Substance in my Oil Pan

[78sid]

I pulled the oil pan tonight to fix a gasket leak before I get it back on the road and I found a milky goo in the bottom of my pan. The car did sit for about a year prior to an oil change and restart. This scares me.

Little more info. This is a new build. I had the head and block redone by a local shop with lots of Z experience, but I did reassemble it. The car runs (sitting still) pretty darn good with no smoke of any kind. I've run it long enough to watch the temp and idle settle, but I've never ran it for longer than about ten minutes. Been working on it for about three years. The oil I drained does not smell of anti-freeze or anything else. The pan does smell a little of gas. It did take me a while to get the timing right, but the oil has been changed several times during that process.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

Edited March 21, 2013 by 78sid

[black gold man]

Condensation from the motor being colder then warm most air and from not running the motor long enough to really warm up hot and not looking at temp gauge.

[78sid]

I think you are probably right about the condensation after browsing a few other threads. I've probably started and stopped that car 150+ times without ever really letting it run to warm for any period of time. I have let it get up to temp, but never for more than a couple of minutes.

I'm going to clean up the pan and get her back on tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

[djwarner]

Most people do not realize that heat is transferred three different ways, conduction, convection and radiation. When the evening air cools, it normally stops when it reaches the dew point meaning the humidity reaches 100%. However the engine also radiates heat away causing it to drop below the dew point. As a result dew collects on the surfaces both inside and outside, much like a cold drink glass will sweat. This sweat eventually runs down to the oil pan.

Contrary to the old saw about oil and water not mixing, motor oil can absorb water up to about 1% by volume. Dissolved water will play havoc with proper lubrication. Oil has to be heated to about 180-185 degrees to drive off this dissolved water. This is why short trips cause maintenance woes. It's also why car thermostats are rarely set below 180 degrees.

Sounds like your car has cold soaked repeatedly until the 1% limit has been reached. Excess water and the detergents in the oil have accumulated in the bottom of the pan.

[78sid]

Fingers crossed that I can give it a more formal workout this weekend. Next Friday will be the three year anniversary of the timing chain breaking and the beginning of the complete rebuild process.

Daytime Bean Counter..Evening DIY Mechanic.