engine and drivetrain White stuff on oil cap and rough running....

[Lars]

Tuesday night I noticed while working on the car that there was a small amount of white stuff on the oil cap and the valve breather hose. This is the first I've seen it on the car. I was adjusting the spark plugs to .040 (Ignition setup is a pertronix ignitor with a pertronix flamethrower coil and 8mm wires) which helped yesterday in smoothing the engine out and allowed it to rev easier. It ran great yesterday.

Today though after plowing through some snow to get out of my neighborhood the car started to run a little rough, didn't seem to be down on power though. When I got to work I checked the breather hose and it had a bunch of the white foam stuff on it and the oil cap was covered underneath. I did have a filter on the breather opening but removed it the other day and stuck some long hose on there with the elbow thing that connects it to the carb, although have not connected it yet.

Since it has been cold recently I'm hoping it is just condensation that is causing this. My drives to work and home are only about 15 minutes max.

As for the rough running, I figured it could be related to that white crap if it is a coolant leak, but wouldn't it overheat too? The spark plug were white and crusty when I checked them the other night. I did double check to make sure the plug wires were seated correctly. It seems rougher at idle, but at times it was like it was missing as I accelerated also, but not all the time.

Seeing as how it is New Years Eve, I think I might take a half day and get some oil, a filter and some new plugs. I was thinking about connecting the breather to the carb like it is supposed to be but with it doing this should I? What else should I look at?

[72Golf]

I figured it could be related to that white crap if it is a coolant leak, but wouldn't it overheat too? The spark plug were white and crusty when I checked them the other night.

White and crusty plugs are a sign of overheating or running very lean.

Check your coolant for an oil slick or chocolate milk.

Has it been drinking coolant lately?

[Guest Anonymous]

are you losing coolant? If not, then the milkshake stuff is probably just condesation - change your oil. The car shoulden't overheat if the coolant is ok, even if there is a leak into the oil. It might have run rough in the snow because the wires got wet - try spraying a little water on the engine (mist it) and see if it runs rough or if you can see sparks from stuff shorting out.

[Lars]

Not really, there is a small leak of coolant I believe at the hose under the intake manifold, but it is fairly slow. The coolant looked fine the other day, I wasn't able to check it today since it was after the drive to work and it was hot. I will check it later.

[Lars]

I'm running 20W50 in it right now, should I go with a lower weight for the winter?

[Richard]

The white and crusty plugs signal a lean condition. As mentioned above. Lean enough and the engine will run rough. A cracked head between 2 and 3 that may only leak when hot is a possibility. If your not laying down white smoke(steam) out of the exhaust every once in a while your probably ok as far as coolant. As mentioned above it may just be condensation. 20-50W is not meant for use below 40 degrees. Read the oil container. I would go a 5 or 10 W thirty...Good luck.....

[c.d.iesel]

2 things

your engine coolent operating temp is too low

it's needs to be 176* minimum

your also on the choke/enriched mixture

almost 50% of your drive time which also

contributes to your motor not self cleaning

your drive distance/time is too short,

and your better off NOT driving the car

than building up moisture in the motor

You also build up unburned gas in the motor oil

Your operating your car in what's termed

"Sever Operation Conditions"

and you need to change the oil and filter

very often to remove that crud - no matter

what kind of oil you use

You need to find a longer to-and-from work route

which includes sustained high speed, high temp build

up to cook off harmful crankcase vapors

p.s. - you should not stray from 20W-50 oil - but if your in temps of

0* ...30*F - then 15W-50, or 10w-40 could be used. They will still

"FOAM-UP" due to your driving conditions as stated above.

Your COLD start up oil pressure will spike at 120 - 130PSI!

so this gets back to your original problem of 15 min. drives.

It take's at least 20 minutes of under-load (not idle and stop-go)

driving for the oil temp to come up to the point where the

moisture will cook off. Your coolent temp does come up

quickly, but motor oil temp lags behind at almost double

the coolent time. During your first 15 min. of driving you

should limit your revs to under 2,000 rpm because of the

low oil temp, and extremly high oil pressure.

If you have an oil pressure gauge, you will see the oil

pressure drop as the coolent temp raises, and later,

the oil temp raises. ONLY after the oil temp raises should

you apply more than 2,000 rpm.

YOU NEED LONGER DRIVE TIME during each drive.

[Lars]

Thanks guys, looks like I have some work this weekend. From another thread I found that I need to move the temp sensor for the electric fan. That should help with the coolant temp.

I haven't seen any steam coming from the exhaust so hopefully this is not a major issue.

The plugs have been in there a while now when it wasn't running its best. I'll get new ones trying .030 to see if that helps.

[Lars]

Guess I need to move farther from work. I guess there are some alternate routes that I can take that would be less stop and go and give it more time. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[Lars]

The good news is that after a longer trip home yesterday (ran by the auto parts store) there was no foam. Thanks again.

[ricortes]

While it could be the other suggestions ~like cracked head in my experience it is usually just a bad head gasket. Running the car longer just gives it a chance for the oil to heat up and cook the water off.

If it is the head gasket it will be a gradual decline in performance as you get overheating problems and rough running when the plug fouls.

Quick and dirty check would be to run the car up to operating temperature then let it sit overnight. Pull the plugs cold in the morning and check for any condensation.

Rick

[Lars]

Well, more good news. The rough running was apparently caused by a vacuum leak. One of the vacuum caps on the intake #4 runner had blown off during a back fire. I had replaced it recently with I guess one that wasn't tight enough. I have put the old one back on.

Now I have new oil (the old was really black even though it didn't have that many miles on it, but a lot of tuning was done during that time), new spark plugs (old ones were the BPR6ES NGK) new ones don't have the R. Also rerouted the fuel line (mainly to try to clean up the engine bay) and finally cleaned and hopefully sealed a leaky exhaust manifold screw.

The 02 is leaking coolant from the area of the hose that is under the intake manifold.