99 Expy, 4.6, 150k miles.. Water in oil.....foamy white stuff on oil fill cap...

Head gasket?? oil filter adapter gasket?? Oil tube going through tranny ??

I am currently flushing the coolant and changed the thermostat since it looked faulty. this....

I need to do a radiator pressure check and cylinder compression check to pinpoint the problem..

Any advise ???

 

Is the white goo on the fill cap the only thing your going by? Every mod motor I have had has done this (1 V10, 3 5.4's and 1 4.6), if you make alot of short trips the engine never warms up enough to burn off the condensation and the white goo is left over. My current expy has 156k and has had the goo since the day I bought it at 98k and runs/functions fine. if your oil is foamy then you have a problem but you cant go by the cap cream.

 

Thanks for some slight hope that its nothing.. I have noticed the white goo recently (but also in the past), last month and maybe the cold weather has something to do with it (it has been below freezing alot in the past month)

I usually drive about 8 miles one way to work, plus lunch, and general errands after work, so maybe 20 to 40 miles per day, 4 to 6 trips.

Actually, the amount of white/brownish colored goo varies.... (yesterday) seemed really bad...ie, 1/8 in thick, dripping off, some bubbles. A few days ago (last wed) not as much..... looked alot darker.. I will try to get some pics for reference.

I did seafoam the engine last weekend, and smoked up the neighborhood.... probably not a great thing to do that if its the head gasket...

yesterday, did rev the engine and noticed a slight of black smoke, but was only for 2 seconds and did not happen anymore..


Foaming in the oil?? where on the dip stick ?? Looking in the fill port??

Thanks for your info.. Also, FTE is awesome,, everytime i have a problem, i log on and start searching...

 

you would see foam/bubbles on the dipstick and the oil would be off color / kinda creamy, you should really just change the oil to check it (water/coolant in the oil would be obvious). Your driving pattern would be consistant with what I see though.

 

I added a pic in my album. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/a...hp?albumid=343

The white goo actually stops about an inch down from the top... so may be just condensing on the oil cap and oil fill port.

I will clean off today, note the driving trips and post pics....I will also change the oil and post results. Guess that is the engi-nerd in me.....

Anfo, will the entire oil dump be white goo/oil mix? or just a part of it?

Also, when i change the oil i usually use an "engine flush", yeah i know there is risk. So if the oil is contaminated with antifreeze can i assume head gasket or similar major problem... IF no white goo comes out, i can assume that it is only a burn off the condensation problem??? would taking a long trip fix this ? reduce this ?

Sorry for all the questions, i just find it valuable to pick the brains of others to increase my knowledge...

 

Pic mentioned above...



And pic of my water temp and oil pressure... Are these normal readings?

Is the oil pressure normal ?
Is the water temp normal? I just changed the Thermostat, and has water + coolant flush for the next 6 running hours...if that matters
I know the gas tank is normal....
Also, the CEL light is ERG related, 1401. did this same repair on my taurus.

 

How are the coolant/oil levels? Are you losing a large amount of fluid? Is the coolant in the overflow discolored? I too have the goo under the cap on my 99.

 

Before i started flushing this past weekend the coolant and oil level was normal..

Coolant was green and rusty looking at the upper radiator hose and the degas bottle was dark green and rusty looking. Last coolant clean, flush, fill was about 2 yrs ago @ ~ 110k miles.

I drained the coolant and flushed the system for about 15 minutes (removed the upper hose from the radiator, water hose in the degas bottle)..

Think i had a stuck thermostat and was only flushing to radiator, ie no pressure or hot upper radiator hose w/engine running. Changed thermo out and coolant upper hose was hot, full, so it worked..

Currently have "coolant super cleaner" stuff that stays in for 3 to 6 travel time.... will drain, flush, repeat several times after cleaning... May even drain from the engine drain plugs if i can get to them... then add the 50/50 antifreeze distilled water.

 

What you are seeing on the oil fill cap is from condensation. Condesation will form do to the engine not warming up enough or long enough. This is a winter time thing that happens. If you have a blown head gasket you will be able to see it on your dip stik if it is getting into the oil pan. Since you are not loosing oil or antifreez this also says normal conensation. Look at your oil when you drain it out, the water or antifreez will most likely float on top and there will be some foamy milkshaky stuff also there.

 

mine looks the same as your pics, the 'gauges' are really idiot lights with dials but your readings are the same I see.

 

Update:
Last week was 50 to 70 deg in alabama, checked the cap, no stuff..
This morning was 35 deg, checked the cap and was white goo with several drops of water...

Ill take a little bit of white goo, vs head gasket..

Thanks to all who helped and maybe this will help some one in the future..

Next project:

50k mile service on my girlfriends 06 Jeep GC. Man that SUV is so easy to get to, you can actually get to the plugs, alternator could be removed in 5 minutes i could change the oil filter from stand over the engine.......must be nice!!!!! but i love my Expy..

 

Wifes expy did the same thing and I was thinking the same as you. She made alot of short trips 2 miles or less for work. She changed jobs last year, she makes longer trips now and the goo went away. Good luck, Mike

 

I would watch it myself & see if the coolant drops any. I take a black marker & get the engine warm & mark the fluid level & watch it. People seem to forget the 5.4 & 6.8 the big brothers to the 4.6 BOTH have head gasket problems. I live in an area that this year we have had very damp conditions normal winter dry is 20%-30% this year 40%-60%. Our winter temps are lows in the single digit to 20 degrees with highs 30-50 degrees. My point is none of my 3 vehicles have white goo like that.
I have seen 2-6.8 V10s leak coolant into a cylinder & lock up the engine over night & NEVER was there any white on dipstick.
I drove a Lumina for 3 months with a very minor coolant leak I couldn't find. No white GOO at oil filler cap or any place, NO white on dipstick. One day I was coming home from the next town 55 miles away & it started to idle rough when I pulled into the house & white smoke or steam was coming out the exhaust. Well that very slight coolant leak turned out to be a head gasket blown. The filler cap was looked nothing like yours.
I'm a retired mechanic & I have seen some weird stuff in my 60 years of life. So all I'm saying is watch it. It maybe nothing or it could be the start of a major problem.

 

Your gas guage seems a little low...

 

I've been waiting a week for someone else to be the one to say that.