white cream under oil cap on a re-built engine!

[tommylet]

just fitted my engine back in my astra c20let, started it up for the first time had it running about 3 mins, looked under the cap to find small amount of white cream, the head gaskets all been replaced with a steel one, i know i have an air leak comming from some where but what else could cause it? any thing silly? havent put the belt on yet 4 the water pump btw. thanks.

[LongLiveTheNova]

havent put the belt on yet 4 the water pump btw. thanks.

[GDN16v]

havent put the belt on yet 4 the water pump btw. thanks.

So hows it been running for 3 mins? Water pump makes up part of the timing belt route!

[tommylet]

some one said its condensation??? has been standing 4 a good few months, sorry water pump is running then.

[random ryan]

best thing is to take off the cam cover and clean off the gunk and run the engine.
It can be caused by condensation as it just oil and water mix......or it could be a gasket failure.

[Scoobler]

Give it a proper run, let it get warm. Just keep an eye on oil and water levels. Condensation can cause a mix, not normally a huge amount though.

When you put the head gasket in, what tightening sequence did you follow?

Also is it a standard GM head or a Coscast version?

[alex1981]

So the water pump wasn't connected when you ran the car for 3 minutes? Not a good idea to run a car for any time without a water pump! Did it get hot?

Water in oil is not good. If the turbo was water cooled and oil cooled then I would suggest going down that route but it isn't.

I don't see how condensation could be enough to cause creamy oil. Do a compression test before you take the head off. Flush the engine out.

[andy_gte]

my nova angine did the exact same thing and turned out to be condesation, if you have anything breathing to atmosphere from the cam cover then try and plumb it somewherre else as that was how the water got into mine, just clean it off and give it another run for a while andf see if it comes back buit make sure it gets proper warm for a good 15mins to make sure all the water is burnt off.

p.s. are you getting any smoke from teh exhaust?? white or blue??

[alex1981]

I could imagine that condensation could cause a small amount of white smoke for a while, but not so much that it turns the oil creamy surely?

I have had cars sitting for aaaaaaaaaaaages and never had that problem.

[Terry81]

Sounds like residual water that got in during the build. I'd put money on it you diddn't blast the oil ways through with compressed air

[rodgerq]

So the water pump wasn't connected when you ran the car for 3 minutes? Not a good idea to run a car for any time without a water pump! Did it get hot?

Water in oil is not good. If the turbo was water cooled and oil cooled then I would suggest going down that route but it isn't.

I don't see how condensation could be enough to cause creamy oil. Do a compression test before you take the head off. Flush the engine out.

the water pump must have been connected as it forms part of the route for the timing belt. there was no way it couldnt be working if the enigne was running, the guy is just getting mixed up.

i'd give it a run up to temp and keep an eye on it, check fluids and watch for temp increases. a compresssion check isnt a bad idea either but if its between water and oil then that wont show anything.

thing is, with steel gaskets the head and block need to be VERY flat for it to seal properly. did you have the head skimmed? what about the block?

rodgerq

[vxlgsi]

its quite common on engines that do short runs, and nothing to worry about

[Jack]

I could imagine that condensation could cause a small amount of white smoke for a while, but not so much that it turns the oil creamy surely?

Yes, from having to service a car that never ever gets hot, I can tell you it certainly can condensate enough to put some mayo under the cap.