Hello everybody and Happy New Year.



I bought a Volvo 850 GLT 1993 two mounts ago and runs fine. Of course car need some work: timing belt (done 4 years ago and 50k km ago), burned dashboard bulbs, leaking wiper fluid tank. So, moving further. Did the oil change (put Mobil 1 10W-30) 3-4 weeks ago. Oh, by the way, cooling radiator is dripping a little coolant.
I did not drive this car a lot but yesterday I notice white, milky mixture in the oil. It is coolant. Car was not overheating. Starts fine, runs fine, accelerate fine till now, because since I notice the problem, parked the car and never drove it. Started the engine today in the morning, no smoke coming off the coolant tank, still milky mixture in the oil (seem to me to build a little bit). I pulled out the oil dip stick and smoke smelled like burned gasoline came out and puffs regularly, if the engine accelerate smoke become more. PCV blow some oil in the intake but very little amount.
Head gasket isn't it guys…
I suspect some sort of gasket liquid piece of crap has been used from previous owner. Expansion reservoir has a lot of sediments in it. Entire car has 150k miles and looks like new. Very comfortable, even founded way more comfortable then company`s brand new HONDA CR-V (hate this car lot of blind spots).


So what do you think is wrong with this poor abused Volvo



Thank you and Happy New Year.

 

pull the head fix it replace the gasket flush the systems and keep on driving

 

The crap you are seeing in the reservior tank might be condensed combustion by products from the gasket leaking both ways .... or it could be a stop leak additive.

You can get a tester on loan from Autozone to put in the reservoir tank that detects hydrocarbons by turning color. In your case though it sure sounds like it's the head gasket.

Youtube on how the tester works (not the best, sorry)
How To Tell If Your Head Gasket Is Blown - YouTube

If you like the car, do the gasket and move on.

 

Thank you for your answers.
Yes. I was thinking about it but since I smell hydrocarbons puffing of the oil dipstick, and oil blown in PCV on the intake manifold, including this water in the oil... Thank head gasket, and do not want run the engine for long with water in the oil. So I scrap the tester opportunity.
Just need opinions from people being there already if possible.
Thank you, all. Cheers

 

Is the milky mixture you are seeing on the oil dipstick or in the coolant reservoir? If it is on the dipstick it is most likely just condensation mixed in the oil. Our 95 850 (with 227K on it) has been doing this (milky mixture on the dipstick) during the cooler months for the last 4 years and 50,000 miles, and it still runs fine. Just take it out and run it at highway speeds for a half hour or so and that should clear it up for awhile. If it comes back, just run it again, as the reason is the oil is not getting hot enough to boil out the slight condensation moisture, causing a milky emulsion on the dipstick.

 

Hello Psaboic, this is what I was thinking on the first place. It is on the oil dipstick.
But the puff think that is coming out and smell as hydrocarbons... Yesterday I did not notice oil in the coolant and will check today again. It is weird because the smoke from tail pipe is clean. That is why I am confused and writing to you all. Any way will let you know latter. Thank you Psaboic, it is good to know and I've heard for this kind of condensation before but never experienced myself.
Cheers

P.S. By the way coolant level drop since i have this car with 1/2 inch due to small drips from radiator...

 

okay, i have this problem too. the coolant in the tank is clean as far as i can thell. and, the milky stuff on the dipstick seems to have just showed up since the cooler weather has started. No smoke or anything coming from the tailpipe. Just do not want to harm the car. Any more thoughts on this??? The milky stuff seems to subside a little as the engine heats... Just want to make sure not to hurt my car, thanks!!

 

I'm going to guess the car has about 200,000 miles as well.

 

What model car do you have? Which year? If it's a pre-'96, you can get exact mileage from the OBD-I port. Look it up in the DIY sticky section.

As for messing the car up... I don't think you should worry about that. As long as you don't over heat it, what is there to mess up? Keep water/coolant in it, keep the oil changed, drive it weekly and you should be fine.

I would suggest both of you drive the car at least 20 miles per week. If you are worried about anything in the oil, get a clean drain pan and drain the oil into it. If it looks like normal dirty oil, put it back in the motor and keep driving until you get one of 3 things...
1. Lots of smoke out the tail pipe.
2. The car tries to over heat.
3. The radiator goes bad and causes oil/coolant transfer (usually visable in the expansion tank).

These cars are old. Keep them serviced and drive them until they break.

 

Like I said, I have gotten the milky looking stuff on the dip stick during the colder weather for years and no harm to the motor. just change the oil and filter regularly and keep an eye on the fluids (I check mine weekly) and you should be fine. If you are really worried about it, I have found that if you wipe the dipstick with a clean cloth, re-insert, and re-clean dipstick (do this about a dozen times) you will get a clean oil reading on the dipstick. This tells me, at least in my case, the milky stuff is a fine layer of condensation in my pan. Again it also goes away in the warm weather or when I drive the car for several highway miles, getting the oil up to temperature!!

 

Before I start the engine:
(Click the images for bigger view)




Engine started. This the smoke from the tail pipe (nothing). Engine started right way.


After the engine heats up to working temperature. Temperature stable, no overheating. Sound normal. Only injectors clicking.



Please note the the fill cap and oil dip stick. This is why I freaked out.





Coolant is clean. Good to know as well that the coolant is old. Saw two very very tiny kinda oil drops. Most probably they put leak stop crap in it because of radiator (most probably).
So what do you think?
Cheers

 

i dont think your headgasket is bad at this point in time. ive had the little bit of milky ness on my oil cap before mainly cause i have a short commute it allows for condensation a bit more then normal. drive it but always watch your temp guage and check your fluids regularly

 

OK, test drive is done. Not on the highway but around the neighborhood. Well, here are the results:
1. Engine keep temperature stable.
2. Sounds good, and accelerate very good without hesitation.
3. Idle stable when I stop. No misfire or unusual vibrations.
4. milky stuff on the oil fill cup is gone.
5. Park the car after, wait 5 minutes and check the dip stick - Clean oil mixed with this whitish stuff from the last picture.
6. Coolant expansion tank build some pressure. Have some vapors, but it is old. Have to flush and change.
7. No oil residues in the expansion tank after all.
8. Clean smoke coming out of the tail pipe

So, what do you think.... shall i drive this car more or needs work?

Thank you

 

Repeat:
As for messing the car up... I don't think you should worry about that. As long as you don't over heat it, what is there to mess up? Keep water/coolant in it, keep the oil changed, drive it weekly and you should be fine.

 

Looking at the top picture of the dipstick, you don't have a problem with a headgasket. The oil on the stick which is the oil that is circulating looks like normal oil. If coolant is leaking into it the color would change to something like a Milky Way bar or the white stuff you see under the oil cap.

You may have excessive blow by from the rings and or a slightly restricted PCV system causing too much condensation to remain in the engine. You might also have a thermostat that is opening too soon and not allowing the engine to get up to temperature (around 190) or not getting to that point as quickly as it should. Last option is you do a lot of very short trips and there isn't time for the engine to get up to temperature. And of course, a combination of the above.

You have a problem if the oil itself starts looking that milky color and no engine should be driven on that as you can take the cam, CR and crankshaft bearings out very quickly once you start circulating water into them instead of oil.

 

Based on the pictures, you are fine! Just drive it and keep an eye on it to see if anything changes. Based on the oil pictures, and how you said it drives and sounds, I would not hesitate to take it on a long trip and not worry much.

 

Second test run.
There is no pictures from yesterday.

Before I start the engine:
(Click pictures for larger views)
Oil fill cap:


Dip Stick:





10.0 miles run. After 5.0 minutes engine off:








Significant improvement in my opinion. So, it is condensation after all.

What do you think?

Thank you

 

I'd give it a hundred mile drive and see what it looks like. Mine (200k) had that same white stuff on the stick, I inserted a long strip of cloth, longer than the dipstick and cleaned out all of the butter. I figured as long as the oil itself wasnt contaminated, I was ok. I've got a 6 mile commute. Can go home for lunch but car probably doesn't like it dave

 

It seems it's a lot of noise over nothing. The sludge on your dipstick is just from condensation that is forming inside the dipstick tube and it's rubbing off on the dipstick as you draw it out. It isn't mixed into the oil and that's when it's a problem. Water doesn't sit on the bottom of the pan it gets sucked into the pickup as the pickup for the oil is almost laying on the bottom of all oil pans and at the lowest point to boot. Once it's sucked in it gets emulsified and turns into that Milky Way bar colored mess.

You should be good to go.

 

Thank you all.
Kiss4aFrog was right - lot of noise for nothing. 4 years I learned for ship's engines and systems, I know it is not unusual to have this kind of condensation. The problem was I've never seen it, just heard of it.
Will let you know if any changes occur.
So far I will drive.
Thank you all for the patience and answers.

Cheers