Water and Oil mixing...HELP!

[Sophia69IS]

So I've been noticing kind of a shitty idle going on, so I decide to look at my vacuum hoses, and the ugly sludge of water and oil mixture greets me.

The first thing I think is head gasket problems. But over a few tests....no water in the oil pan, or residue, I checked the compression on each cylinder to see if there was any indication of a head gasket leak, and there wasn't enough difference inbetween any of the cylinders to support that theory.

One thing contributing to this may be the fact that I just recently removed my throttle body heater.

How could water be getting into my vacuum lines??



Here are the sites that I chose to look at, all of them had the same oil/water sludge build-up.

This hose runs from my valve cover directly to my throttle body.



The shit inside. =(





Does anyone have any ideas? or anything I should do? I was thinking about putting a catch can in between so the oil and water could have a place to go instead of sitting in the lines, but I do not really like that idea, because it doesn't really solve anything.

any help would be greatly appreciated.....!

Thanks!!!

[twright]

Mine looks like this, too.  I believe its a normal condition that occurs in the winter time.  If an engine is running perfectly, the products of combustion are CO2 + Water.  Some of this water makes its way past the piston rings and then it ends up in the crankcase breather system.  In the summer, this water just evaporates and is gone.  In the winter, in some engines, it shows up as real water, like in your pictures.

My first experience with this was a 1967 Mercury Cougar (289 engine).  I thought it had a bad head gasket, so I change the head gaskets outside, in the parking lot, in Indianapolis, in February.  It still had that nasty white stuff on it after I changed the gaskets.  And the nasty white stuff would return every winter, for the next 5 years that I owned the car.  The white stuff never appeared in the summer.

Many years passed, and I bought a brand new 2000 VW Beetle.  In the first winter, the nasty white stuff appeared, so I took it to the dealer to have if fixed under warranty.  He told me they all did that, and since it was under warranty, I believed him.  I drove that car for 80,000 miles, and the white stuff appeared every winter.

So to conclude this long story:  If you don't have water in the oil and the white stuff disappears in the summer, don't worry about it.

[Sophia69IS]

hmmm....that is very interesting.....thank you!

I went to an automotive place and asked around and the guy there said that was normal and I should flush my system with Seafoam? Any one know anything about that?

All I ended up doing was cleaning out my vacuum lines with a wire hanger and a cloth.

Hopefully it will go away when the warmer weather returns.

Do you think that taking off my throttle body heater has anything to do with it? Because it does heat the intake? I didn't notice any build-up in those hoses before I took it off, just a little oil from time to time.

Anyhow, I am ready for warmer weather. =P

[AcSchnitzer318is]

Seafoam worked pretty well for me.  Made the inside of my engine all sparkly clean and I believe removed most of the carbon from the exhaust as well.  LOL it's a little scary though watching your car smoke that much.  Do a youtube search of "seafoam" and you will see videos showing you how to do it and what to expect.

[xwill112x]

on the topic of seafoam....

where do you pour it into your vaccum lines at....the line with the check valve on it?

[Sophia69IS]

I've never used it. AC what sort of results did you get with it? I was recommended to it. The videos on youtube show it going in the gas tank, and the vacuum line off of the brake master cylinder power box. I guess it seems legit. The video also said something about it thinning your oil, so you should change your oil after you do it.

[Jimmy Lewis]

Condensation mixed with oil tends to look a lot like dijon mustard. I don't think you have anything to worry about, occasionally I will have a little bit of that sludge around my oil filler cap where condensation sits and mixing with oil.

I have run seafoam in my gas before but nothing more, I have heard mixed reviews about putting it in the oil. In such an older motor that probably had dino oil in it early on, the seals may begin to leak if too much of the sludge is cleaned out, same kind of reasoning people use when talking about switching over to synthetic.

[Cristian G in Oz]

I wouldn't worry about this.

It will be condensation coming from the inlet (when the motor is off) mixing with the oil residue coming out of the rocker cover vent (which connects into the inlet).

You usually only need to worry if your geting this type of sludge in the oil pan/sump.

It is probably more noticable in winter due to teh higher moisture content in the ambient air.

[Sophia69IS]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Hmm...the odd thing is that I didn't notice it before I removed my throttle body heater.

But there is not indication to me that there is any water in the oil pan or sump.
I'm hoping the warmer weather should clear things up. =)

As far as Seafoam, I was a little worried about my engine being old, and well worn in (256,000+ miles) and blasting that stuff through it.

Jimmy...do you think running Seafoam in your gas did any good?

I do have a small oil leak, somewhere that I haven't sorted out yet.

[Jimmy Lewis]

No I honestly don't think it did anything at all. On the other hand, I did run a can through the carb of my 1970 Honda CT70 and it made it run much better, but who is to say. I can't say that I ever will put it in my car again, as there isn't much that I want it to fix anywho.

P.S. I'm not pointing any fingers, but this is the engine management forum, it is supposed to be dedicated to ecu's and the like. Carry on.