Condensation?

[TransAm11973]

So I havent run my car since saturday....its been in the high 40's during the day and low 30's at night....I was checking all my fluids today and just took off the oil cap to give it a quick clean, when I took it off there were some water beads hanging off the cap and some water condensed on the filler tube? Anyone ever seen this before...btw the car is running great.

[bigrondownhiller]

Just as long as the oil isn't looking milky I wouldn't worry.

[mark21742]

lol i just posted the other day about the same problem. Bigron is right, aslong as the oil looks good there is nothing to worry about

[0rion]

have you been short running the car? Condensation is pretty normal and if you're not letting the car come all the way up to temp to burn off some of it the condensation will be worse but it sounds like it's probably just from sitting.

[TransAm11973]

well i drove to work and back, about 15 miles each way, and that was on saturday, havent driven it since,....i havent ever noticed it before until today,....but the weather has been warm then cold, warm then cold,...so maybe tomorrow i will take it for a long drive

[0rion]

I wouldn't worry about it. It'll get that from just sitting and the temp. swings aren't helping.

[SOMbitch]

Sounds like condensation from short trips but 15 miles should be enough to burn it off.

Are you by chance running a 160* t-stat?

[TransAm11973]

nope

[SOMbitch]

nope

Reason I asked is because I am and it takes forever it seems like in this cold weather to get my oil operating temp.

[Wesman]

As the other guys said, common occurance, nothing to worry about.

Its basically just moisture from the crankcase that didn't get hot enough to evaporate since you're only making short trips.

[JaycenK]

LOL welcome to my world all year long!!! I live in Florida about 2 miles away from the water and there is moisture here all year. I cant leave bare steal unpainted for more than a day. Sometimes just a couple of hours. It is normal and it happens a little bit more if you have synthetic oil and it is sitting for a period of time. I had a rear end with synthetic in it and it sat for a year in my garage. When I pulled the cover off the synthetic had separated and rusted the ring gear a little bit.

[SteveC]

Once the vehicle is at operating temperature, it should burn off the condinsation very quickly, a nice long drive would not hurt.

I have a "garage queen", and I use synthetic oil so that the condensation does not piliferate the oil, it sits on top of it, so at startup, it burns off quickly.

SteveC

[mark21742]

Once the vehicle is at operating temperature, it should burn off the condinsation very quickly, a nice long drive would not hurt.

I have a "garage queen", and I use synthetic oil so that the condensation does not piliferate the oil, it sits on top of it, so at startup, it burns off quickly.

SteveC

lol i cant wait till the day i have time to go for a long ride