Strange color on dipstick...

[Bluebird]

When I checked my oil Saturday I noticed a very small trace of milky colored light-brown on the dipstick. Do you think water is in the crankcase? When I checked a few more times including the next day there was a slight trace. I did follow someone on Saturday going about 85mph for at least 25-miles. Please tell me it's not the end of the "B". Any ideas would be helpful. Truck runs fine, has the same power. Oil is about 4100 miles old. Thanks in advance to y'all, Patrick :{

 

[bgilbert]

Patrick, that there I'm sorry to say is coolant in the oil. Absolutely NOT the end of your B. Not sure exactly what I'd do immediately or how fast I would pull the head and change the head gasket, probly would let my TDR buddies tell me which I'm sure their gonna fill both of us in here... . If its not a immediate HG change out, then maybe oil change, with an oil sample taken and sent in for analysis. An oil analysis will tell you how much coolant % you have in your oil. This would tell you more, like how bad the leak is maybe...

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

I agree with Bill - the first thing I would do is to run a oil analysis to find out for sure that it's antifreeze or water.



Tell us a little about your driving on a typical day.



Bob

 

[MMiller]

Have you been losing some antifreeze lately? I would wonder if the oil cooler is leaking, but usually a person sees oil in the cooling system.



Is there bubbles in the top of the radiator while the engine is running? Start the truck and let it run with the cap off. Watch for consistant bubbles. That would show combustion in the radiator. In my truck though, when I had combustion in the cooling system the combustion would push the coolant out of the radiator. I did not have any coolant in the pan.



Pull the plug out of the oil pan after the truck sits overnight- or over the weekend. The moisture should settle out of the oil if it sits long enough. Then when you pull the plug you will get your water, or antifreeze, before you get oil. Then you could tell if the water is water, or if it is green coolant.



Michael

 

[cerberusiam]

In the right conditions and climate it is not unusual to see condensation on the dipstick. Its a combination of the oil spray and water combining and settling in a place that doesn't get much heat or circulation.



San Bernadino? Haven't you all been getting dumped on with rain and/or cool weather? Depending on how hard you work the engine those conditions are pretty conducive for some moisture problems.



No, driving 85 mph unloaded won't work it enough either.



All that said, you could have a coolant leak into the oil either from a head gasket or the oil cooler, or ??? Change the oil, do an oil analysis, and watch the dipstick for a bit and see what happens.



Good luck.

 

[DKasper]

The oil analysis is a definite must. I had a Mercury Grand Marquis with the 5. 0 in it -- it ALWAYS had that milky goop on the dipstick, even if the oil change was only 500 miles old. I sent it in and it came back positive for H2O, but not anitfreeze. I never did figure it out, but the guy I sold it too is still running it -- 180k +.



Think positive thoughts!

 

[csnider]

I live close to san berdoo and it has rained around here like never before. . Did you get your truck in the deep in the lastcouple a weeks?... . Change the oil first and check it before you pull your head off... Maybe it's that simple.....

 

[Bluebird]

Great replies everyone! The truck is my daily driver 22-miles round trip, run my kids around daily, more extensive trips of 125 to 300 miles round trip with 400-500lbs on the weekends, drove all over in the rain we had for 12-days (I know, lightweight to y'all in the snow-been there done that stuff). Coolant level has not gone down, I'll change the oil 1/21/05, and open up the radiator. Thank you all very much, thinking positive. Regards, Patrick.

 

[bmoeller]

In the right conditions and climate it is not unusual to see condensation on the dipstick. Its a combination of the oil spray and water combining and settling in a place that doesn't get much heat or circulation.

That would be my initial guess. Seen it before on a tractor that rarely gets run long enough to get the oil warm, let alone the coolant temp, to burn the moisture out.

 

[CGauthier]

I'd have to go with what cerbrusiam said, seeing you got quite a few miles on that oil... short trips are bad for this. I was driving a small 4 cyl. truck for awhile a couple years ago and it would have that milky oil no matter what, cause it was a cold winter and the thing just wouldn't heat up enough long trip or not. I'd change the oil and watch it... how do you guys go about getting an oil analysis? The oil in my truck almost has kind of a dark greenish tinge to it, i thought this was normal but now i'm starting to wonder.



Carl

 

[PMedina]

I would have the oil sampled right away. Glycol in the oil from the antifreeze can cause the main bearings and connecting rod bearings to wear very quickly. Years ago I had a leak in my oil cooler. No oil got into the coolant but coolant did enter the oil. I had the oil sampled right away. It tested positive for glycol and the copper was way up due to the bearing wear. I had to replace the main bearings and connecting rod bearings. The antifreeze also ruined the bearings in the turbo. If it were my truck and it tested positive for glycol, I would not drive it until it was fixed. The oil cooler is probably a good place to start looking. It can be removed and pressure tested. Mine passed the pressure test so they reinstalled it with new gaskets. I watched it very closely for a long time. No more problems after that. In my case one of the oil cooler gaskets was leaking.

 

[WyattEarp]

Just my 2 cents

If what your seeing is grey in color i would say moisture or condensation, not necesseraly( my spelling stinks sometimes) water from your radiator. If its antifreeze you will surely see a different color it stands out in oil and should show a green color, i might be wrong but sounds just like condensation from the block getting warm and then cooling off... . i agree short trips will cause condensation, not really a major problem but if enough gets in the oil it will cause some problems with your lubrication of the engine... i have seen gas engines with blown head gaskets and cracked heads, a blown gasket will show up green in the oil and a cracked head will cause a antifreeze smell out the exhaust.

 

[Bluebird]

Clean color now...

Thanks again for the replys, I learn more everytime I log on... I changed the oil, no moisture at the bottom of pan. No bubbles in radiator just green coolant. Hopefullly all is well Patrick.

 

[mysteryman]

oil test

The way to find out for sure is to go to you local heavy equipment dealer and buy an oil test kit. Fill the bottle in the kit with a sample of the oil from your engine ,Fill out the form and mail it to the address they tell you to.

They will send you back a form that lists everything they find in your oil.

Antifreeze is vary easy for them to detect.