white gunk on dipstick

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DartConvertible

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I know the white gunk on the dipstick is water, and I'm hoping it's condensation. There is no oil or sheen on the coolant, no steam, but a little water on the dipstick. Maybe it's condensation? I found it after driving 150 mi. The intake manifold was replaced by the PO, and a lot of the other work seemed to be done by trained monkeys, so maybe they messed this up too. They also had had the heads off and maybe messed up the head gaskets that way?

thanks

Peter
 
I would say that after a 150 mile drive the water on the dipstick would not be from condensation. Both are possible, intake leak, as well as the head gasket.
 
Get yourself the handpump and pressure guage that hooks to the radiator and check that the system holds pressure cold and hot.

Terry
 
If you access to a state inspection facility or a WELL equiped shop that has a hydrocarbon "sniffer" I'd pop the radiator cap after the car is warmed up and hold the probe over the coolant. If it registers you have head gasket issues, or possibly a cracked in the head. If your lucky your just going to re-seal the intake. Terry gave good advice, but a cooling system pressure tester hits about 20-odd pounds of pressure max. Cylinder pressure is considerably higher and might be hard to diagnosis with just a hand pump.

If that doesn't do it, you might have a serious issue, such as a cracked block. Start simple....
 
After a 150 mile drive any "condensation" would have "evaporated".

Change your oil, check your antifreeze level, and keep a close eye on everything until you find it.
 
i disagree that condensation would definately be totally evaporated in 150 mile trip. As he said it was "white gunk" which is the oil and water mixed which would slow the evaporation. I've chased the same problem only to conjecture it was condensation since everything else was fine. I used to run a fleet of Ford 6 cyl vans that were absolutlely terrible for this.
 
Wasn't there just another thread about this? Turned out the guy's PVC system was hooked up wrong. All I know is to make sure the vacuum is hooked up well to one valve cover, and there is a working breather on the other valve cover.
 
I stand behind what I said.

Engine temperature is 180°.
Water boils at 212°.

If DartConvertible left his house and traveled on the highway for 150 miles driving at the maximum legally allowable speed limit of 70 mph. How long would it take him to reach his destination?

If you took 5 quarts of water and heated it up on your stove to a temperature of 180° would it all be evaporated before DartConvertible reached his destination?

The answer is yes.

When water boils, it changes phases from a liquid to a gas - evaporation. The evaporation rate increases with temperature. The closer you heat it up to its boiling point, the faster it evaporates.

If I put a pot of water on my stove and boil it before adding the noodles to make my Mac-n-Cheeze and forget about it, it is all evaporated and I smell hot metal within 20 - 30 minutes. This is much more water than can be in his oil. If a pot of water can boil with in half an hour, any condensation that is in his oil would have boiled and evaporated.

This is also why you don't have to change your oil as often on a car that is driven on the highway vs one that is driven in the city. The short start and stop times do not allow the engine to reach running temperature and evaporate the water out of the oil and it collects and makes sludge.

Now think about what the oil is seeing in the engine. The oil lubricates and cools the bearings and CYLINDER WALLS. These walls have just seen an explosion of gas-air-and-FIRE. The oil is thrown on them to lubricate and cool them so the metal does not melt. The same metal that has just been through an explosion of fire. It is way hotter than the antifreeze in the radiator which is seperated by a metal wall. That surface is much hotter than the 212° needed to boil water. The oil has a much higher boiling point and will not boil/evaporate under these conditions. It forms what is called a boundry layer lubrication (or hydraulic barrier) which supports the forces of the connecting rods pushing down on the crank shaft from the force of the explosion on top of the piston, and keeps the bearings and crank journals from contacting metal-to-metal. It also keeps the pistons and rings from going metal-to-metal contact with the cylinder walls and tearing each other apart from the shear forces acting upon them. The same surfaces that have just been exposed to an explosion of fire. Any water that sees these conditions is not going to hang around very long. Like a chain is only as strong as its weakest link - guess who is going bye-bye.

Normal condensation would be evaporated on a 150 mile trip. Even cars with many short trips in the city do not turn white. If there is enough left over to turn white, then you should start checking things out. That is not normal.

Maybe they did not change the oil after pulling the intake and spilling antifreeze in the oil valley and a simple oil change will take care of that. If the parts are not sealed properly and are leaking into the engine, it should be fixed before it causes damage.
 
I didn't say it shouldn't be checked, just said it may simply be condensation . I agree with your anaolgy on oiling with the exception that the normal/optimum operating temp of engine oil is 180 to 210...temps above this cause the oil to break down and loose viscocity and therefore loose it lubricating quality. I also agree a vehicle that is "normally" operated on the freeway needs the oil changed less then an in-town driver.
What we need to hear from DartConvertible is how the 150 miles was driven, was it at 70 mph or did he putt up the coast and make a few stops along the way? What the outside temp and humidity level was, I'm pretty sure he lives in northern CA, which is damp and cool this time of year. How long had the car been sitting and where, outside, a cold garage, or temp controlled storage? Another thing is the white gunk is typically in the dip stick tube and on the upper part of the dipstick, where the hottest oil doesn't reach, IMHO
 
Thanks, you guys are a huge help. Okay: from the Sea Ranch to the DMV in Fort Bragg at 45-50 mph tops. Really really twisty; the section called Mal Paso is a test of drum brakes and tire adhesion. Temp 45-50 degrees and drizzly. The car has been outside. It doesn't run hot. The gunk is like a 1/4- 1/2" glob on the bottom of the dipstick. I thought that if that was the case, there would be a layer of this stuff on the oil? The oil pump pickup picks up oil from near the bottom of the pan, right? The PO had his trained monkeys change the intake manifold (carb etc.), and I thought that would be one place that there could be a minor leak. They botched so much else, nothing would surprise me. The guy in town who has been working on it for me said that condensation is a big problem around here.

Hope to cross this off the list soon.

Peter
 
What brand of oil do you use? I'll reply more after I find out what brand of oil you use.
 
For a while I was having big issues with water getting into the oil. I did what i thought was best, which was panic. That didn't help much. Then I remembered that I had recently changed the intake, so I pulled it off and noticed that the intake gaskets were all wet around the ports. So I changed gaskets, made sure that everything was sitting right and put it all back together. Same thing... so I pulled it apart again, changed from Fel-Pro to Ultra Seal gaskets (Mr. Gasket, I think), used a lot of RTV around the ports, put it all back together carefully and haven't had any issues since.

You mentioned that you had a bunch of monkeys changing your intake recently, maybe the monkeys didn't make sure that the gaskets were in position correctly or didn't use RTV around the ports. Monkeys aren't all that good at engine assembly, you know.
 
yes, I know, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. It appears to be condensation, but I'm keeping my eyes on it. Fortunately, the monkeys didn't do a lot, it's pretty original and unmolested. I'm just cleaning up after them.

Peter
 
DartConvertible said:
yes, I know, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. It appears to be condensation, but I'm keeping my eyes on it. Fortunately, the monkeys didn't do a lot, it's pretty original and unmolested. I'm just cleaning up after them.

Peter
Click to expand...

Peter, I trust that did change the oil after finding the gunk and if so what was it's condition. Was it all milky with strains of white running through it? You said that there was a goob of gunk on the bottom of the dip stick and I gather not at the top of the dip stick. When the shop did the engine did they add any oil additives like STP or other.
 
The oil is being changed tomorrow. There has been no change to the water in the radiator, no change in level and no gunk in there. I don't know what was done to the engine, other than it was rebuilt about 30k ago. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks

Peter
 
had the same problem and it was traced back to the timing cover on small block water pesssages were not sealing due to it being corroded and the water was rolling down the oil pan
 
71dartstroker said:
had the same problem and it was traced back to the timing cover on small block water pesssages were not sealing due to it being corroded and the water was rolling down the oil pan
Click to expand...

I found that same thing on a small block. The previous owner had the heads done to no avail and thought the block must have been cracked. It turned out to be the timing cover had corroded letting water in the engine.
 
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