this morning, engine oil light came on so i topped off the oil and noticed light brown colored milky stuff on the oil cap. is this caused by condensation from colfd weather or is my engine sludging? before my last oil change my motor was guzzling oil more than ever... last oil change was done less than 2k miles ago and its an 02 320 with 52k miles. thanks in advance

I noticed the same stuff under the oil cap when I recently changed the oil. I cleaned it off and plan to check it later. I have not had any known sludge problems and I always change the oil by about 8000 miles (regardless of what the FSS system says). The original oil (when new) was not synthetic and I changed it at 4500 miles. The next change was at about 11000 miles and the dealer switched it to synthetic, which I've used ever since.

i followed fss and changed every 10k but since the warrantys up, i plan to change oil every 6k. we'll see how it goes...

I had the same green slime last week as well. I thoroughly cleaned the cap and associated area and am watching it as well. I have always followed the FSS intervals and always used Mobil One as well.

Clayton

The condensation is caused by the engine not getting hot enough to evaporate the moisture in the engine according to my dealer. My ML was just being used for local runs. Now I have my wife travel 10 miles on an Interstate to get gas, about every 2 weeks. Since she has been doing this, I've seen NO sludge on the inside of the oil cap. By the way, my 320ML doesn't burn any oil. I change every 7500 miles with Mobil 1 0w-40.

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Paul 1987 300 SDL; 2000 ML; '69 MGB; '68 VW Fastback

It's nothing to worry about. It happens in cold weather due to the hotter metal engine parts and the cooler plastic oil cap and the neck that the cap attaches to. The neck can screw off of the valve cover, and I believe the oil cap can attach directly to the valve cover, someone could try putting the cap directly on the valve cover and see if that stops the "slimeing" of the oil cap.

Gilly

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