I have a 84 190E 2.3, just acquired the car. 73,418 miles. I did a compression test numbers were good and even. Engine does not get any warmer than 80c temp wise. Well today I noticed the oil looked milky. I drained the oil and it was very thin and milky. The car has sat for a long time. What could have caused this? Bad head gasket? Coolant is fine by the way.

The oil filter by the way was extremely old and it was deteriorated. Could old cheapy thin oil do this? The oil filter shows a lack of oil changes.

If it is coolant in the oil, don't drive it much at all. Usually some of the milky stuff will be on the underside of the oil cap when coolant mixes with oil.
A car with that low of miles would be suspect for a head gasket failure. It sat a lot .

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Chris
84 280sl
82 300d euro

In that year the gasket was pressed paper, 26 year old paper can be the problem. it is most likely Coolant in the oil

jsain86:

Have you refilled the oil and replaced the filter? Suggest that you do so, and run the engine until at operating temp. Did the milkiness reappear? If not, drive the car for a while, checking from time to time for signs of the milkiness. If the milkiness does not return, chalk it up to the spirits that reside in Lookout Mountain.