Hey guys, I just changed my oil/filter and when i took the oil cap off the valve cover to fill oil there was a bunch of white slimy stuff....moisture?? I've never seen it before. Then, when I drained the oil it looked a little different than usual...maybe a little milky?? I religeously change the oil every 3 months so it hasnt been in there very long. Any idea what is going on? Should I have the oil analyzed to see if there is anything like antifreeze in there?? just a little concerned.
oh ya and also, ever since I got the truck about a year ago I always put 6 qts of oil in but only get a little more than 5 quarts out. I know some of that stays in the filter but wheres the rest. The 5.4 only has 65k on it, there are no leaks underneath and it doesnt seem to burn any that i can tell.
thanks for all your help!

 

If you live in a damp climate you will have that white slime. Also, if you drive a lot of short miles without letting the pickup get to full operating temp. you will have that stuff as well. If you aren't burining oil or losing power I wouldn't worry too much.

 

That is something you better get checked out. I you have water getting into your oil, then you have a problem. I live is South Louisiana (probably the most damp climate in North America) and I've never seen my oil turn white just from being in a damp climate.

 

did you check the oil level before you drained it?
you stated you only get five out so i guess you know how much came out.
is there any coolant mising?
it don't take much water to make it milky though.

keep poking around the engine looking for other clues. getting in a hurry is where you will lose money

 

i do live in northern indiana and it has been quite damp here.....especially w/ the ice storm we just got today. I'll keep an eye on it. Whenever i check the oil it always shows that I'm a 1/2 qt down...even after i change it. very strange. thanks!

 

doesnt seem to be any coolant missing. as far as short trips are concerned, i drive about 11 mins to work 6 days a week and thats about it.

 

does it look like this?




then im going to guess its normal. I even had my head gaskets changed, pressure tested the heads etc... unless the machine shop ied to me i dont have a problem. i drive short trips myself, despite letting the engine warm up for 10-15 mins before leaving i have the same problem. the reason is the filler neck never really heats up and the oil splashes right up there. there is a cam lobe and rocker arm directly below the neck, oil splashes off them into the tube, because it remains cold you get the slime. if you change your oil and it looks slimy coming out of the pan then you got a problem, otherwise its probibaly fine. Just wipe it out every so often.

 

It's completely normal - it's worse in cold climates..Doesn't hurt it, just keep changing the oil every 3000 miles..

 

Pheonixx, those near 30 meg pictures will kill anyone who has dialup. I'd suggest fixing them...

Anyhow, my Dakota gets this type of buildup during the winter when I let it idle for 20 minutes a month... during the summer is disappears... totally.

 

pic 1 is 161KB
pic 2 is 28 KB
(right click them and go to properties...)
a megabyte is 1 million bytes and a kilobyte is 100,000 bytes.

30 megabytes would be 30 million bytes or 300,000 kilobytes.
the largest pic is 1 MB

but thanks for the concern. now back to your regularly scheduled topic

 

Well , you could thumbnail #1 to be considerate + it's blury ..

Wouldn't hurt

 

LMFAO!

 

youre right jbrew pic one was pretty craptastic, i just posted a new one. my camera has a macro option for closeups but it somehow still sucks at taking closeups.

 

I have a 2004 5.4 3v motor with 13549 miles I drive about 20 miles per day When it gets cold out i have the white gunk on the cap In the summer time i do not have it Now that it is cold were i live Its comming back Every other day i pop the hood take off the oil cap and wipe it off There is a lot of moisture on the inside of the cap Since i have been doing this in the winter time i have no white gunk on my cap It is not an engine problem like some one posted

 

Mine does that sometimes, I don't know what the deal is. I reset the camera to default and it does alright for awhile - until one of the kids get ahold of it

Much better pic though - It would suck to have dial up. I didn't think anyone had that anymore..I guess that would be your only choice if you were out in BFE without cable or a WiFi server..