Odd Coloring on Oil Cap - Possible Gasket Issues?

Hey guys,

I changed my oil for the first time this morning since I’m at 30k. Oil looked fine draining out of the pan, and the oil filter housing looked clean. Finish all that and go to the top to put new oil in and I come to the surprise on the cap. I’ve never seen a cap like this but it doesn’t look good either. Thoughts? Possible water mixing in with the oil?

The dealer has done both changes and they never told me anything so this has me a little concerned.

 

Damn, I’m assuming that isn’t good. Time to haggle the dealer

 

Maybe coolant, I don’t know. But something more than oil is there

 

Coolant looks okay, but definitely going into the dealer today or first thing tomorrow morning. Don’t want to do more damage internally than I have to.

 

I get similar on my generator in colder weather. I've heard it s from short trips and condensation.

Here's something similar.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/yellow-slime-on-oil-cap-and-neck.265067/

 

so our Jetta just had this exact same problem earlier this week.....turns out it was moisture condensing and then freezing, apparently a symptom of the cold up here in MN. I still don't fully understand it because I haven't seen it on any other vehicle until now.

The problem was that the oil pressure light went bonkers.....the moisture had somehow made its way to the oil filter, shrunk it, and froze it....so the oil was bypassing the filter which set of the pressure light. Easy fix, just change oil and filter.

Something to keep an eye on....

 

Same for my motorcycles also.

 

Head gasket.

 

great minds haha

 

This is why the best synthetic oil in the world cannot protect against contaminants like water and fuel.

Many owners will argue that modern fuel injection burns off water and fuel and it’s ok to let your vehicle warm up for 20 minutes in your driveway.

Absolutely not, in cold weather, start it and slowly drive within 15-30 seconds.

JMHO

 

see now I'm lost on that one.....the VW guy told us to make sure we let it warm up for a loooong time before driving off. He said short starts in the winter are the cause. I'l have to let it sink in.....

 

That definitely looks like moisture getting mixed in the oil. If you take a lot of short trips, I would suggest taking it out on the freeway once a week and drive for 20-30 miles to give the oil a chance to come up to operating temps and boil the moisture out. Oil takes a lot longer than coolant to come up to operating temps.

 

Good advice from VW if you're driving a 1970's Beetle but not for today's modern engines.

 

Keep in mind, a 20 minute warm up in your driveway isn’t a short trip, it’s a no trip.

If it’s below freezing, it’ll take 30 minutes for a modern FI engine to “warm” up.

Just drive it. Engines love to be driven under load, not idled. It’s the main reason why some owners turn their car off at each stop. Also, why hybrid vehicles shut off the gas engine at idle, it’s a complete waste of gas.

 

Well I called my dad since he isn’t a tech by trade but he’s been working on Toyota’s since he’s been walking. I should’ve used a little more common sense and what a lot of you said is the culprit. The oil is clean, therefore the engine is okay otherwise the oil would’ve looked funky. Radiator is clean, coolant is clean. I do a lot of short trips especially for work since work is only 3 miles from where I live and I generally just drive 10-15 increments every day unless it’s the weekend. I’m going to clean off the cap and keep an eye on it. We have had “cold” temperatures here, low 20’s and my truck sits out in the open so it’s alwaus frosted in the mornings. I’m going to just monitor my oil cap and coolant housing to check for levels and odd coloring. I jumped to the worst scenario possible without thinking through, woops

Anyways, thanks for the help guys! You shed some light on something new for me and I’m grateful for this forum because I learned something new.

Thanks all!

 

You should see what it looks like with prolonged Arctic temps.

 

Bingo, it is just condensation from all those short trips you mention above. Coloring is odd for sure but could be from additives in the fuel and oil being released in the vapor.

 

Condensation. Like others have said take it for a nice long drive on the freeway once in awhile

 

I don't get why the antifreeze is orange