Mayo in the dipstick

L

Liam-O

Senior member
 Solihull
Hi All,

The last week or two, when I turn my engine off I get the yellow oil telltale symbol flash on the dash with a beep noise too. (It doesn't always happen though, maybe every 4th/5th switch off)

So I went to check the oil and discovered a bit of that "mayo" looking stuff on the end of my disptick (excuse the connotations) which I believe is caused by oil mixing with water?

I don't get smoke when starting and theres nothing suspect on the oil fill cap so I'm hoping it's nothing too serious but can anyone advise on possible faults? (the oil level is withing the min and max too)

It's got a 3 month warranty from the garage I bought it from so im hoping I can take it there to sort it. any suggestions?

Thanks,
 
how would you define lots or short.

id say about i do 2 miles every night typically, then on the weekends it can be quite a bit more.

when I park I typically park on a steep hill too if that would make a difference (sorry if thats a ridiculous remark)
 
2 miles??

why dont you just walk ,its a shame to mistreat a car for that little distance.

and yes thats where the mayo is coming from.
its probably on your fillercap too.
 
because 2 miles would take 30-40 minutes to walk?

theres non on my filler cap, I didnt realise driving short distances is mistreating my car? obviously it's harsher on the engine, cold starts etc but mistreating sounds a little extreme...
 
All cars have some condensation, it's part of the reason you change the oil. Condensation on an oil cap/dipstick in cold weather with short trips is nothing new. It's an oil/water emulsion. Your oil collects various combustion by-products. The "mayo" indicates that your motor isn't getting hot enough to drive this moisture out of your oil. Keep in mind it takes an engine about 12 to 15 miles to throughly reach optimum temperature regardless of what the temp guage shows. Water is one of the by-products of combustion. Which doesn't include the amount of moisture that is in the amount of air required by an internal combustion engine. (You are using about 14.5 times more air than fuel.) Some will get past the rings. As the hot gasses in the crankcase and cylinders, (and if the engine stops with an exhaust valve partly open) contract as they cool, they suck in ambient air (with humidity) which will condense on the metal parts, when cold. All oil is designed to deal with a certain level of water content. The oil cap may stay cool enough in cold weather to condense oil/water vapors together (yielding the white emulsion you see).

I wouldn't say that it is mistreating the car though. Just take it on a long drive.
 
The only time to be careful with this is in the winter, the emulsion can freeze in the CVV and cause a back pressure which sucks the oil into the cylinders and KA-BLAM! The engine seizes solid.

Happened to my mam's Z4 as she never goes far in it, probably about 5 miles at a time tops, the dealers ended up stripping the whole engine down and rebuilding. No long term harm done but it relieved her purse of over £2K to put right, all because it never gets driven far.

Moral of the story, get out there and really enjoy driving her for some distance. :driving:
 
And this 'three month warranty' thing is a myth, whatever the garage says, its liability extends for six months from date of purchase....
 
I thought white gunk on the filler cap and blue smoke (burning oil) from the exhaust generally indicates head gasket failure.
 
none on the filler cap and no blue smoke just on the dipstick, but after a trip to weston-s-mare and torquay its gone, looks like i just needed a long journey :)
 
Mine got really bad in winter, lots of mayo, lots of short journeys (didn't want to walk in the freezing cold+snow)...

Then cleared up after a few longer journeys once the snow had cleared!

Dave
 
Had the same,same engine, 12miles to work 12 back. Now sorted after warm up put heavy boot mode the one that when you get out of the car it makes cooling down noise's. and once a week give it what it is made for a Fun Run. no more probs you will have. :thumbsup:
 
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