bradmoffatt

my 04-F150 has oil sludge in the oil fill cap suggesting a bad head gasket. Dumped 3 cans of Bards Leak Stop with no effect. Drained the oil pan and got less than 1 teaspoon of water - if that.

I scraped 1-2 teaspoons of oil sludge from the oil fill cap+neck. Considering the negligible water in the pan, is the problem of immediate concern or can I wait 3-4 months and replace the head gasket in the summer?

My concerns are
1. coating the valve assemblies may block proper lubrication
2. how much water is needed to significantly alter the oil lubrication quality

Mod (Ret.)

I'm not convinced you have a blown headgasket. If it were, you'd have lots of water in the oil, not just a teaspoon; unless the bars leak worked. By the way, 3 bottles of the stuff is huge overkill. On can, marked for a V8 is good enough. You most likely have a lot of that excess in the radiator. I've used bars leak with very good success.

Go and get the cooling system pressure tested. This is the best way to determine the leaks source. In earlier days, you could remove the radiator cap while the engine was running, and look for bubbles; now the pressure cap has been moved to the overflow tank, and this "shadetree" method is'nt effective.

For your piece of mind, get it pressure tested at a radiator shop (or any service center that performs this).

And if the head gasket is leaking, I would not wait until later to repair it; I'd do it now. Why take a chance for overheating, and/or additional potential engine damage?

rplatt56

could this just be condensation???? what are your driving habits? do you make long enough trips tp get the truck warmed up or is it alot of short ones?

04SilverF150

I have the same issue. I have spoken to multiple dealers, and they are saying that I do not drive enough miles (5 miles one way) to heat the truck up enough... it's just a function of the air condensing in the motor. I definitely got a little more than excited when I saw it and was afriad I blew a head gasket. I Definitely keep a super close eye on the coolant level and the oil level though. Certainly not sayin this is what's going on with your, but just relating what happened with mine. Having someone look at it's never a bad idea.

I just get a rag and wipe it out every time I gas up.

Jason

f150bob

Try a semisynthetic oil or full synthetic, it will stop the sludge buildup. Always have your oil changed when oil is hot !! All the sludge in the oil will come out. If do not drive much, have the oil changed every 3 -4 months. If you have a older high milage vehicle, this seems to be normal

Darth Bama

This is condensation. My truck use to do it when I lived about 5 miles from work...not driving enough was the problem.

Miklowcic

I noticed this worse than ever before this past winter. My coolant isnt low but I could barely get the oil cap off the engine. Dealer said they think condensation. This winter was the first in our new house which is a 15 drive to work, plus I do a lot of house to house driving for work. I guess thats why its more noticable.

04SilverF150

Interestingly, the sludge is usally gone if I take a longer trip on the weekend. Engine gets good and hot. Definitely echo f150bob's comments about using a synthetic and changing often. All a good idea.

Mod (Ret.)

As I mentioned, have the coolant system pressure tested. This will assure the poster of this topic that he does not have a head gasket failure.

frikinrussell

There are people who have problems from not driving enough?!?! All my truck problems come from driving too much and too hard. My engine barely ever cools down