peanut butter in my oil fill cap?

trailhogg

Well-known member
Feb 26, 2005
377
0
45
Hermitage Pennsylvania
seriously, took off the oil fill cap tonight to add half quart and the cap was filled with a peanut butter like substance. Is this coolant in my oil? The oil on the dipstick looked fine. I must say that i use a oil additive.

thanks
 

ArmyRover

Well-known member
Dec 4, 2007
3,230
1
Augusta, GA
Been doing a lot of short trips by chance?

Our ML does the same thing when the wife does a lot of short around town trips it's just moisture build up on the cap nothing to worry about if the oil looks fine.
 

brianhoberg

Well-known member
Apr 16, 2007
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San Antonio, TX
www.brianhoberg.com
what I found was that generally yes, it does mean there is coolant getting into your oil. My experience comes from having that occur on my 86 Bronco II. I had to replace the engine because it threw a rod shortly after.
 

Two Cold Soakers

Well-known member
Apr 24, 2007
1,450
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49
At your mom's
I've seen this in the winter time, when the temps are below 20. If it's the gray milkshake looking crud up in the hollow of the cap....

My experience has been that all of my cars and trucks (dohc v-8, honda 4 cyl, inline iron block 4, v6,) will deposit this goo in the deep wintertime. My guess is condensation not getting cooked out of the crankcase, or forming in the cold recess of the cap or filler neck.

I wipe it out with a paper towel. Look again in a few days, and you'll see water droplets forming. Won't happen in the summertime, or even when ambient temps are above freezing.

FWIW, I did lose a head gasket on a car and had coolant mixing with the crankcase oil. It was a similar substance, but it was on the dipstick, in the oil when changed, the oil was gray, with microscopic bubbles throughout.

This is not that, if this is what it is.
 

Dallas

Well-known member
Oct 4, 2006
303
0
Short trips where the engine does not reach full operating temperature in the winter can do this. It's condensation, change the oil and run an oil thats diesel rated, so it has lots of detergents and dispersants to clean up the mess. I recomend any oil thats ACEA or euro rated for diesels. Running a flush before changing the oil might also work if you think the internals are really dirty, A good flush will nutralize harmful crankcase acids.