Damn.....I bought a lemon.....

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My ote condensation...

My '94 bullet-proof Camry had a thick layer of mocha-coffee substance in cold weather during short trips. My '00 LC has a look similar to your's during short trips ( I go 2 miles to work). My vote, as the title implies, is condensation. Esp. if you're not losing coolant.

Humboldt as in MN? Even more reason to have the condensation issue.
 
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I've seen oil caps that look like that and didn't have a blown HG. Do the leak down like others have recommended.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.
 
I was only going to replace my tensioner pulley but I stripped out the tensioner when installing the pulley. Thought I'd wasted some cash there but turns out the new tensioner comes with a new pulley and its only $7 more than buying the pulley by itself. Get a tensioner and see if you can return the pulley you bought.

Sent from my SCH-I535
 
I had a BMW 850CSI and if i was not making long trips there would almost regularly be moister under the cap learned that short trips will cause that and it lasted another 200k miles so, As much As I thought is was a Blown HG it was not. It was normal. Good luck!
 
My .02 here.

Our LX was our daily driver for 4years. The oil cap NEVER had any signs of moisture in it before. The reason for this is because we were constantly driving it.

A few months ago we purchased a TDI Passat for the prime reason to quit spending so much money in fuel. Thus, our usage of the LX went down drastically. We only drive it on very short trips around town a few times a week - at most.

A few months into this I checked under the oil cap too and there was a very thick coating of that white stuff. I first speculated HG too but then realized that I had sprayed my engine bay with a pressure washer. I'm not sure if any leaked in, but I realized my oil cap wasn't super tight... I mean, I tightened it to the clicking, but if I kept turning with some pressure I got a way better seal out of it. Needless to say I cleaned the cap, put it back on, took my truck for a few longer runs, and voila, absolutely no more moisture. Then of course we started using our car more again, and as expected, there is a small amount of moisture under the cap. This is very normal if you're not driving long distances. The 4.7 is not known for going through HG's and it's doubtful this is what it is. They are actually very robust and strong.
 
splacek007 said:
My '94 bullet-proof Camry had a thick layer of mocha-coffee substance in cold weather during short trips. My '00 LC has a look similar to your's during short trips ( I go 2 miles to work). My vote, as the title implies, is condensation. Esp. if you're not losing coolant.

Humboldt as in MN? Even more reason to have the condensation issue.
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I'm really thinking I'm all good now. Just knowing that these engines are tougher than hell and reading all these responses, I'm pretty sure it's a weather/lack of driving situation. Because everything else is good. I'm almost positive that that the rough idle is my tensioner arm. And I'm in the humboldt as in lots O' green trees Humboldt county;);) we get tons of rain here on the coast.

Muddy Bean said:
I've seen oil caps that look like that and didn't have a blown HG. Do the leak down like others have recommended.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD while navigating gnarly trail. Typos are inherent.
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thanks for the response and helping to put my mind at ease. And nice job with the multitasking....show off.

coldwiz said:
I was only going to replace my tensioner pulley but I stripped out the tensioner when installing the pulley. Thought I'd wasted some cash there but turns out the new tensioner comes with a new pulley and its only $7 more than buying the pulley by itself. Get a tensioner and see if you can return the pulley you bought.

Sent from my SCH-I535
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It's been over a month since I bought the tensioner pulley, so a refund / trade might be out of the question, but it's never a bad thing having some extra parts laying around.

CEO714 said:
I had a BMW 850CSI and if i was not making long trips there would almost regularly be moister under the cap learned that short trips will cause that and it lasted another 200k miles so, As much As I thought is was a Blown HG it was not. It was normal. Good luck!
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good to hear man, thank you.

arbetrader said:
My .02 here.

Our LX was our daily driver for 4years. The oil cap NEVER had any signs of moisture in it before. The reason for this is because we were constantly driving it.

A few months ago we purchased a TDI Passat for the prime reason to quit spending so much money in fuel. Thus, our usage of the LX went down drastically. We only drive it on very short trips around town a few times a week - at most.

A few months into this I checked under the oil cap too and there was a very thick coating of that white stuff. I first speculated HG too but then realized that I had sprayed my engine bay with a pressure washer. I'm not sure if any leaked in, but I realized my oil cap wasn't super tight... I mean, I tightened it to the clicking, but if I kept turning with some pressure I got a way better seal out of it. Needless to say I cleaned the cap, put it back on, took my truck for a few longer runs, and voila, absolutely no more moisture. Then of course we started using our car more again, and as expected, there is a small amount of moisture under the cap. This is very normal if you're not driving long distances. The 4.7 is not known for going through HG's and it's doubtful this is what it is. They are actually very robust and strong.
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knowing that these rigs are robust and strong is why I bought one, that and to scare my wife a little...hahaha! I was just beginning to think that I had accidentally purchased the WRONG ONE. I'm still hoping that that's not the case and a leak down test is still in order, just to put this to rest and have 100% certainty. Thanks for the response. It's good to know that this is normal. I'm still new to my rig and just being techy in general, so when I see milky s*** under my oil cap I think hG. I'm turning into a vehicle hypochondriac.
 
I understand your sense of concern and urgency but if I was in your shoes and that was the ONLY sign of possible concern, I wouldn't waste my time or money on the leakdown. Very normal to have that build up under an oil cap. Glad to hear you're feeling better about it, because it's very more than likely just fine.
 
looking under the cap doesnt tell you about water.

Draining the oil will. Watch it closely when you pull the drain plug as the water settles on the bottom.
 
umpteeth agreement on normal condensation.

reading through these threads on the oil cap condensation...all I have to say is that my air-cooled VW would show signs of this when I took lots of short trips or in colder weather. I say, your oil cap looks normal.
 
KLF said:
Before you start spending a lot of money on parts or fluids, I would have a leakdown test done. Not a compression test, a leakdown test. That is the best way to confirm if a HG is leaking or not.
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Even more important, do you do a lot of short trips? This is exactly what I would expect to see if you do lots of short trips without the engine getting up to operating temperature and then running for a while longer. Every one of my Volvos does this, in this circumstance, ever since new. I usually drive my Toyota trucks on longer trips and haven't noticed it then.

If not, then I would guess head gasket as well (especially if this were a 3.0L V6 in a 4Runner) but this really seems unlikely on a hundy.
 
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Alright. I most definitely overreacted. I have been taking all short trips in the last couple weeks and I live on the coast and we just had a s*** ton of rain. No other symptoms other than the miscolored cap. The responses to this thread are much appreciated and again, I have learned something new. I've been overly paranoid lately due to the fact of having to do quite a few repairs and updates in the short time I've owned this rig. Thanks again y'all.
 
Always good to gather lots of data first. Try the easiest, cheapest explanations. Then, we slowly work toward more complicated, more expensive solutions. : )
 
LX101North said:
Alright. I most definitely overreacted. I have been taking all short trips in the last couple weeks and I live on the coast and we just had a s*** ton of rain. No other symptoms other than the miscolored cap. The responses to this thread are much appreciated and again, I have learned something new. I've been overly paranoid lately due to the fact of having to do quite a few repairs and updates in the short time I've owned this rig. Thanks again y'all.
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Do you still have that whine going on?
 
I'm the same way

LX101North said:
Alright. I most definitely overreacted. I have been taking all short trips in the last couple weeks and I live on the coast and we just had a s*** ton of rain. No other symptoms other than the miscolored cap. The responses to this thread are much appreciated and again, I have learned something new. I've been overly paranoid lately due to the fact of having to do quite a few repairs and updates in the short time I've owned this rig. Thanks again y'all.
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Don't worry. I'm also an "auto-chondriac". ;-)
 
yotasavg said:
Do you still have that whine going on?
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Yeah man. It is driving me f:censor:ing crazy. Is there any way that the drive belt tensioner itself, and not the pulley could cause the whine. Is there supposed to be any vibration in the tensioner? That is seriously the only thing I have not replaced on the entire drive belt excluding the ac clutch. Its not the ac.

CardinalFJ60 said:
Don't worry. I'm also an "auto-chondriac". ;-)
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. It's a sickness, I'm telling you. We need professional help.
 
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