moisture on the dipstick

[5th_Ave_Sleeper]

Ok yall, this one will stump ya!
My buddies 5th Ave (completely stock) keeps having moisture show up on the upper part of the dipstick when he checks the oil.
There is no water in the oil (major anyways) the oil is still dark brown, not milkshake colored.
Could it be sucking moisture in from around the dipstick seal?? we have had quite a few rainy days here in east TN latley.
The car is an 87 with a 318 electric 2bbl/leanburn sys.
When he first got the car, it was blowing oil OUT from the dipstic tube. after a carb rebuild and unpluging the PCV valve and hose (plugged solid with sludge) it started this moisture thing.
Please help if you can, I dont know what to tell him, and he is ready to give up on mopars all together because of the one thing.
Oh the car runs great, drivabillity is fine.
Thanks
5th

[bbeckwith]

Hi 5th,

Does this car get used on mostly short trips? I seem to remember someone saying they had condensation in the oil fill tube for a 318 van motor once and I believe the cause was condensation that does not get evaporated because the motor never got the tube hot enough to evaporate the h2o. Could be the case with the dipstick tube maybe.

Good Luck

[Dennis Jokela]

You answered your own question when you said that the pcv system was deactivated.

If you do not have a pcv valve and a good breather on the other valve cover there is no way for the crankcase to eliminate condensation.

Easy to fix.

Dennis Jokela

[Tarrbabe]

If the pcv was the problem, you may have to change the oil after a long extended drive to get the moisture out. In the meen time, run a compression check to see if possable head gasket leak. This can also come from the intake not being sealed completly.
Mother said in one of my old engine books that the timing chain cover can become a problem with age and the cover will sometimes have to be replace.
This is not a yes or no problem. Good luck.

[dwc43]

Originally posted by 5th_Ave_Sleeper
Ok yall, this one will stump ya!
My buddies 5th Ave (completely stock) keeps having moisture show up on the upper part of the dipstick when he checks the oil.
There is no water in the oil (major anyways) the oil is still dark brown, not milkshake colored.
Could it be sucking moisture in from around the dipstick seal?? we have had quite a few rainy days here in east TN latley.
The car is an 87 with a 318 electric 2bbl/leanburn sys.
When he first got the car, it was blowing oil OUT from the dipstic tube. after a carb rebuild and unpluging the PCV valve and hose (plugged solid with sludge) it started this moisture thing.
Please help if you can, I dont know what to tell him, and he is ready to give up on mopars all together because of the one thing.
Oh the car runs great, drivabillity is fine.
Thanks
5th

I know what you mean about the rain here lately. Need a 4x4 to get out my drive way. Your on the right track. It needs long drives to burn off moisture and a proper working pcv system. And yes, moisture can be sucked by the tube if it wont seal up tight enough. Keep looking and you'll figure it out. It's nothing major to worry about anyways.

[turbododge]

Odds are that the moisture is not coming from outside the engine, leaking by the stick in the tube. To condense in the tube, after coming from the outside, the tube would have to be considerably colder than the outside air, which rarely happens. Condensation in dipstick tubes, valve covers, pcv valves etc, is almost always moisture that has collected in the crankcase, usually from blowby combustion products. Even a low blowby engine will put water in the oil, especially when cold. The moisture in the crankcase vaporizes when the engine starts to heat up, rises in the engine, and then condenses on anything that is still cold, like a dipstick tube, valve cover, etc. If you keep driving long enough, those areas get warm enough to evaporate the water and it is pulled out though the pcv valve. The only way to really address the problem is to get the engine warmer more often, hotter thermostat helps, change oil more often, make sure the heat riser, crossover passage, and snorkle heat are all working properly.

Back when our cars were new (60's) I took apart many engines (/6 was the worst) that had enough goo in the valve covers to fill them except where the rockers were. Of course this was in Minnesota where the problems with moisture in the crankcase and condensation are much worse.