Can oil froth or go white without a blown head gasket?

[Rb20psi]

Hi guys just a quick question, Has anyone known oil to froth or go white for reasons other than a blown head gasket?

I have an Rb25 in my S13 drift car, it was recently tuned and made 350rwhp and seems to be running VERY well, Its a completely new setup for me and ill be taking it for a slide for the first time in a few weeks, However a few nights ago i took a peak into the rocker covers and discovered white clumps in there... My first thoughts were blown head gasket but as i said its running fine, it blows a tiny bit of smoke when cold but i think my turbo seal is going so i figured its that, it doesn't really feel milky, it just feels like there are white clumps in there...

Im running 10/10ths racing oil 5w, my tuner didn't mention or pick this up, he said it actually ran perfectly and he didn't notice any problems..

This weekend i will be doing a full oil flush and replacing the racing oil with cheap 15w stuff ( its what i ran for 3 years prior to this build in my drift car and had no issues ) maybe its just contaminated?

Your thoughts? blown gasket or contaminated? anyway i can make it last just the 2 days drift event without blowing the gasket? throw some thicker oil in there? chemi weld?, what ever, i dont care i just want it to last the event then i can order a rebuilt kit :p

[Darius]

Doesn't look good. Hopefully changing the oil improves the situation, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Rb20psi]

Bugga, well will let you guys know after the weekend, i have a spare head gasket and head bolts im just worried that something will go wrong before the drift weekend when putting it all back on lol thats why i haven't started ripping the head off..

Maybe some chemi weld would make it last?

Also i got a mechanic next door to me to use this tool that checks coolant for gases and it didn't react and he said its all good though...Im still not sure. He said the blue water would turn yellow if it was a blown head gasket..

[Darius]

I have one of those things too, but that only means the exhaust gases aren't getting into the coolant. The head gasket could still be cracked between the coolant ports and the oil drains from the head down to the block. That would allow pressurized water to flow from the coolant system to the oil pan and then get circulated through everything by the oil pump. Was the level on the coolant noticeably lower than when you started?

I would change the oil, warm it up, drive it around the block lightly (NO boost) and check the oil appearance again. If it looks bad, replace head gasket. If it is okay, take it out and get into boost. Check the appearance again. I wouldn't recommend dumping some chemical crap in the coolant as a temporary fix. Those end up being a bigger PITA to clean out after you dive in to do the actual repair.

[Rb20psi]

Hmm ok fair enough , would a compression test show results ?

Oil and coolant levels are not dropping though

[Largekid]

I had a milky residue in my oil right before I sent it off for tune. It ended up being the oil was flooded with ethanol. If you are running E85 and are pig rich, it is possible you could be seeing this from that.

[Rb20psi]

Nope mate it's tuned for 98ron pump fuel

[Rb20psi]

Small update -

Dropped all my oil today, it looked pretty clean, few little drops of white stuff but not a lot. I decided to remove my catch can to take a look, when I removed the two hoses water pissed out...

So I took the top filter off , tipped it upside down and about 250ml of water came out.... I have left my car in the rain before and high pressure washed it, and my catch filter is right next to the gap where the fender meets the bonnet. So I guess this is why I'm getting the white sludge mostly in the rocker covers.

I'm using a cosmetic 3 layer gasket so I really did doubt it was blown, will remove rocker covers tommorow and clean em up.

In short , I'm an idiot!

[Darius]

That's good to hear! Now, ditch that catch can filter for an open ended line vented below the engine bay. If the filter gets wet or blinded with oil residue, it will pressurize the crankcase. White smoke will start pouring out of the exhaust and you'll think something very bad has happened. Don't ask me how I know

[xracerx972]

+1 This same scenario just happened to me.. After running across this thread, I decided to dump my catch can and sure enough, it was just about filled with water.. Now time to flush the oil and find out just how it got so much water in there..