Puke Tank Froth

[JJCobra]

After driving the 20 miles to work this morning, I noticed there was a white milky substance in the oil return tube from the puke tank to the oil pan and a thin film of the same milky white/light brown stuff in the puke tank. It was the first time I have driven the car in three months with the exception of a short 15 mile drive about a month ago. I looked at the dipstick and it looked normal (no froth) and I also checked the surge tank and there was no oily film floating on the coolant. It has been over a year since I changed the oil but I’ve only driven it 400 miles since then.

I’m concerned that it is a head gasket, but could it just be condensation in the oil since it has been so wet lately? It was also fairly cold this morning and the water temp never got above 75C.

What should I be doing to make sure that it isn't something that needs more attention?

Thanks for the help....

Jason

[Bobcat]

Jason .... my guess is that the oil never got up to temperature . Short drives in cooler weather means that your oil never gets hot enough to evaporate the moisture that accumulates from short drives . You probably don`t have a problem .... take the car out and drive it until it gets up to temp on the oil .... 180 degrees or higher for about 30 minutes and you`ll be ok .

[DougD]

I agree. I freaked out a couple of years ago when I popped the filler cap off my wife's 4.6L Mustang engine and found the same thing. Looked horrible in there. One good, hot run up the interstate, though, and it all disappeared.

If you have an oil cooler, your oil may not be getting up to temp to burn the moisture off.

There are several threads here that discuss the pros/cons of our oil coolers, and the consensus is we probably don't need one unless actually racing, which few do. Food for thought.

[undy]

Better safe then sorry, If you're running an antifreeze/water mix for your cooling system then I'd recover some of the froth and have it lab tested for glycol content. If it's present then it's not condensation. Additionally, I'd probably run a coolant system pressure test before the results came back. You also might pull a valve cover to see what's inside.

BTW... I taste tested my "froth" to determine glycol content, no lab required.



http://clubcobra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105684

[Michael C Henry]

I went on a trip up the peninsula, about five hours of driving. Next morning at the motel while checking things I found the oil almost gone and replaced with grey gunk. bought 10 qt of mobil 1. The engine had been running warm up the coastwher its cool enough a sweatshirt were needed, and on the way back inland way the weather was warmer but engine wasrunning cooler. Once I returned to home I tested and blamed the Print-O-seal intake gaskets.
The front ends of the intake manifold gaskets where the coolant crossover ports are, was absolutly shreded around the coolant ports. I changed to the Victor-Renze gaskets and haven't had that problem again. The Victor Gaskets FE intake manifold gaskets are availble only through certain retail distributors, not on shelfs, consdered hiperformance = special order =no discount+ shipping and sales tax paid upfront. Sorry I'd like to pay less than suggested list. My standard is it's either sales tax or shipping costs, not both.

[fordracing65]

oil will froth up in a dohc engine at high rpm

[JJCobra]

Just as a follow up, it was simply condensation in the oil. I blocked off the oil cooler scoop and gave her a good workout and got the oil up to 85C on a relatively cool day. I also ran it without the fan on to make sure I was generating as much heat and the water temp only got to 95C. Once I took it home, the puke tank tubes were clear though there was still a little froth in the puke tank, but no more than there was before. The next step is to clean up the puke tank, change the oil. and run her around again.

Thanks.... Jason