Was just under the 99 SE to install a new o-ring around the oil level sensor (had a small drip). I drained out 4 quarts of oil to do the sensor o-ring install. I put everything back together on the under side and roller 'er down off the ramps to add the oil. (The oil was just changed 1,200 miles ago so wasn't ready for a full change).

I popped off the oil fill cap to find this in the cap:

I poured out water from the cap!

This is a shot of the filler neck:


And here'* the coolant bottle (engine was cold when I did this work):


Now..a little history. Car has 93,000 on it. I just did the upper intake and lower gasket work in June at 77,000. Engine does not consume ANY coolant. It has been meticuously maintained from day 1. I constantly check fluids and change oil every 2,800 miles.

Anyone have any ideas of what'* going on here??? The water in the crankcase makes me real nervous! Any time I've ever seen white sludge on a oil fill cap it'* never a good ending...usually a tell-tale sign of internal damage.

Ideas?!?!

Mark

I've heard of engines having condensation in them but havent' seen them that bad.. usually the dipstick rusts sometimes. Check out your dipstick. what does it look like?

Dipstick looks 100% normal.

I'm gonna pull a couple plugs next...

Pour in a bottle of Seafoam engine cleaning stuff. Run the car for a few hundred miles.. and maybe buy another bottle to pour half in the PCV valve when you do the oil, and then the rest when you change the oil. Let the engine warm up when you do the oil change after a few hundred miles. Be sure to get everything out, and clean up any of the crap you see on the filler cap. If it still comes back.. you probably have a very serious problem on your hands.


-justin

I just pulled the front 3 plugs and they looked great. Light tan with very little carbon deposits. They are about 10,000 miles old.

I also pulled the PCV. Nothing out of the ordinary with it...had a nice coating of oil, but otherwise in tact. The valve still rattled. I cleaned it and reinstalled it.

I decided to continue the oil change. I drained out the remaining oil and removed the filter. I also dumped another quart of fresh oil through the the crankcase to "flush" out any remaining water (not sure if it'll really help...but it makes me feel better).

Would the condensation in the cap have anything do with very short distance driving? 90% of the time the engine is started and only driven .75 miles (wife works really close to home). The engine never reaches operating temperature except on long trips.

Yep, that'll kill you.

Make sure once a week, you take the car out for a drive, at least 30 miles, and make sure the car gets up to running temp, and once it warms up to give her a couple red line shifts. That will help clear up that problem. That is the source of all your problems, I don't know what else to tell you, other than short trips are bad. Water on the crank bearings causes pitting, which is bad.


-justin

Thinking out loud here...would my 180 degree stat contribute to this issue?!

Naw.. it'* more of a matter of how long you drive the car once it gets to running temp. The 180* 'stat only decreased your already too high running temp 10 or so degrees. It'* more of how long the car is at x running temp, and not the value of x.


-justin

Yeah its kind of strange, removing the water and other byproducts of the combustion process is the PCV'* job. Having water in the block would generally indicate a failure of the mechanism. Short drives will definately make it worse though. Thats one of the reasons we have a stock thermostat that runs so hot; to boil it off. Thats also why its suggested you change your oil at closer intervals if you mainly do short driving.

My suggestion would be to make sure all the PCV related pieces are in good order. Other than that maybe make a habit of going to the store a ways down the street for a cup of coffee or something each morning. At the very least let the car warm up to operating temp before driving off.

When I first saw those pictures I was going to say your TB gasket has bit the dust again until you mentioned .75 mile commute. The condensation in that engine after cool down never gets a chance to burn off. You probably should change oil every 1000. That kind of driving is probably the worst thing you can do to an engine.