Not to mention the fact that there are places in many engines where coolant can leak into the crankcase in a place where there is no oil pressure providing resistance. Eg. in a small block v8, coolant could leak from the coolant passages in the cylinder head, through a leak in the head gasket or intake manifold gasket, into the lifter valley. In a place like that, there would be no oil pressure resisting the coolant.
Should I be worried? Nasty under the oil cap...
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Not to mention the fact that there are places in many engines where coolant can leak into the crankcase in a place where there is no oil pressure providing resistance. Eg. in a small block v8, coolant could leak from the coolant passages in the cylinder head, through a leak in the head gasket or intake manifold gasket, into the lifter valley. In a place like that, there would be no oil pressure resisting the coolant.
I am not a big fan of BMW's crankcase venting, but a cooling system pressure test is the next step.
Do your radiator hoses go soft quickly after running the car [quick cheap test]?
Congrats on keeping an eye on things - you can get it before it gets you!
Do your radiator hoses go soft quickly after running the car [quick cheap test]?
Congrats on keeping an eye on things - you can get it before it gets you!
That would be an intake gasket or a head gasket. Bet you a Cherry Coke and a bag of peanuts.
I have seen this on several M54 engines, mine is similar but not as heavy a coating as yours. The outlet for the PVC/CCV is close to the oil filler cap so it sucks the moisture / gases toward the cap. The GC should be good for a 5K OCI even with short trips. I have never used AutoRX so I doubt it had anything to do with the issue on your car.
take her on the highway for about 40 minutes, then check the cap.
If you wait until 5k and it turns out you have a coolant leak, wouldn't you feel a little foolish?
Maybe you need to get it on I-75 or Sawgrass Expressway and run it hard for a few miles.
As soon as I realized this was a BMW, I knew this was normal. My BMW had the same stuff as well as others i know. my current Auto-RX treatment using Shell Rotella-T seems to be doing a great job of eliminating it.
Hammer
Quote:
Maybe you need to get it on I-75 or Sawgrass Expressway and run it hard for a few miles.
I do spend some time on I-75 and Turnpike at least once or twice a week. I guess it's not enough though.
That's what my indy mechanic keeps telling me. I drove by his place today. He just cleaned my oil cap and wiped the area I photographed yesterday and said not to worry about it because all the bmws he sees are like that. I guess I'll draw the sample and see what Terry has to say.
Better safe than sorry. Mine doesn't look this bad, and I drive in very cold conditions at times. However, I live in a very dry place unlike you.
You need to find another mechanic.
Most cross contamination comes from areas where the oil is not under pressure. A blown headgasket doesn't usually communicate into a pressurized part of the oil system. It usually allows coolant into the crankcase.
" Oh, I am definitely planning on doing that. I already have a test kit, but wanted to wait until I hit 5k miles on this oil run. "
You can take a sample without doing and oil change. Get the engine good and hot then use a MityVac and a thin tube to suck a sample out through the dipstick hole (assuming you don't have one of those **** BMW's with no dipstick!). Make sure the MityVac bottle and tubing are spotless clean first.
You can take a sample without doing and oil change. Get the engine good and hot then use a MityVac and a thin tube to suck a sample out through the dipstick hole (assuming you don't have one of those **** BMW's with no dipstick!). Make sure the MityVac bottle and tubing are spotless clean first.
For those still interested, the UOA results are in:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...e=0#Post1014464
http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/s...e=0#Post1014464
I don't know much about UOAs, but is the 0.99 glycol OK? Doesn't seem like a huge number, but it is higher than other UOAs (different manufacturers).
Pete, to keep my oil happy & healthy I get a cigar and take a easy cruise on I-80 on Saturday or Sunday mornings.
Everybody's happy...me, the oil, and the wife (who gets me out of the house for a while).
Everybody's happy...me, the oil, and the wife (who gets me out of the house for a while).
I do it too. The church I go to is 40mins away (by hwy), one way. As a matter of fact, I pulled this UOA sample right after such a run. Still, there is water present in this sample, which should have been burned off by then.
As for the glycol, there shoulnd't be any in there, so yes, this is a problem and I will have to do another UOA to see if it persists.
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