White deposits in oil

[wrcarter]

About a month ago i hit my sump off the ground. The engine lost 2-3 litres of oil before i realised it was damaged so quickly stopped it. Got the sump welded and put it back on the car. It was sitting idle for about a week. Now i noticed white deposits on the dipstick and filler cap. There is also a bit more smoke than usual. Other than that the car is fine. I never overheated it, if anything its running too cold.The head and gasket were replaced a year ago. Is it possible that condensation got into the engine while it was sitting idle for a week? I live in Ireland and it is fairly damp at this time of year. Whats the most likely cause for this?

[sheepdog]

About a month ago i hit my sump off the ground. The engine lost 2-3 litres of oil before i realised it was damaged so quickly stopped it. Got the sump welded and put it back on the car. It was sitting idle for about a week. Now i noticed white deposits on the dipstick and filler cap. There is also a bit more smoke than usual. Other than that the car is fine. I never overheated it, if anything its running too cold.The head and gasket were replaced a year ago. Is it possible that condensation got into the engine while it was sitting idle for a week? I live in Ireland and it is fairly damp at this time of year. Whats the most likely cause for this?

It is possible.
Try an oil change and see how it goes.

[dc42004]

I have the same problem.

I bought this 91 318is 2 months ago. The timing chain guide shattered all over my oil pan and timing case. I replaced the guide and remove all traces of debries. It was pretty messy in there.

I started the motor afterwards and the timing chain noise is pretty much all gone. But now, I have excessive water vapour or smoke from my exhaust even after warm up. I'm suspecting head gasket. This is the most serious engine problem i had so far. Anyone has clues as to what's going on? I have a picture of the exhaust smoke, this is after10-15mins of driving.

[sheepdog]

I have the same problem.

I bought this 91 318is 2 months ago. The timing chain guide shattered all over my oil pan and timing case. I replaced the guide and remove all traces of debries. It was pretty messy in there.

I started the motor afterwards and the timing chain noise is pretty much all gone. But now, I have excessive water vapour or smoke from my exhaust even after warm up. I'm suspecting head gasket. This is the most serious engine problem i had so far. Anyone has clues as to what's going on? I have a picture of the exhaust smoke, this is after10-15mins of driving.

Did you inspect the head and t-chain housing for cracks around the profile gasket? The chain whipping around could have done some damage there.  Unfortunately the only definite way to find one there, if there is, is to remove it and have it sonic tested, magnaflux would not work on either part.

How long has it been since you fixed it?

Also, you may have damaged a valve, which damaged the head. There is at least one very delicate spot on the head.

[Abrax]

wrcarter:
I've broken my oil sump 12 times and still had my engine nice and alive ;-)
Did You replace oil and oil filter after welding the sump? Or just refuelled oil? There is a risk that water spots are laying inside the filter.  on the other hand -> The car has not necesarly lost it's oil when You've broken the sump... If the hole is up to 1,5^2 cm big the suction of the oil pump will keep the oil inside the engine... Of corse when the engine is running all the time. Once I've made about 90km keeping my engine above 4000rpm's because the hole was really big and I didn't want to stuck away from the city... We've changed a sump just as I've riched my garage and we drove away just an hour later ;-)




dc4204:

from the photo I strongly suspect that You have a water leak into one of the the combustion chambers ... I'm sorry but You'd better check it soon Sheep may be right, that the valve may have broken the head...

Do You have white oil spots too? Or just the vapour from Your car's back?

[JHZR2]

A well maintained 318i will have the unfortunate issue of not producing enough waste heat to keep itself warm.  Due to the small engine size, relatively good efficiency, large oil sump and good radiator, the engine cools quickly.  

Ever notice how fast the temp needle falls after shutting it off in the wintertime?  Much faster than our other 8 cars.  I can't attribute it to anything but overdesign of the thermal systems, with their high efficiency being a bit too much in the winter.

Anyway, my point is that even with the right thermostat, etc., these engines tend to run cool if youre not driving really hard and fast.  As a result, they are more prone to having condensation in the oil.  This is generally seeon on the dipstick and the oil filler cap first and foremost.  

Essentially my take away from owning mine for >5 years and a lot of miles now (by no means an expert, but I have seen this phenomena and have tried to understand its cause to best mitigate it) is that you have to take it for a bit moire sustained highway driving in the winter, and change your oil right before and after the winter... to optimize protection.

Unless its real severe, Id consider it normal.  Might want to do an oil analysis to determine actual water loading in your oil.

JMH

[E-30Dubbsz]

A well maintained 318i will have the unfortunate issue of not producing enough waste heat to keep itself warm.  Due to the small engine size, relatively good efficiency, large oil sump and good radiator, the engine cools quickly.  

Ever notice how fast the temp needle falls after shutting it off in the wintertime?  Much faster than our other 8 cars.  I can't attribute it to anything but overdesign of the thermal systems, with their high efficiency being a bit too much in the winter.

Anyway, my point is that even with the right thermostat, etc., these engines tend to run cool if youre not driving really hard and fast.  As a result, they are more prone to having condensation in the oil.  This is generally seeon on the dipstick and the oil filler cap first and foremost.  

Essentially my take away from owning mine for >5 years and a lot of miles now (by no means an expert, but I have seen this phenomena and have tried to understand its cause to best mitigate it) is that you have to take it for a bit moire sustained highway driving in the winter, and change your oil right before and after the winter... to optimize protection.

Unless its real severe, Id consider it normal.  Might want to do an oil analysis to determine actual water loading in your oil.

JMH

That's true, since ive owned my m42 i realized that it runs cold. I spend a lot of time letting it run before i actually drive because I don't like running on a cold engine. One time i shut off for 5 minutes and the engine was completely cold again. I'm glad i found that out because i thought it was a problem in the making.

[JHZR2]

in reality youre doing more bad for your engine letting it idle and warm up, than driving gently and cvarefully to help it heat up faster under light load...

JMH

[E-30Dubbsz]

+1 on the info. learn something new and important everyday. Do you know what possibly could be affected by idle warming?

[JHZR2]

Some of the additive chemistry in your oil requires certain temperatures to be active. Additionally, when not putting load on the engine, there is a LOT less flow through the engine, and as such, there is a lot less heat generated and so everything is heatin and expanding much slower.  

Your engine is designed with certain tolerances.  THese tolerances are really reached at operating temperature.  Before that, things contract as they are cold.  You want everything to operate with reasonable "tightness", and rely on hydrodynamic regimes of lubrication.  Until the oil is warm (takes a lot longer than the water) and the engine has gone through its thermal cycle, greater wear occurs, combustion efficiency is decreased, etc.  Not to mention that from idling, due to the lower operational temperatures, you tend to loadd your oil with more fuel and water - neither are good for protecting your bearings...

The best thing to do any time the oil is not up to temp (it takes about 15-20 miles to get up to temp), and especially when the water is still not up to temp, is to drive gently and conservatively, so that the mild loading heats up the engine quicky, but you are not putting any undue stress or wear on your engine.  

JMH

JMH

[Abrax]

Guys!
-> It is nice to place a heating bar inside the oil sump and warm Your oil enough just before the ride

Sounds funny, but I've tried this method with my old TOYOTA diesel engine last winter.... It works just perfect :-) Few minutes with 220V and You have warm enough oil to launch even without engines electric heaters!

[JHZR2]

there is a balance that should be considered.  Flow aside (your oil MUST flow, or else), the tolerances change as the engine is heated.  if oil is heated up too much in the sump, without the engine being heated up (such as the case in an engine block heater), the oil may run the risk of flowing too much, but not providing the correct buffering of parts due to it "thinning"out.

You want to be in a regime of hydrodymanic lubrication.  Warmed oil may flow better but not be correct to buffer parts well.

Just a theory, and likely overthinking it... we want warm oil, as the additives are active at temperature, but we want a warm block so that the tolerances are correct.  it is all a balancing act.  there is a reason why 0w-, 5w-, 10w-, etc oils are optimal for modern IC engines... not by accident.  The automakers could have specified fully additized kerosine if that was thebest.  All engineering is a tradeoff, but once we get flow, we best not push it much...

JMH

[Abrax]

Nice:-) I didn't know about this corelation between oil and the parts... Till now, I thought that heating the oil is enough... thanks :-)

So isn't it this way, that we should have different oil in winter when the temperature is around -10 celsius degrees and different in the summer when the temperature at night is aroung +20 ??

What exact oil would it be?

[John W]

A well maintained 318i will have the unfortunate issue of not producing enough waste heat to keep itself warm.  Due to the small engine size, relatively good efficiency, large oil sump and good radiator, the engine cools quickly.  

Ever notice how fast the temp needle falls after shutting it off in the wintertime?  Much faster than our other 8 cars.  I can't attribute it to anything but overdesign of the thermal systems, with their high efficiency being a bit too much in the winter.

Anyway, my point is that even with the right thermostat, etc., these engines tend to run cool if youre not driving really hard and fast.  As a result, they are more prone to having condensation in the oil.  This is generally seeon on the dipstick and the oil filler cap first and foremost.  

Essentially my take away from owning mine for >5 years and a lot of miles now (by no means an expert, but I have seen this phenomena and have tried to understand its cause to best mitigate it) is that you have to take it for a bit moire sustained highway driving in the winter, and change your oil right before and after the winter... to optimize protection.

Unless its real severe, Id consider it normal.  Might want to do an oil analysis to determine actual water loading in your oil.

JMH

I'm glad I saw this post. Today is the coldest day we've had this winter. (It was 19 degrees F at 9 a.m. this morning.) My car does run cool; it gets out of the blue on the coolant gauge, but never gets to the half way point. I also have a 1.5 mile drive to work and rarely put more than 10 miles a day on this car -- even when running errands.

Long story short: Today I checked my oil (dipstick and under the cap) and saw a lot of moist gunk mixed in with the oil. The coolant looks fine, there is no coolant loss, no coolant on the ground and no white smoke from the tail pipe.

I took it for a long drive this afternoon, as the oil probably hasn't reached optimum temprature in weeks.

My car has Mobil 1 Syn. 15w-50, which is usually fine all year around here, but I'm beginning to wonder if I should switch to something else for winter.

[JHZR2]

Please perform a Used Oil Analysis and post the results here.  If you have significant water or signs of damage/issues, it will be highlighted.  

Purchase a kit or kits from here:
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/oai.aspx?zo=1556971

And I will provide a special discount (PM me for details).  When you post the results, I can look at them and have a pretty decent idea of how your engine is doing, wear-wise.  Even without a baseline, it is relatively easy to see if things are out of whack.

Ill do the same for any other M42club members who are interested and think they may have issues, as well.

PM me if interested.

JMH