Milky stuff under the oil cap

[Alireza]

Hello Guys,

I have recently bought a used 2015 Titanium energi, and the previous owner drove it for 61000 Miles. I noticed that there is some amount of milky stuff under the oil cap. I am living in Davis, CA and as I am student and Davis is a small town I may drive it for around 20 Miles per week and some days it stays off in the parking that is an open area. Since I have bought the car, the climate temperature has been around 40 to 55 degrees. When I noticed the milky stuff for the first time, I checked the water level of the engine coolant system and add water right to the MAX marker. I kept noticing the milky stuff until I had a 160 Miles trip in one run after that trip I checked the oil cap and boom nothing was there and for the following days I didn't notice milky thing anymore. I thought that the dealer washed the engine and some water leak into the oil tank and it was vaporized out. However, after about two weeks of not running the car due to holidays, I ran the car for about 100 miles and again found milky stuff under the oil cap. I checked the water level and noticed that it dropped about 0.5 inch since the last time I added water to it. Do you think this amount of drop in my water level is natural in about 400 miles of use with the pattern that I am using the car? Otherwise this water is leaking to the oil tank and I should seek engine repair?

I have never noticed any OMM notification or alarm from my car regarding heat or anything else. I would appreciate any help to diagnose the real problem.

 

I don't know if I should have started a new thread or followed the following thread which has almost the same topic but it is quite old?

https://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/4583-residue-in-oil-cap/

Edited December 11, 2018 at 08:54 PM by Alireza

[ptjones]

Hello Guys,

I have recently bought a used 2015 Titanium energi, and the previous owner drove it for 61000 Miles. I noticed that there is some amount of milky stuff under the oil cap. I am living in Davis, CA and as I am student and Davis is a small town I may drive it for around 20 Miles per week and some days it stays off in the parking that is an open area. Since I have bought the car, the climate temperature has been around 40 to 55 degrees. When I noticed the milky stuff for the first time, I checked the water level of the engine coolant system and add water right to the MAX marker. I kept noticing the milky stuff until I had a 160 Miles trip in one run after that trip I checked the oil cap and boom nothing was there and for the following days I didn't notice milky thing anymore. I thought that the dealer washed the engine and some water leak into the oil tank and it was vaporized out. However, after about two weeks of not running the car due to holidays, I ran the car for about 100 miles and again found milky stuff under the oil cap. I checked the water level and noticed that it dropped about 0.5 inch since the last time I added water to it. Do you think this amount of drop in my water level is natural in about 400 miles of use with the pattern that I am using the car? Otherwise this water is leaking to the oil tank and I should seek engine repair?

I have never noticed any OMM notification or alarm from my car regarding heat or anything else. I would appreciate any help to diagnose the real problem.

 

I don't know if I should have started a new thread or followed the following thread which has almost the same topic but it is quite old?

https://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/4583-residue-in-oil-cap/

This caused by not letting the ICE heat up hot enough to evaporate water condensation from the oil, going short distance trips will cause this problem with the oil cap. Just clean it off and for short trips use EV and for longer trips use EV later so the ICE will run long enough to heat up the oil.

 

Paul 

[Alireza]

This caused by not letting the ICE heat up hot enough to evaporate water condensation from the oil, going short distance trips will cause this problem with the oil cap. Just clean it off and for short trips use EV and for longer trips use EV later so the ICE will run long enough to heat up the oil.

 

Paul 

Thanks Paul for the response. So do you think the water level drop is normal?

[RickEnergi]

Hopefully you didn't add water to the coolant tank.  There is nothing in your engine compartment that should have water added to it.  If you need to add anything, it would be a mixture of 50% coolant and 50% distilled water (or a 50/50 mix), and the coolant needs to be the proper type.

 

There is no way that your dealer washing your engine got water into your oil pan.

 

Coolant levels in the reserve tank go up and down depending on engine temperature.  When your engine gets hot, the coolant is hot, and expands, and some is forced out of the radiator into the expansion tank, and the level goes up.  When the engine is cold (i.e. first thing in the morning), that coolant will have been sucked back into the radiator, so the reserve tank level will be lower.

 

Your manual tells you that to check coolant levels when the engine is cold.  It also explains that you have two different coolant systems, one for the engine and one for the hybrid inverter.

 

You can review your manual at owner.ford.com.  I'd suggest you get the PDF version, put it on all your devices, and take some time to read through it to be able to properly care for your Fusion.

Edited December 13, 2018 at 12:26 PM by RickEnergi

[16vjohn]

Like others have alluded, your regular commute could lead to condensation that would result in residue on the oil cap. However, that amount of coolant loss is not normal. If coolant is getting into the crankcase, that's a pretty serious/expensive issue that will need to be dealt with. Though considering your usage pattern, I'm comfortable suggestion that you change the oil, drive it on the highway a few times/week and continue to monitor the situation.