Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi guys, My wifes suzuki swift buzzbox is getting milky sludge building up in the tappet cover and blowing by into the airbox.
I first thought head gasket but there are absolutely no bubbles coming up through the radiator, the dipstick always shows clean oil (not milky), it never overheats, runs well, no smoke, doesnt use any water, I havent compression tested yet, how is water getting to mix with the oil only in the upper cylinder.
I'm not a mechanic but pretty handy and this one is stumping me.
I know people who have had good results with chemi-weld and am happy to use it if it is the head gasket in the early stages of s*%ting itself.

I must be missing something, Any ideas????

I would say cracked head....

is it possible that your just getting some condensation in the cooler weather? I had the same thing on my sierra, and thought it was the head. there was nothing wrong with it.

How far is the car usally driven and how often?

I thought it may be condensation as well but was strugling to work out how so gave up on that theory,
the car is only driven 12 kms to work and back. not far I know. and yes the mornings have been very cold.
Is condensation, causing this to happen common??

chpd80 wrote:I thought it may be condensation as well but was strugling to work out how so gave up on that theory,
the car is only driven 12 kms to work and back. not far I know. and yes the mornings have been very cold.
Is condensation, causing this to happen common??

I initially thought condensation too but was reluctant to comment incase i got flamed

But considering it only ever drives about 12kms, maybe it's not really getting a chance to heat up properly and therefore, dry out the condensation Maybe??

Yeah you can get that milky sludge in a perfectly good engine. A cold engine gets a lot of condensed water in it, and it is not abnormal for a bit of oil to find its way up there, and then that mix turns into the frothy stuff.

I would only start worrying if I saw additional symptoms like oil loss or water loss.

Ive never heard of condensation building up in an engine
The engine is a sealed unit, so I cant see it being the issue. If it were condensation build up it wouldnt be to the extent of milking the oil!
Id be more inclined to think cracked head. IHave had a litmus test done on the cooling system? In my humble opinion you have the early signs of a cracked head.

My P38 Range Rover had a cracked engine block, and essentialy I was looking at a new motor, but I tryed the chemy weld stuff. I followed the instructions to the letter ( and its the key to it working) and it took two goes and it farking worked which I couldnt beleive. It was still fine when I sold it.

muddydigger wrote:Ive never heard of condensation building up in an engine
The engine is a sealed unit, so I cant see it being the issue. If it were condensation build up it wouldnt be to the extent of milking the oil!

no its not, there is a breather on the top of the rocker cover of these engines. when they cool, cool air would be drawn in.

there is a breather on the top of the rocker cover of these engines.

Your right, there is a breather on the top of the rocker cover into the airfilter box.
When i first found the sludge I took off the rocker cover expecting to find milky oil everywhere, but found it only around the filler cap and a bit in the airfilter box which would have come through the breather hose, not around the internals which surprised me.
So I cleaned it and put it back on. that was a couple of weeks ago. Did it again today and found the same thing, but the dipstick oil is perfect.

Thanks for your replies guys. keep them coming

There is normaly a PCV valve that alows fresh air to be drawn intot he engine but stops condensation and blowback. So in that light the enigine is sealed! the PCV valve may well be cactus or the hoses conected in between.
Either way it shouldnt get condensation build up in the engine. If it does, it shouldnt be to the extent of milking the oil. As soon as the engine is started and run for a few minuits it will be evaporated, and shouldnt cause milky build up.
If this were a normal thing to happen, then why does it not appear on new cars? Go to any car yard with near new cars or cars just a few years old, or even cars five to six years old for that matter, and see how many have condensation on the oil caps! and most of them are left all day and night outside, and run fro a few minuits aday.

So if it is a head or head gasket, can it affect the oil in the rocker cover and not the oil in the sump/engine ??

muddydigger wrote:There is normaly a PCV valve that alows fresh air to be drawn intot he engine but stops condensation and blowback. So in that light the enigine is sealed! the PCV valve may well be cactus or the hoses conected in between.

There is no pcv valve. its a straight hose from the top of the rocker cover to the air box. well sierras are anyway.

Chpd80. I had the exact thing you are describing with the same engine and removed the head. The Head gasket was fine. I took it to an engine place and they couldn't find anything wrong with the head. I put it back on and its been fine.

Perhaps you do have an issue. however If it were me I would be waiting for the symptoms to become worse then what you are describing before spending any money.

muddydigger might be onto something though. try fitting one and see if it helps.

which motor?

motor is the g13b.

Very interesting as my ba xr6 cracked the auto cooler that runs inside the radiator and fill the coolant and radiator with sludge from the auto fluid .
My first thought was a cracked head.

muppet_man67 wrote:

muddydigger wrote:There is normaly a PCV valve that alows fresh air to be drawn intot he engine but stops condensation and blowback. So in that light the enigine is sealed! the PCV valve may well be cactus or the hoses conected in between.

There is no pcv valve. its a straight hose from the top of the rocker cover to the air box. well sierras are anyway.

Chpd80. I had the exact thing you are describing with the same engine and removed the head. The Head gasket was fine. I took it to an engine place and they couldn't find anything wrong with the head. I put it back on and its been fine.

Perhaps you do have an issue. however If it were me I would be waiting for the symptoms to become worse then what you are describing before spending any money.

muddydigger might be onto something though. try fitting one and see if it helps.

Agree 100 % do an engine flush and see if the white sludge prevails .
Also use a bottle of seal up for preventative maintenance and it will not clog your cooling system.

i have a g13a in my suzuki and it has the exact same problem and was told it is most likely condensation by my mechanic

muppet_man67 wrote:There is no pcv valve. its a straight hose from the top of the rocker cover to the air box. well sierras are anyway.

There are pcv valves in sierras. That hose that goes from the rocker cover to the air box should have a tee piece in between that ends up joining to the pcv valve which is located on the intake manifold between the carb and engine block.

Dan

The actual engine oil is fine.......

No bubbles in the coolant .......

= condensation



For peace of mind get a test done to double check its not the start of a blown head gasket or cracked head.

2ndly......

rip the rocker cover off, wash the grunge out with petrol and a brush, reinstall the rocker cover..... and take the thing for a good drive !
(NB: a good drive does not equal 12K's ... try a 100K run )


Our V8 Statey does the work n back run for the missus and that run is far less than your 12K run, this time of year the rockercovers are full of gunk, a 2 or 3 hour run generally clears it out completely after the rockers have been washed out.

Kingy


p/s
moved to the approiate section.

Exactly as Kingy said. Adding to this, just doing 12km cold runs is probably doing more wear and damage to your motor than doing long hard drives. At least once fortnight take your car for a good drive as kingy said. You will probably notice that by the time you get back it will be going much better, and mroe efficently.

Layto.....

let me know if ya need a swift head as i got one here. Shoot me a Pm if needed.


B4T