kmcn47

Now i don't often freak out, but im stumped and this problem is bad.
about a week or so ago i had a problem with gas in my oil. i thought it was caused by a bad vacuum canister purge valve. i replaced the part and did an oil and filter change. well i checked again today and its doing it again. the lid of my air cleaner has this nasty milky substance on it that wreaks something unholy, and it looks like the breather tube is puffing steam. but it has that same awful smell. guys i need help. i cant afford to replace parts until i find whats wrong. is it the fuel pump? is it something to do with vacuum and the canister ect. did i lose a lobe on my camshaft? my dad said that could be it. but on a 40 something thousand mile car i doubt it. really don't want to blow up my baby. any help is appreciated

kmcn47

canister "purge/control/ect" valve is hooked up correctly. was backwards before?

kmcn47

just found some broken wiring in the harness to my cts thinking, well hoping that this is my problem

NagleMac

iTrader: (1)

Gas in oil means you're running very rich or you have a piston ring problem

kmcn47

well on an engine this fresh i dont think i have a ring problem, its always run a little rich but its never done this before, i replaced the cts and hopefully that was my issue, if not im gonna try o2s and then the fuel pump. i've heard the carter M6626 is the best of the standard replacements?

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Fuel mixed with oil does not produce a "nasty milky substance" .

Coolant mixed with oil most certainly does .....

PS , fuel in the oil would not cause the same "awful smell" to appear from the breather as steam .

That would be coolant as well .....

I believe a cooling system pressure test would be most revealing here ......

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

If it is fuel in the oil, that's my first candidate. And, yes, that is a good choice for a replacement.

But, the milky stuff - init said it - coolant. Cracked block, leaking intake manifold gasket, leaking head gasket - most common sources.

kmcn47

i thought it was coolant at first, several people told me "oh no that's gas in the oil" any chance i get lucky and this is somehow caused by a bad radiator cap or something? i thought if i was mixing the two my oil would all look like cappuccino by now, its still dark and mostly black

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Ok , ya seem to be moving the goalposts a bit here . In your first post , you mention "milky" (which IS the hallmark calling card of coolant in the oil) and now it's "still dark and mostly black" ??? These two statements are the direct polar opposite of each other and no further help can be proposed untill you determine exactly what it is that your seeing !

Let me tell you something here , , , , My formal training is in Aircraft (FAA certified A/P mechanic) . I know for fact that for extreme cold weather operations larger piston engine powered aircraft are equipped with an oil dilution system which allows a small amount of gasoline into the oil purposefully with the effect of thinning the oil . When you shut down a piston engine in a below zero environment the oil when cooled becomes like molasses and will not allow the engine to rotate fast enough to start . If just before shutdown the oil dilution is employed , the oil (thinned by the gasoline put into it) will be thin enough to allow the engine to rotate . Once restarted , and as soon as the engine has reached normal operating temperature , the fuel VERY quickly evaporates out of the oil and the oil again has it's original thickness untill thinned again for the next shutdown ....

You may be wondering the point of the above paragraph , and it is this ;

The oil in these aircraft is diluted with fuel at each shutdown . The fuel evaporates out at each start . NEVER does this process produce ANY kind of "milky" this or "dark brown" that , and so there is no way that what your seeing is fuel ! You may in fact have more than one problem if you are smelling fuel in the oil (maybe a leaking fuel pump as previously mentioned) , , BUT , the milky crap is a situation all to it's own .

My original recommendation still stands , a cooling system pressure test must be the very next thing you do here , as only that will establish whether or not your cooling system is leaking into your engine . My bet is that it IS leaking , and that's where the milkshake is coming from .....

kmcn47

no they're still in the same place your just watching a different game. i never said my oil was milky and white, the only milky white stuff is as stated on the lid of the air cleaner and in the pcv breather filter. as stated before it looks like the car is puffing out steam when its running. ive smelled coolant and oil before when i rebuilt the 3.4 in my moms camaro, it had a cracked block and that smell is nothing like this one. the oil both on my dipstick in the filter and when looking in through the oil cap opening in the valve cover, is still the correct color and still feels like oil (even if it is a bit black) while i appreciate your help, i don't appreciate the condescension that i can pickup in your post. especially when you failed to read my posts correctly.

now i do understand its hard to get whats going on, that's one of the reasons im so stumped. my oil looks fine, the car runs fine, im not losing any coolant, my coolant is still perfectly green as the day i added it, my hoses are a bit older but should still be fine, i have a newer safety release cap 16lbs like factory. the thermostat has been replaced recently. everything seems to be functioning perfectly normally except this bit of "puffing steam" and the bit of milky white awful smelling **** on the air cleaner lid. and i do mean a bit most of which is in the breather filter not on the air cleaner lid and all in all since ive seen it there hasn't been enough of the milky white stuff to fill the cap of a Gatorade bottle. its mostly been the wreaking condensation. the only trouble lately that Ive had with the car was getting gas, not vapor but liquid fuel through the canister purge valve. I'll say again i thought when i first saw it that it was coolant, i was told by quite a few people who all saw the air cleaner lid and smelled it and all said "oh no that's gas"

upon further inspection and after having replaced all my vacuum lines and the purge valve aswell. i found broken wiring on the way to the cts. apparently its been replaced before as there were about 6 inches too long of wiring going to it. i can also say for anyone reading this electrical tape is not how you join wires permanently as it can get hard as a rock and crack in half, like this tape on these wires did. new wires soldered and new sensor in hopefully that could have been causing my problem. a bad cts could easily have caused a rich running condition leading to gas in oil. perhaps my "puffing steam" could have been this gas evaporating out of the oil, i don't know Ive never had it happen before. if i can get my camera to work I'll have video to show whats going on as i'm sure its not easy to understand.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Well there ya have it , and no , I was not attempting to be condesending , for that you have my apology if it looked that way in print . It was a reaction of being unsure of exactly what your seeing and yes , certainly a video or pictures would be a big help . Oh yea , also , your 100% right about the electrical tape , Heat shrinkable tubing being the weapon of choice there .

kmcn47

Hey that's okay. No feelings hurt. Wouldn't you know it though I go and charge that camera. Get everything ready. Go out and start the car up. Let it run for a good 20-25 minutes so its warm and idleing good. And its only stopped doing it. That's good I guess. I was hoping it'd be fixed. But now I can't show anyone what it was doing

jakemussman

iTrader: (3)

Could be a condensation issue? Do you make a lot of short trips?

kmcn47

I suppose its possible. I usually only drive the car to work and back. And that's only about five minutes from my house

eseibel67

There's your problem right there - 5 minute trips in cold climate will cause the moisture problem.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

+1.

kmcn47

is it a problem? or will it be fine as long as the car gets brought up to temperature later? like say i get off work and go for a 20 minute drive down the interstate to get it out, should i be okay?

eseibel67

Yes it's bad to have water in the oil. 20 minute drive is better than 5. In cold climate it's good practice to get everything, including the transmission, really nice and hot once in a while.

kmcn47

i'll have to make it a habit of going for some long cruises.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

I had a 20 mile commute back in the early 90's and was collecting milky residue under the oil fill cap, valve covers, etc. The oil stayed "black". Turned out the rebuilt engine I bought started out with a core with cracks in the lifter valley.