Ross Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 Hey, I took off the rocker covers of my ea81t toady, just to ckeck the valve clearences.... and found this. White water/oil goo, concentrated mainly around where the PCV hose connects to the cover. The goo only goes about 2cm up the pcv hose, then its clean. As you can see, most of the rocker and valves are clean... just some milky stuff splashed on #1intake... I've never seen any sign of water on the dipstick.... but it does get small amounts of condensation at teh top of the oil filler tube.... Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 Very good sign of a bad intake manifold gasket. I've seen it quite a few times. Get them from the dealer only. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 Very good sign of a bad intake manifold gasket. I've seen it quite a few times. Get them from the dealer only. GD oh yeah.... The gaskets are from subaru, but maybe i need to flatten the mating surfaces some more.... Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 if you do alot of city driving that can be normal. If its alot..everywhere like on the dipstick, head gaskets. I am aware manifold gaskets only go into the combustion chamber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 ignore it and maybe it'll go away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 I am aware manifold gaskets only go into the combustion chamber They are hooked into the coolant passages as well, and when they leak internally the steam gets inside the crankcase and will condense around the breather tubes were cold air is drawn from the intake. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank B Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 What are your driving habits? And distances that you drive it? Condensation in the oil will not "boil off" if the engine oil doesn't get up to temp and stay there for at least 30 minutes. You can't avoid it, it will always be there. I had found the same thing in my 82 ford F150 when I bought it. I t sat for almost 8 years, only started and idles for about 10 minutes whenever the guy remembered to do it. I changed the oil and filter, added a can of Seafoam in the oil, changed pcv, and drove it! after a while it cleared up. I'd say clean it out, change the oil and add Seafoam to remove the moisture, change psv, and drive it for a while. If it keeps coming back or you've done all that already, change the gaskets, etc, as suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 some water condensation may be expected in certain situations, i wouldn't call it gasket related just yet. but like GD said it is typically an intake or headgasket sign. i'd clean it all up and see how long before it comes back. it should be obvious with your coolant level. if you're topping your coolant off then it's going somewhere. you can go years without ever adding coolant, if you don't have a leak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 Cheers guys... This is on my reconditioned ea81t, which has only done around 5000km since the rebuild, so it hasn't been doing any long drives.... And its been sitting for about 5 months now... That said, it does seem to use a minute amount of water, like maybe 400ml over that 5000km, although one of the turbo coolant lines is a bit suspect, and does drip now and then... So yeah, ill clean her up and see how it goes, should be going on a few long drives soon so that should help clarify whats going on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted January 28, 2007 Author Share Posted January 28, 2007 an update on this situation.... When this was occuring, i was using 15w40 castrol GTX protec, which is a resonable quality mineral oil (approved for turbos) - it was being run in so couldn't use synth. About a month ago, i changed to 10w60 fully synthetic, mainly because the oil gets very hot on long trips since i am lacking an oil cooler.... oil pressure now much better! Anyway, the moisture problem has totally disappeared now that i am using this oil. The problem had reoccurred after changing the mineral oil three times, leading me to believe that the problem had something to do with the oil. THere is now no moisture on the filler cap whatsoever, and the odd smell coming from the filler tube has been replaced with a nice oily smell. The engine also runs slightly smoother once warmed up. Conclusion: Castrol formula R 10w60 synthetic highly recommended for those of you with turbocharged engines! Mineral is not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 10w60, what a strange weight oil. glad it's gone, now don't forget to attend to those turbo lines you mentioned might be dripping earlier. new hoses and clamps are a very good idea on those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 10w60, what a strange weight oil. glad it's gone, now don't forget to attend to those turbo lines you mentioned might be dripping earlier. new hoses and clamps are a very good idea on those things. Yeah, expensive too! Its designed for very high temp applications, perfect for my oil-coolerless engine... Will probably switch to 5w50 synth once i have a cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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