Was worry about some small amount of yellowish substance under my oil cap
I am actually doing very should distances as my work is only 2 miles from home
found this ... feel much better now ... wanna share this with you guys
http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/e36-3-...r-oil-cap.html
Last edited by champaign777; 12-21-2009 at 11:04 AM.
This tends to happen this time of year if you drive short distances in the cold weather. The same thing happened to me. I took mine for a long drive and the problem went away.
1997 528i 5spd - The "Daily Driver"
1995 540i 6spd - The "Cream Puff"
1993 850ci - The "Dream Car"
Plus Ford "Foxbody" LTD LX and GMC Suburban
Don't see this on the wife's V6 Highlander EVER.. Got it on my 03 even with the new CCV installed by the dealer. No real short drives as it is 35 highway miles to/from work. Seems to be another case of German engineering.
I think that's why BMW calls the CCV an oil separator. The CCV is supposed to separate the oil vapors from the liquid. Like a PCV valve, it returns the oil vapors into the intake manifold for combustion. Unlike a CCV, it also returns any liquid oil back into the sump via the dipstick tube. That yellow gunk is just condensed oil vapor. It is exacerbated by short drives in cold weather. It can cause a problem if it goes into your combustion chambers as it is incompressible. You need to take some periodic longer drives. As Dave said, this appears to be some Bavarian engineers well-intentioned attempt to overengineer a relatively simple part that now can cause a major problem.
A little yellow or orange is somewhat normal. Excessive buildup or sludge is not normal. The color varies by car with the brand of oil and OCIs being the most common contributors.
"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti"
2007 Carerra S
2009 E91
1990 Toyo PU - POS
2000 E39/5
1976 911
Last edited by champaign777; 12-02-2010 at 02:46 PM.
I would suspect the CCV going bad.
Does the car whistle when you hit the accelerator?
Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …
Mayonaise on the cap? Head gasket gone perhaps, any recent overheating?
xm actually my both E39 have this whistle ... i checked some another E39 and all had the same whistle - dealer said it's normal
I also cleaned ICV , MAF, all intake and all looks fine
no oil / coolant consuming
No issue with accelerator .. this guy is fast
head gasket was changed by previous owner
no cooland work and car was never overheated as far as i know - i have it 1000 miles so far and no issue
Last edited by champaign777; 12-22-2009 at 12:05 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
I wouldn't worry about it too much... unless there's ALOT. If you go for a good, hard drive for about 30 miles it will burn out the moisture. It becomes a problem when that moisture freezes up inside the CCV. Then it gets messy and expensive. A good idea when you do your next oil change would be to run an oil system cleaner though the engine. That should clean out any remaining moisture that might be in there.
Last edited by KJet540; 12-21-2009 at 07:21 PM.
this is interesting - what kind of oil system cleaner ? i am not familiar
I have this whistle but a bit
also it's not when I hit accelerator it's when I just start the car
If this is only whistle the issue then I don't think I need to do anything now ... but you right , will keep looking
Last edited by champaign777; 12-22-2009 at 11:27 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
All you guys who just jump on the head gasket bandwagon are just dead wrong. Back in the days before even PCV, every engine looked just like that inside under short driving conditions. Do you think there is any water vapor in the air that is inducted to the engine???? Where do you think it all goes?
More part replacing non-sense which just gets folks all twisted up for nothing and boy I wish I was a parts supplier for you guys.
OP---Change driving habits and you may want to look at your CCV.
The oil system cleaner we use, and it works great, is Power Maxx High Performance Oil System Cleaner. It's made in Germany and is TUV approved. The part number is 33018. We get it from www.autocamping.ca
I'm not sure where you guys would get it in the States.
On the cars that freeze up, you can pop open the oil cap and it look like a jar of mayo. Once you run this through it for 15 minutes, you can pull the valve cover off and it's spotless.
It takes 15 minutes and your engine has to be hot. It helps get rid of the moisture and having personally witnessed a lot of these and not once has anything bad happened, I'm confident in saying that it's harmless. Don't use it all the time, but once in a while. I use it every spring when I pull my car out of storage. I've been using it for years. It still runs like a top and it is spotless inside. No sludge build up, no moisture build up, not caked on oil deposits. It's clean. Even my old Cordoba looks really clean inside after a flush with this stuff. It's got 105,000 miles on it and since flushing the engine with the cleaner, it hasn't blown up or siezed, or thrown a rod, or whatever. If any engine would be a good candiate for the ill effect of an oil system cleaner, it would be the worn out 360 in the 'Doba. The filter doesn't 'plug' up either when you use this. It's just as black as it is normally and looks exactly the same as it does when you do an oil change on an engine without sludge. The moisture, which is the sludge, is elliminated from the crankcase leaving only oil behind.
It's kinda like Sea Foam. You use it just before you change the oil. You get the engine hot then add the oil system cleaner to the engine. Let the engine idle for 15 minutes with the cleaner circulating through the engine. After the 15 minutes is up, carry on with oil change as usual. I've been doing this twice a year to my wife's E46. We've put 90,000 miles on her car since starting this and it doesn't burn or leak any oil. I swear by this stuff.
The ratio is one bottle of cleaner for every 6 liters of oil. I use one bottle in my M62 even though it takes 7.5 liters and it still comes out spotless. If you want to try it but can't find a store that sells it, PM me and we'll arrange something. I think my cost is around $10. We have about 45 bottles at work. I could pop one in the mail and send it down.
I'd just use the Amsoil or SeaFoam (great stuff). No since in paying that much and trying to have it shipped over.
"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti"
Agree with you totally. Had the same problem myself, Was advised to replace Head Gasket And get the head skimmed...( You know how much that costs??!!)
Turned out (After studying these BMW forums - God Bless Those of You Knowledgeable Guys, who Share that Knowledge with the rest of Us!) That all I needed to do was replace a Crankcase Vent Hose and give the Vent itself a good clean!!
Bookmarks