When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Changed my oil today and noticed a bit of a white substance on the other side of my oil cap. Not an alarming amount but it caught my eye. In the oil bucket it almost looks rust colored. Not sure if I should be concerned here or if it's nothing
To me it doesn't look like anything to worry about. I would check your fluids regularly and it you really want to be safe send in a sample for oil analysis (Blackstone, etc.)
Changed my oil today and noticed a bit of a white substance on the other side of my oil cap. Not an alarming amount but it caught my eye. In the oil bucket it almost looks rust colored. Not sure if I should be concerned here or if it's nothing
may be a serious problem, rusty engine oil color may indicate antifreeze, head gasket failure?
I wouldn't be concerned as long as you know the history of the vehicle (meaning it's been yours for a while). I tend to overthink things due to still being curious like a child. But when I was growing up my dad was tough. He told me cars are not delicate and don't worry (as mentioned my Volvo had two blown head gaskets [v6] so he was right in theory but wrong in the specific case--I had told him it had no power and the oil seemed milky--he still told me not to worry lol. But our cars do seem tough--they can run with zero coolant in the reservoir and none to be seen in the radiator yet not overheat (mine is proof it was that way when I got it in 2016, here it is 38 months later)
may be a serious problem, rusty engine oil color may indicate antifreeze, head gasket failure?
Thats the first thing my mind went to as well, but the exhaust smells fine and the dip stick was not frothy when i pulled it out with the old oil. Valvoline changed my oil last, so perhaps they made a mistake or something? The time before that the oil change was done by me and at that time it looked fine. I checked my radiator fluid and the level in the resevoir was low, but in the radiator the level was all the way to the top.
I'll check the dipstick at 1000 miles and if I see frothy white death, I'm taking it to my mechanic and fingers crossed its not serious.
It is also possible that the color is a result of whatever was left over in the oil catch can before I filled it up.
Thats the first thing my mind went to as well, but the exhaust smells fine and the dip stick was not frothy when i pulled it out with the old oil. Valvoline changed my oil last, so perhaps they made a mistake or something? The time before that the oil change was done by me and at that time it looked fine. I checked my radiator fluid and the level in the resevoir was low, but in the radiator the level was all the way to the top.
I'll check the dipstick at 1000 miles and if I see frothy white death, I'm taking it to my mechanic and fingers crossed its not serious.
It is also possible that the color is a result of whatever was left over in the oil catch can before I filled it up.
If was mixture from catch can that would be better. Hopefully, it was a false alarm....
On second thought I've decided to take it to my mechanic on Monday and have him look it over. I showed him the pictures and he says it could be a problem. He mentioned that it could be snow from residual snow on the oil pan. He also said he could do a pressure test and find where the leak is, because my car is defintely leaking coolant somewhere. Its $30 for the pressure test, so not breaking the bank and it'll give me peace of mind. I'll report back next week with what he says.
Last edited by westopill; Dec 12, 2019 at 01:30 PM.
Well, my mechanic did a leak test and found no external leaks anywhere. I think you know what that means... Headgasket failure. With that being said I think it's time to trade in the car. I'm in need of a car that gets better fuel economy since my student loans need to be paid off now.
If there is any other logical reason for coolant to seep into the engine other than the headgasket post your insight here. Otherwise, it's been nice being an LS owner once again.
The only other logical reasons for an internal coolant leak are even worse; cracked head or block. What does the under side of the oil fill cap look like? Water vapor in the crankcase will condense there and leave a residue.
That doesn't look good. Is the lighter colored area wet or is it just discolored plastic? If it wipes off that's coolant residue. If you can, have your mechanic do a leakdown/differential pressure test. This will confirm if the coolant leak is internal.
Check the tranny fluid for discoloration. One of my neighbors had one of the cooling tubes in the radiator rupture so he had red tranny fluid in the coolant and coolant in the tranny. The oil seemed ok but there was a bit of coolant as he also suspected he had a BHG.
In the big picture I would not worry. And, I am a worrier, so that should say something.
On the BMW forum, a person forgot to fill the crankcase doing an oil change. Surprisingly, many stepped forward and said they have had something like that happen to them.
As humans, we've got to somehow not worry about things that don't need worrying about, but we're human. And this is how the insurance man takes our money down. Heck, I worried about my lug nuts that didn't seem to want to stay tight, and simply put, once I reloosened them all, and retightened them all, they were fine.
imho judging oil by looks or by smell is like trying to figure out if your tires need air, by look, not measuring. Hope I'm making sense, if not, seriously, the oil can always be analyzed to make sure it's ok, or not. The real judge is if the engine works. When my Volvo had blown head gaskets, the car could barely accelerate to 30 mph.
Should I be concerned?
