Hi all:

First post. I have a recently purchased 1998 E430 with 47,000 miles and it seams to have emulsified oil under the oil fill cap. I have cleaned it, but it comes back.
I searched the post and found that it could be just water vapor or the crank case breather elements are plugged.
I have not seen any loss in coolant. It has about 6,000 miles on this oil change
Any ideas?
Has anyone heard of a 430 needing a head gasket or head problems at 47,000 miles?

Thanks for any and all.

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Brad.
1998 E430
1989 300E (Sold to Brother-in-law)

They all do it somewhat. You need to make longer trips, to fully boil off condensation. I would recommend more frequent than FSS oil changes.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Very true what Steve has to say. It's a build-up of condensation that manifests on the cap looking (oftentimes) like mayonnaise. If you go to the Popular Mechanics.com website, then go to the automotive section, somewhere in there, there is a brief question about a filler cap with white condensate on it and then the mechanic's answer. You may have to do a search for it under "oil cap mayonnaise" or "condensation on underside of oil cap".

Or do a search here under "motor snot"

Yes, the 112/113's are all famous for this in cold weather. If you remove the engine cover, you'll see that the oil cap attaches to a plastic extension piece, which in turn attaches to the metal valve cover. The plastic extension and cap are a bit cooler than the surrounding metal parts and is a colder spot for the condensate to collect than the hotter metal parts.
A long drive will eventually get rid of it, and also the return of higher ambient temps. I wouldn't worry about it in the least or change your oil changing habits.

Gilly

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Emulsion on/near engine oil cap

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Brad E430

Wish you could have seen my VW Jetta.
During the winter, you could scoop several spoons of white guck out of the valve cover every week.
I blame it on a poorly designed PCV system.
I also noticed, even on a ccompletely warm engine, the valve cover would still be very cold.
Eventually VW came up with a band-aid solution, some kind of vacuum/electric solenoid spliced between the air intake hose and the breather hose connected to it.
It would shut the PCV system in a completely closed postition with ignition key-off.
These symptoms, as pointed out by others, will disappear when the weather warms up.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Thanks for all your help.
This clears everything up.
I guess I'm just use to my beloved W124 and haven't had time to get use to the E430.
Thanks again.

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Brad.
1998 E430
1989 300E (Sold to Brother-in-law)

Nice car! Mine does the same thing.

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98 E430(sport), 99 ML 320 (sold) , 05 C 230(sport) Mark