I just changed my oil yesterday and when I took the oil cap off from the valve cover the underside had a milky residue on it. This kind of scared me. I drained the oil into a container and it looked fine to me, no major signs of anything besides old oil. What could this mean? I use Motorcraft synthetic blend 5W-30. Any light shed would be appreciated.

 

condensation, 100% normal.

 

mine has done that a few times. seems to just be condensation. if your oil isn't milky,and there are no signs oil is gettin into your coolant i wouldn't worry about it. mine hasn't done it in a long time,but it first happened after i'd had it about a year or so. i bought it in february 2000 and it has 155,000 on it now and no problems,until now. i just noticed my head gasket is leaking while i was installing the new tranny. but i run the absolute hell out of mine and if it never caused me any problems i really wouldn't worry about it. just keep an eye on it if there are no sings of the oil and coolant mixing.

 

Mann, I had a bunch of that crap when pulled my manifold last month - nothing leaking or contaminated. My PCV system was full of it , valve cover was full of it, manifold and TB was full of it!! Kinda freaked me out at first becaus my dipstick tube broke into and I thought I got a bunch of water in the crank case..

NOPE!! It was because I had the truck hooked up to the snorkle for a couple days in the shop when it was 6 degree's outside. I'de pull it in , warm it up inside then start the truck , just F'ing with it - testing a few things. It was prolly idling for a couple hours at a time.

I cleaned everything up and changed the oil..

 

Same here, condesation. No problems.

 

Thanks for reassuring me, I thought it was just condensation at first too, but i thought it'd be good to ask just to be sure, better safe than sorry. Tomorrow I will check the dipstick to see if there are any bubbles or "milk" on it. Also, my truck has the 5.4 Triton and at first I put 6 qts oil in, and it didn't show on the dipstick, then I added 1 more qrt., now it's at the "max". Is this ok or should I let some oil out?

 

The book says it should read closer to max mark but never excede. When I use to have a dipstick it read about 1/4 inch down from max.

My 98 holds 6.5 quarts with a filter change..

 

I probably should have just put 1/2 qrt in and checked the dipstick again, but hopefully another 1/2 qrt won't hurt anything, Iv'e just heard in the past that it isn't good for the engine to have too much oil.

 

Two things: First, as you've already learned, the condensation is completely normal. This time of year, the question arises at least once a week. Please learn to search before posting a new topic as, with as long as this site's been around, the topic has been breached before.

Second, as for the oil level, there were some issues with the dipsticks on the 97s and early 98s not reading properly. The wire dipsticks with the metal ends on them are notiriously inaccurate. To gauge it accurately, change the oil and filter and refill it with 6 qts. Start it and let it idle for a few seconds, then shut it down and let it drain for 5 minutes or so. Then pull the stick, wipe it, reinsert it, and pull it again. Wherever the level is on the stick should be considered the full level.

Adding anything more than 6 qts is completely unnecessary regardless of what the dipstick says. It's a gauge, not a true indicator of the oil volume in the pan, and seldom perfectly accurate.

Also, IIRC, there was a TSB on that dipstick issue... Can't seem to find it at the moment though.... IIRC, they replaced the dipstick with a newer design with the proper length.

-Joe

 

I've got 4s vehicle and not one of the reads full on the dip stick after an oil change. I put in what the manual says.then I put a mark on the dip stick with a file right after I changed oil and let the oil drain back over nite

2001 Cobra SVT
97 f150 4.6L
83 302 t bird
93 3.5 l concorde


Now if you want a real challenge checking oil level try getting a consistent and accurate reading on a Honda XR 400 motorcyle with a dry sump. The only way to do it is after you have changed the oil. start the engine and time how long it idles , pull the dip stick, wipe it off reinsert but don't screw it in and recheck the level. If oyu deviate you get a different level everytime and if you follow the owners manual you will not even get a dip stick reading and will end up overfilling the engine.

 

If you've got a dry sump, what level is there to check? As long as there is oil in the reservoir, there's oil getting to the engine, no?

Also, what's that XR400 use in lieu of the oil pan and what's it use for a scavenge pump to send it back to the reservoir?

-Joe

 

I didn' know honda made a XR400 ? That must be before the 600 and 650 models, 4 strokers.. Early 80's maybe?

Guess not - nice bike



Well, that's a 97 btw..