well i was checking my oil today and there was thick white milky stuff under the oil cap and the filler neck. i tried reading up on it and it says it could be moisture buildup or as far as a blown head gasket. what do you guys think i need to do to check and see which one it is. hopefully its just moisture, cross my fingers..

Do you do a lot of short trips and city driving?

How have your coolant levels been?

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Jerry /// Past: 95 SSEi (June 2010 COTM) -- 04 GXP (July 2011 COTM)
91 Honda Civic Wagon DX 2WD (fuelly) -- 208,000km -- 92hp -- Autocross Warrior
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i just bought the car so i have been just doing short trips. and about the coolant levels, i havent had it long enough to check it.

Check the level first. Does it still have Dex Cool antifreeze in it? (pink color)
Has the car had the LIM gasket replaced? These motors are known for this to go bad.

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Cadet Blue....Not perfect...But paid for.
K&N Air Filter and Gutted air box. 180 Thermo Cleared Corners More to come.

"Unfortunately there is one thing standing between me and that property: the rightful owners."
- Hedley Lamarr, Blazing Saddles
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." Capt. Geoffrey T. Spaulding - Groucho Marx - Animal Crackers

brutal . Hopefully it was just some moisture but that's probably not the case unfortunately. Techinfo article of interest: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =53&t=3591 you don't have to be concerned with the UIM since you're supercharged but the LIM is still a real problem. Even if it does turn out to just be a tiny bit of moisture it's still something that shouldn't be ignored until it is too late.

Was there any sign of it elsewhere, or just under the filler cap? If it's just under the filler cap, it's normal for any car. If it's everywhere, then there's a serious problem.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

If you just bought the car, it might be a good idea to do an oil change. If you can do it yourself, you will be able to see what the oil looks like in general. If there is more milky stuff in there, that sounds like you have coolant in the oil (LIM gasket has failed and is letting coolant mix with the oil). This can be fixed (replace the gasket), but should be done so ASAP if such is the case. Driving the car around like this will eventually kill the engine in a major way (probably within weeks or even days).

Ken_W

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2000 SSEi "Gypssei" - 206k miles - Light Bronzemist Metallic - stock
1999 Grand Am GT - 168k miles - Red - stock DEAD -- transmission died
2004 Pontiac Montana Ext 2WD - 207k miles - Blue Black Metallic - stock

for right now it is just under the cap. and the oil change was just done before i got the car. and about the dexcool color, it doesn't have pink now. must have been changed over. if it is the LIM gasket, how hard is it to change? how long does it take?

thanks guys

If it's just under the filler cap, AND the oil on the dipstick is normal-colored, AND there are no traces of it anywhere else under the valve covers (Grab a flashlight to peek into the oil fill hole), it's normal short-trip condensation. Check next time the car is warmed up for an hour or so. If it's gone, then it's normal.

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2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

We still need to know what COLOR the coolant is. We also need to know if the LIM gaskets are black nylon or aluminum framed. They are visible between the LIM and front cylinder head.

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the color of the fluid is green and the gasket looks to be black.

If it's black it was either not replaced or they used a factory gasket which still will need to be replaced. The aluminum one would be the better replacement gasket.
If the coolant is green and they used it,if they replaced the gasket, then the problem is not as bad but sooner or later it should to be replaced with the metal one.
http://dex-cool.net/ have a look at this.

_________________

Cadet Blue....Not perfect...But paid for.
K&N Air Filter and Gutted air box. 180 Thermo Cleared Corners More to come.

"Unfortunately there is one thing standing between me and that property: the rightful owners."
- Hedley Lamarr, Blazing Saddles
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." Capt. Geoffrey T. Spaulding - Groucho Marx - Animal Crackers

Green is good. That would be Prestone or something equivalent.

Red is likely to be DexCool, which is discouraged here and (if you just bought a used car) increases the likelihood of acidic damage to your engine gaskets.

Ken_W

_________________
2000 SSEi "Gypssei" - 206k miles - Light Bronzemist Metallic - stock
1999 Grand Am GT - 168k miles - Red - stock DEAD -- transmission died
2004 Pontiac Montana Ext 2WD - 207k miles - Blue Black Metallic - stock

i dont know which gasket the mechanic shop replaced. all i know is that i told the car lot where i bought my car from that it was leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold and it was causing a poof of smoke. so he sent it to the shop to fix it. other then that i dont know exactly what they did. i know that the oil leak is stopped.

Most likely just the valve cover gaskets, common issue...lol That is done without removing anything but the valve covers, so your LIM gaskets are in tact from before the VCG's were done...

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Will
88 Cutlass Ciera Brougham International | 120k mi | White w/ Dk Claret Int. | Roller to be S2 L67/4T65E-HD | 1 of ~5100 3.8 FE3 Int'l series
91 Riviera | S2 L67 Swap/4T60E | 127K mi | Antelope Met. w/ Tan Int. | Saved From Death By Crusher
92 Bonneville SSE | L67/4T60E | 77K mi | Med Slate Grey w/ Two-Tone Grey Int. | Low Miles Time Capsule
92 Lumina Z34 | LQ1/4T60E | 177k mi | Torch Red w/Grey Int. | Rusty In Odd Spots
99 Tahoe LT | L31/4L65E | 276k mi | Spiral Grey Metallic w/Grey Int. | Truck for Truck Things and Portable Concert Hall
03 Park Avenue Ultra | 212K mi | White Diamond Met. w/ Shale Int. | Southern Time Capsule
05 Acura RL | 155K mi | Carbon Grey Pearl w/Ebony Int. | The Super-Hooptie Daily

if it is the LIM gaskets. how labor intensive is the job? what im trying to say is how much is it going to cost me to get someone to do it? LOL

Your average mechanic can do it in 4 hours or so, plus $200 or so in parts, fluids, etc. Figure $500-600. You can DIY it for $200 (plus a case of your favorite brew) and a Saturday in your garage.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

My mechanic friend just did mine last week for $400 in four hours... I did not have any time in my schedule to do it myself, and I need the car, since the T/A's at paint...
Luckily, mine leaked externally, so I never had milky oil, or any other possible lower end damage from it...phew!

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Will
88 Cutlass Ciera Brougham International | 120k mi | White w/ Dk Claret Int. | Roller to be S2 L67/4T65E-HD | 1 of ~5100 3.8 FE3 Int'l series
91 Riviera | S2 L67 Swap/4T60E | 127K mi | Antelope Met. w/ Tan Int. | Saved From Death By Crusher
92 Bonneville SSE | L67/4T60E | 77K mi | Med Slate Grey w/ Two-Tone Grey Int. | Low Miles Time Capsule
92 Lumina Z34 | LQ1/4T60E | 177k mi | Torch Red w/Grey Int. | Rusty In Odd Spots
99 Tahoe LT | L31/4L65E | 276k mi | Spiral Grey Metallic w/Grey Int. | Truck for Truck Things and Portable Concert Hall
03 Park Avenue Ultra | 212K mi | White Diamond Met. w/ Shale Int. | Southern Time Capsule
05 Acura RL | 155K mi | Carbon Grey Pearl w/Ebony Int. | The Super-Hooptie Daily