Hey,

I noticed the other month during an oil change, that there was some white sludge underneath the Oil Cap. That being said, I assumed a blown headgasket, now it still could be, but I haven't seen any drop in coolant or any sludge in the oil after I dropped it.

Are there any other warning signs of a blown headgeasket that I could try and pick up on?

BTW, '04 5.4L

Cheers,

Fox

 

Most likely just condensation there are lots of threads on this already just do a search

 

I have a 2004 5.4 also and during my last oil change, which was in december, there was a white sludge under my oil cap, but none in the oil pan or the filter. Maybe some moisture got under the oil cap and caused it?

 

Normal especially this time of year and with lots of short trips Just condensate collecting under the oil cap. Take the truck for a long drive once in awhile.

 

mine is doing the same thing, and i know alittle bit is normal, but i drive about an hour to work one way, everyday, and i have a good handful of this "sour cream" when i clean out my oil cap and filler neck. I work at a ford dealership and had our engine guy take a look. He said he has never seen one so bad, still no idea what is causing it.

 

I was told by a ford tech it was low quality oil breaking down I'm my engine and he stuck with that till I told him it was motorcraft oil I was using he was not sure what it was after I gave him that information

 

It is called emulification, it is caused when water and oil mix. Your oil fill cap is also a crankcase breather and in the cold weather the cold air and warm air mix in that area causing moisture that sits on the thin film of oil on the sides of the oil fill tube.

 

I asked this same question over a year ago and received the same responses. As long as there is no water mixed with the oil in the crank case your OK. The cap ia plastic and does not get hot enough to vaporize the water also water condenses on cold surfaces. The water comes from blow by around your rings which gets worse as the miles pile up. That's why your (hopefully)not loosing antifreeze. I suspected an issue with the PCV system not pulling the vapor out, but also learned the PCV valve is made into the drivers side valve cover and you have to swap the whole cover to replace it. So just prior to an oil change I flushed the various hoses associated with crank case ventilation with Throttle body cleaner and soaked the PCV several times to clean it up. It improved but did not completely cure it.

 

I have never seen this on any ford vehicle that i maintain. I always use a high quality penzoil sythetic and never seen them like that.

Maybe try an engine flush and put.some quality oil in there.