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Milky oil

Tiny
CASMIHOK
  • MEMBER
  • 2005 JEEP LIBERTY
  • 3.7L
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 163,000 MILES
Hello everybody hope you're doing well,

The other day I took my vehicle for a ride, it's been sitting for weeks and barely driven during that time because I have been trying to do repairs and using another car as my daily driver. About 8 miles into my ride, my car jerked really aggressively, oil light and CEL came on, and I stalled. I pulled over, and shut off the car. It wouldn't start up again. I took a look under my oil cap, it was milky. White, frothy, and milky. I know this is a terrible sign. My dipstick was reading full, and the oil at the end of my dipstick looked perfect. I didn't want to flood the oil, but I added a little bit just to see if it will allow it to start up. Thank God, I was able to start it up and drive it home those few miles. The oil light did not come back on, on my drive home that night. The CEL stayed on though, and it's reading P0344 and P0339. I know that is crank and cam shaft, are those related to this oil situation? The CEL was not on before I stalled that night, but I am still not positive they're related.
I am really bugged out because I need to get home for Christmas.
I read online it could be something as simple as water vapor that didn't have a chance to burn off because it has been sitting in such extremely low temperatures and drastic changes. But, if it were water vapor, would I really be stalling and breaking down?
I know it could be a head gasket.
I know it could be coolant leaking into my oil.
What do you recommend? I try and do all my own mechanic work to save money, especially because I'm not familiar with this area and I don't know what mechanic is reputable. Is there anything I can do to try and diagnose this myself?
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Friday, December 6th, 2019 AT 11:41 AM

7 Replies

Tiny
JONNYB1963
  • MECHANIC
  • 252 POSTS
Good afternoon,

So sorry to hear about your problem! Unfortunately, the oil appears to have coolant (or water) in it and it has been whipped into a frothy mess inside the engine. Before you deal with the froth, you need to identify the source of the water.

I sincerely doubt the DTC codes are related to the oil. Those both are telling you that the camshaft sensor is working intermittently. This is most like a bad cam sensor or perhaps a wiring issue.

To get rid of the frothy oil, you are going to need to drain, the oil as much as you can get out of it and then add fresh oil, run the engine for a short time (5 minutes maybe) then drain again, rinse and repeat until you no longer have any traces of anything except oil! You should buy the cheapest oil you can get for this portion of the repair because you are going to go through a lot of it. Save the good stuff for when you finish.

The problem is, that first you must find the source of the coolant (or water). You already mentioned the head gaskets, but there are other ways for coolant to get in there. Also there is the possibility that water got in there naturally so lets not rule that out just yet. I say this because you said that you are working on a little at a time which makes me think it was sitting a while. That said, I have a couple of questions:

1. Was the vehicle sitting in the rain with the engine exposed?
2. Have you checked the coolant level to see if there is any coolant missing?

Let me know when you have a chance,
Jon
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Friday, December 6th, 2019 AT 12:39 PM
Tiny
CASMIHOK
  • MEMBER
  • 203 POSTS
Thank you! Yea it's been sitting for a few weeks. I gave it a few rides when I could. The hood was not open ever during rain, if that's what you mean? Coolant level goes down very very very slowly. I'm about an inch and a half or so below the max line right now on my reservoir, but it was already like that previous to this frothy oil. I previously had a coolant leak because of a really bad clamp and replaced the clamp, since then basically stays put. But very very slightly lower, so I don't know if that little amount has gone into the oil or if it was burned off or leaked out somewhere. I got my hands full currently with this thing, what a headache. Hope I can make it home for Christmas.
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Friday, December 6th, 2019 AT 9:31 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,186 POSTS
Hello,

Here is a guide that can help you:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolantantifreeze-in-the-engine-oil

Please run down this guide and report back.
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Monday, December 9th, 2019 AT 11:17 AM
Tiny
CASMIHOK
  • MEMBER
  • 203 POSTS
Will let you know, thank you.
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Monday, December 9th, 2019 AT 11:44 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,186 POSTS
Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.
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Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 AT 12:08 PM
Tiny
CASMIHOK
  • MEMBER
  • 203 POSTS
Definitely will do, today was 20 degrees. So tomorrow I will start major work on the truck. Thank you sir, everybody truly. You guys are the greatest.
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Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 AT 5:31 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,186 POSTS
Good to hear ;)
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Wednesday, December 11th, 2019 AT 10:44 AM

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