sludgy gubbins

[sawman]

I checked my oil level this afternoon in my cvh engine, and discovered a large blob of caramel coloured mayonnaise on the dipstick.

My immediate thought was head gasket, but there are no other signs - no steam from he exhaust, no mayo in oil filler or under rocker cover, no oily bits in rad filler. The temp gauge is doing the things it normally does and the car is running just fine.The head gasket would have been newly fitted 18 months and 10k miles ago

Could anything else cause gunk in the sump? I know cvh's are apparently prone to clogging oilways, but my car is used regularly and extensively, and I understood that this was more of a low milage issue.

I wondered if it might be feasible for spray and water from the road could have seeped into the dipstick tube. I did have to ford some large puddles over the last week or so. The tube in my car is relatvely exposed at the engine is longitudinal so the tube is close to the edge of the ngine bay rather than being tucked up behind the engine

Thanks for thoughts

[stevieturbo]

Condensation and totally normal.

[sawman]

Cheers. Never seen it before in this car
I'll not worry then

[Evoluzione]

Time for an oil change maybe?

[sawman]

yeah your'e right. its probably 1000 miles overdue

[Evoluzione]

If you suspect there is an amount of water in there probably best, it sinks to the bottom so if left to do so it could be sucked up by the pick up pipe.
As you said you use the car regularly it might not be possible, but it would be interested to leave it unused for maybe a week so the oil and water separates and see what comes out of the sump.
Another way of telling if you have a water/oil mix in the sump is steam and condensation from the breather and hotter than usual oil temps.