Quote:
Originally Posted by iminhell1
Odds are, it's just a mositure problem.
Not head gasket or any other mechanical problem.
It's Winter and the high rate of temperature and moisture change causes this. Northern climates like I'm in exacerbate this.
Doing oil change intervals that exceed (roughly) 5,000 miles makes it even worse.
The problem is the engine oil just doesn't get warm enough to burn the moisture off. It needs to be high enough to create steam, so near that 180*F or above. That steam is drawn out of the system by way of the PCV.
But all that moisture going through the PCV means there is good chance the PCV hoses may freeze up. So they need to be and stay warm enough to unthaw. It turns into a cycle of problems.
For me, long road trips at highway speeds is not the cure. I get too much high speed cold air and the oil just doesn't warm.
I have to do long city/low speed stop and go driving. Longer than about an hour. Then I do not get more yellow milky oil and what was there does dissipate in time.
The problem with doing long OCI is that the quantity of water to oil just grows with mileage. There will be a point at which there is so much water that it becomes unsafe. And being that a $80 oil change is cheaper than a $5,000 engine ... just change the oil more often. It will save you money in the long run.
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Fingers crossed you're right. This winter was especially bad where I am with freezing and melting, so moisture wouldn't surprise me. Regardless, I'll definitely going to be changing oil more frequently now and I'll still check the condition of the PCV as snub-nose28 suggested.