Hi Scotty,
I’ve been watching your videos for a while. I just bought a Toyota Corolla S Sedan 4D (automatic) at 152k miles on it. The car runs and shifts really good. There’s no oil leak under the hood and is mostly dry (at-least I haven’t noticed any). The only things that’s bothering me is when I opened the engine oil filler cap, there’s a little amount of sludge in it and while the engine is running at idle and my friend pressed the gas, some amount (not very much) of oil spattered on my palm when I placed my hand above the oil filler tube. Is this a bad sign for the engine? Is there by chance of engine failure in future?
(ps: both I and the previous owner are from Michigan and I think previous owner drove the car in cold for short trips that caused the sludge)
Think of this this way: … under the valve cover reside camshafts ‘n such. Those camshafts spin at 1/2 speed of the engine. Oil is pumped to lubricate those camshafts ‘n such, like valve train. Rotating and lubricated camshafts fling oil, … a very good thing! Relax, your engine is fine, … just replace and tighten that oil filing cap!
F.S.
thanks for your reply, so it’s normal to be the cap oily? There’s no smoke coming out of it or any kind of blow-by, just spattering some oil when I open the cap. Is there any chance of engine rust?
No rust inside engine if engine is well lubricated with fresh oil - regular oil and filter changes - and if engine is normally driven and short, cold drives are mostly avoided. You know, short cold trip: … you start a car, drive across the street and down two houses for a visit with a girlfriend for overnight fling.
The fact is, when gasoline burns, water forms as byproduct, oil catches it, and only when oil is heated up to ~185 deg. F for long enough time, this water is driven off from oil. Short, cold drives don’t create such situation!
And what you see under the valve cover - brown stuff: … is not a rust, but bit of combustion deposits, bit of brown discolouration. This is normal. However, if you see snot-type of foamy, milky stuff, … it’s emulsion - mixture of oil and water, … and it means you taking too many short,cold trips across the street!
F.S.
Mine is amber color engine oil, kind of golden. Does it indicate anything about rust?
It is normal for oil to spurt out gradually if the oil cap is removed while the engine is running. Yes, the oil cap will be oily and possibly even a bit darker than the color of fresh oil. Your engine seems to be operating normally.
Thanks @Pulp Friction for your insight