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Milky oil fill cap

So I was just doing my normal weekly check up on the 95 T-bird (3.8) and when I pulled the oil fill cap the underside had a milky substance on it. I know that could be a sign of a bad head gasket, which would not be cool right now. I checked the oil and coolant level and they both were at the normal height and normal color. The car has been running fine and the temp gauge and heat are working normally. There is no milky  stuck to the underside of the rocker cover and rockers etc. I'm thinking maybe it's just condensation as it's gotten cooler as winter is approaching. I don't ever remember this happening before though. Should I not worry about it or start gathering parts? The car has just over 89,000 miles so I'm hoping I haven't reached the magic head gasket death mileage :hick:
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #1 –
Happened to me a few years back, I cleaned the pcv screen and it hasn't happened since...........  "believe it or not"
88 sport,TW heads, comp xe270hr, cobra u/Tmoss ported lower, 65 mm throttle body, under drives,smog delete,
1.7 roller rockers, cai, k&n, bbk adj regulator, 76mm Pro-m,all MSD ign. MSD dist,18° base timing, 3g alt.1 5/8 ceramic headers, 255lph walbro, 2.5" h-pipe, flowmasters, silverfox valvebody, 3.73 gear,
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc154/flipnbird/DSCF0185.jpg ( RIP : ( )

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #2 –
Quote from: thunderjet302;342244
So I was just doing my normal weekly check up on the 95 T-bird (3.8) and when I pulled the oil fill cap the underside had a milky substance on it. I know that could be a sign of a bad head gasket, which would not be cool right now. I checked the oil and coolant level and they both were at the normal height and normal color. The car has been running fine and the temp gauge and heat are working normally. There is no milky  stuck to the underside of the rocker cover and rockers etc. I'm thinking maybe it's just condensation as it's gotten cooler as winter is approaching. I don't ever remember this happening before though. Should I not worry about it or start gathering parts? The car has just over 89,000 miles so I'm hoping I haven't reached the magic head gasket death mileage :hick:

 
It's coming. If the levels are normal I'd clean the cap off, change the oil, and keep a close eye on it. It might just be condensation. When I worked it the machine shop we checked those ALL the time. They never crack or warp badly just py head gaskets.
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #3 –
How long have you owned the car?  Do you know the full history of it?  Left over evidence from a previous head gasket failure? 

I know 98,000 miles isn't THAT much.  It's probably nothing since the coolant and oil look OK.  I hope so for your sake!

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #4 –
Generally the 3.8 gaskets blow so water goes in the cylinders.  You end up pumping all the water out the exhaust.  Certainly not always.  If the oil is good and the water level correct you are good to go.
Armed Forces Car Club
Eastern Sierra Chapter, California
WEB:  armedforcescarclub.com

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #5 –
Its most likely just a condensation build up.  This happens if you drive the car infrequently, or on short trips.  I get it from time to time in my Stang due to not driving it much and just starting it to move it around.
41 Dodge Luxury Liner Sedan
78 F-100 2wd flareside
84Turbo Coupe
84 Thunderbird Élan
85 Thunderbird 3.8
88 Turbo Coupe
88 Mustang GT
90 Stang LX 5.0 5spd
93 F-150 4x4 ext cab
96 Mustang GT
98 Mustang GT
99 SVT Cobra
06 Fusion SEL
14 Fusion Sport

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #6 –
I've owned the car for 3 years. I bought it with 69,000 miles on it and now it has 89,000. I have no idea how the car was maintained before I bought it as I didn't get any receipts. I have changed the oil every 3000 miles and I flush the coolant every spring and change it. As far as I can tell the head gaskets have never been changed as it doesn't look like anything has been removed from the engine. Am I on borrowed time at this point?
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.
 

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #7 –
I think every 3.8 is on borrowed time.  Just one overheating event, corrosion or other reason that the coolant system has not been properly maintained is reason to be concerned.  However there are many that have exceeded much more than 200,000 miles without problems.  If you are not losing water and there is not chocolate looking oil then don't worry.  I think you just have some condensation and dealing with the PCV was the correct action.

Watch for wierd temp gage movements.  Running a tad hotter than normal and then suddenly lower than normal.  When the water temp sensor has no water on it it will suddenly go cold.  Hot air will not read properly on the gage.  Constant water contact will make the gage read properly.  When my headgaskets blew at 72,000 miles there was no indication that the engine was hot.  When the wife got home that day she said the car was running poorly.  I started it and there was a slight knock and no power.  The gage needle was pointing at the O in NORMAL.  So I shut it off, checked the radiator and it was completely empty.  Both head gaskets were bad.  The #1 rod was bent and the #6 cylinder was badly scored.  The #1 piston would actually move from side to side in the cylinder (knock)

If I were you I would not worry until water starts disappearing or water in the oil.

By the way my new engine has much more power. I don't know what the overbore is but it's certainly more powerful.
Armed Forces Car Club
Eastern Sierra Chapter, California
WEB:  armedforcescarclub.com

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #8 –
I had the same thing happen in my 87 Cougar. It was in the oil filler cap and in the vacuum lines. My HG's were good. Compression test backed that up. Kinda looked like watered down butter.

I posted a thread when I first joined about this same problem, and I believe you (thunderjet302) were the first one to post telling me it was most likely condensation. Kinda ironic lol.
FOXLESS!!

1994 Lincoln Mark VIII

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #9 –
..
FOXLESS!!

1994 Lincoln Mark VIII

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #10 –
Sometimes if you pop the rad cap when cold, start it up and look you'll see air bubbles coming up if the head gasket's bad.

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #11 –
Quote from: tbirdsps;342281
I think every 3.8 is on borrowed time.

 
You are speaking the truth here.....

The 3.8 had a design flaw that caused the head gaskets to blow somewhere around the 70-90K mile mark. I think it was extremely rare for them to make it past that. Felpro makes a head gasket set that is supposed to combat this flaw. I've heard of people getting 300K out of the gaskets after switching. I would start looking for the gaskets as they are hard to find. The generic gaskets are easy, but the good Felpro ones are the ones you want. I got mine from Rockauto, but it took about amonth to get them. That was the only place I could find at the time. It was about three years ago, so who knows what it will be like now.....
2017 Subaru Outback
2007 Lincoln MKZ
1990 Ford F250 / Banks turbo diesel

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #12 –
Quote from: 20thanniver-ls;342329
I had the same thing happen in my 87 Cougar. It was in the oil filler cap and in the vacuum lines. My HG's were good. Compression test backed that up. Kinda looked like watered down butter.

I posted a thread when I first joined about this same problem, and I believe you (thunderjet302) were the first one to post telling me it was most likely condensation. Kinda ironic lol.


The stuff I had was the white and kinda looked like cream cheese. I'd never seen that before.:hick:
 
Quote from: BadTriumph;342367
You are speaking the truth here.....

The 3.8 had a design flaw that caused the head gaskets to blow somewhere around the 70-90K mile mark. I think it was extremely rare for them to make it past that. Felpro makes a head gasket set that is supposed to combat this flaw. I've heard of people getting 300K out of the gaskets after switching. I would start looking for the gaskets as they are hard to find. The generic gaskets are easy, but the good Felpro ones are the ones you want. I got mine from Rockauto, but it took about amonth to get them. That was the only place I could find at the time. It was about three years ago, so who knows what it will be like now.....


So basically my car is going to die soon. Great.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #13 –
Working in a shop, I have seen newer cars with less than 20k miles that have the same thing. Dodges are notorious for it but it is just condensation the majority of the time. It sounds to me like you are worrying prematurely.. I would run a compression test and possibly a cylinder leak down test before giving it a death sentence.

Milky oil fill cap

Reply #14 –
the gaskets aren't necessary about to go, i get condensation like that on all my ford motors.. hell, even my S10, jimmy and sonoma do it.. my SC did it too, was doing it for about 10-12k miles before the gaskets blew.. it's just condensation.. but if you want to try preventing them from going soon (if you're that worried), permatex makes a 'block sealer' you throw in the rad with straight water and it puts a thin liner or 'barrier' throughout the cooling system.. it actually got me another 3k out of my SC's blown head gasket before it started running hot again