condensation in oil fill cap

I have a 2010 Tacoma for a little over a year now with a 2.7 . I noticed a lot of condensation inside the oil fill cap . It almost looks like lithium grease . Just changed the oil and have under 800 miles on it . I check it this morning and the cap is loaded with it again . Anyone else have this problem and what causes it ?

 

Short trips where the engine hasn't fully come up to temp. Normal.

 

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/milky-stuff-under-oil-cap.htm

 

Thanks , I do only drive 14 miles round trip to work and on average put on 150 miles a week .

 

Yup, Fitz is right, short trips and totally normal.

 

I drive 9 miles one way but I let it warm up in the AM especially this time of year. Short trips where the engine does not burn off condensate is the problem but I don't have it. Do you use syn oil ? If not you should.

 

Wait till you see your exhaust rust out from the inside with these short trips also.

Solution. DRIVE MORE. Or not at all

 

I've lived my whole life up here in the northern lattitudes of the USA. This has happened to every vehical I've had in the winter. It looks distressing, but it's nothing to worry about. The oil in your motor is ok. That being said, like the others in this thread have said, drive it more, get it up to temps for a while. Take a nice hour-long weekend cruise.

I had a 87 S-10 that used to really get this bad in the valve cover and the oil cap. When it was 40 below it would freeze into a white chuck of ice and I could barely get the oil cap off.

 

It may be a factor completely independent of oil. His ambient environment (where he lives regionally), as well as where/how he stores the truck (indoors/ vs. outdoors) probably play more of a role. Agreed though, 100% normal / harmless.

 

Yup , Castrol 5w20 full syn every 5000 and garage keep . Heat is only on when working in it .

 

Got the recall for cat and exhaust pipe , just got to get it done . PS send me gas money !!

 

good advice !

 

Saw this for the first time last Monday when changing my oil. Never came across it in 20 years so I about crapped my pants since the truck only has 10k miles on it.

 

Do NOT let anyone tell you that this is because of short trips and it is normal. If that was true every new vehicle sold would have that under the caps as they are all short starts and short driven before sale.
So it is not normal. You have some issue with the PCV valve or a bad head gasket, or something else. I have three vehicles and all of them are normally driven short trips, max 20 miles but usually much less, in high humidity in this area. None of them have that under the caps and one has over 400,000 miles on it. You need to find what the problem is.

 

I was thinking about this because I never had this issue before in my other vehicles . I also have a2001 outback sedan that is driven less than my Tacoma and don't have that issue . How about it , lets here some more comments !!

 

Not convinced that this is NOT normal. Oil cap screws into a plastic tube that in turn is attached to the engine. If tube was metal, it would be more likely to get hotter and result could be less condensation on inside of cap. Maybe not the best design, but not the end of the world.

 

Interesting advice coming from somebody that lives in Texas. You have no clue what your talking about.

It's true if you check the oil, or better yet drain it, and it looks milky, then yes, you have a cracked block or a blown head gasket.

But a little white greese on the oil filler cap when it's very cold outside is COMPLETELY normal, and northing to worry about.

Stop spreading FUD.

 

I agree that it might have something to do with the plastic neck on the tacoma. I changed the oil in the tacoma, 4runner (96) and corolla all the same day. My day off so no one car had really been driven aside from taking my son to school, 1.5 mile drive in the tacoma. The 4runner has been neglected for the past 2 months since I bought the tacoma, warmed it up to move it from one side of the garage to the other and the same for the corolla. I always check the cap and give it a sniff, clean it up and put it aside. That's when I saw the white build up on the tacoma's, the other two were fine. Immediately checked the oil in the pan for water and didn't see anything that would lead me to believe that there was something major wrong. Actually, I forgot about it until I saw this thread.

 

It is NOT normal. It may be common, but it is NOT normal. It does not matter where you live. No new vehicle has that. Another thing it could be a weak thermostat not allowing the engine to warm up as it should, but regardless it is not normal. The milky stuff means there is moisture and possibly bacteria growing inside the engine crankcase and neither is good for the engine.

Have the vehicle checked out for bad head gasket or other possible problems. Toyota are notorious for bad head gaskets.

 

You don't have a clue do you?

OP you should disregard these post.