I was adding some oil today and found a milky white substance on the oil cap and on the inside of the valve cover when I ran my finger up in there. It's kind of thick. Anyone know what this could be a symptom of?

No dirty jokes please. I love my 66 Dart but not that much.

Tom Kimpel

Only thing I could think of is a gasket or seal gone bad somewhere and water is getting into your oil. Other than that, I'm clueless

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

This is usually caused by moisture, either condensation or otherwise, if its not on the dip stick you are probably ok.

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go fast, turn left, don't screw up.
WWW.Mopardropheadcoupe.com

Tom, That's water in the oil. When water and oil mix it becomes a milky white substance. Now the issue is to find out how the water got in.
It might be condensation because you only drive your car short times/distances and are not letting the engine reach operating temperature or may be you had the engine pressure washed and water got inside through the breather.

Or as Jopapa said in the previous post a seal or gasket is gone.
Check your dip stick for water in the crankcase, change the oil and filter and see if it comes back.

I hope it's one the first two above.

Rafa

Cycledog, you beat me by a mere one minute.
It was probably because I had not logged in he he.
At least we both agree on it.

Rafa

Hey Rafa, don't feel bad, after all I've eaten today its a wonder I can operate this thing

_________________
go fast, turn left, don't screw up.
WWW.Mopardropheadcoupe.com

Water in the oil will turn the oil to a brown color, a lot of water in the oil will increase the oil level.

Washing the engine, damp weather conditions and / or a lot of short trips can put condensation up in the valve cover and if the PCV and / or breather is plugged, it has no where to go.

Clean everything up, change the oil and keep an eye on it.

Let's hope it is something simple, iron block Slants do not have many places where water can get to the oil.
The head gasket is one of those places so you may want to retorque the head to see if any of the head bolts are real loose.
DD

My 74 Dart had the same problem. This is caused by either a nonfunctioning PCV system due to a defective or plugged PCV valve or breather or excessive short trip driving where the engine does not reach full operating temp. If the engine has some blowby, moisture will get into the crankcase. This will occur faster if the engine is driven in cold climates and if the engine is not warmed up. Check the PCV/breather. My Dart was none the worse for the accumulated sludge in the valve cover. The engine did not use coolant, so there were no leaks. I cleaned the cover when I took it off to adjust the valves. In your case, as it was in mine, the buildup is probably due to some blowby and possibly short trip driving.

Mitch

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

This is a followup to what I have tried so far to remedy the problem.

I did in fact clean up the inside of the engine compartment with a pressure washer so this might be the source of the water. My bad.

I ended up changing the valve cover gasket (and also went ahead and put in a stock (non-chrome) valve cover I got at a bone yard. This also came with a more snug fitting oil cap. When I took the old valve cover off, the white goo was localized near the oil cap. I also cleaned the PVC valve and breather with a solvent. I am checking the underside of the oil cap regularly and do not see much in the way of white gunk. There is still a little bit present and I wipe it off with a rag, but there seems to be less and less every time. I'll change my oil and filter when it dries off outside. It's quite rainy in OR in the winter time. I'd kill for a garage to work in. For those of you with a very dirty or very small garage, be grateful you have one.

Thanks again,

Tom Kimpel aka "Spazus"