way to check is to get you a radiator cap pressure checker. Pump it up to 20lb.s and see if it holds pressure. You should be able to pick one up at a local auto store. It found my leaky head gasket fast and easy. You may not be able to see the leak if it's internal, but the pressure will drop if there's a problem. My guess is condensation. It happens pretty regular here in the south.

 

Just drain the oil. If it looks like the inside of your cap, you've got problems. If it just looks like oil, it's probably just condensation.