[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

I found this yellow stuff in my oil cap about a month ago.

This yellow stuff has the consistency of Cool whip or light mayonnaise. It tastes terrible! (Just kidding).

I had an oil change done about 2000 km ago. I have always changed my oil at least as often as required, if not more.

I also attached a pic of the oil dipstick to show what the oil looks like in the oil pan.

Any opinions / experiences as to what this might be is appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[otto888man]

Welcome to the forum! Do you do short trips? Was all of the oil change done in the dealer? Anything done before this happened? In winter the engine will produce more water vapour. How about the coolant does it look normal?

 

[Annoying_Orange]

Year and mileage?

Happens on all cars. It mean moisture in the engine oil. Cold engine and short trips. Not good habit for longevity. Also running a cold engine constantly isn't good for MPG.

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Welcome to the forum! Do you do short trips? Was all of the oil change done in the dealer? Anything done before this happened? In winter the engine will produce more water vapour. How about the coolant does it look normal?

Hi otto888man,
Thanks for responding!
I was doing short trips actually. I had someone else mention that it could be due to short trips so now I let the engine warm up for ~ 5 minutes and drive a longer route but that does not seem to help.
The last oil change was done at a Mr Lube and before that at Costco.
Nothing was done or happened as far as I know before I saw the yellow sludge.
I will check the coolant tomorrow and report back.......

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Year and mileage?

Happens on all cars. It mean moisture in the engine oil. Cold engine and short trips. Not good habit for longevity. Also running a cold engine constantly isn't good for MPG.

Hi Annoying_Orange,
It is a 2019 Kicks and the mileage / kilometerage is about 72,000 km.

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Hi Annoying_Orange, I appreciate your reply.
It is a 2019 Kicks and the mileage / kilometerage is about 72,000 km.
I mostly use the car to drive to local stores which are less than 1 km away, so definitely short trips for sure. I was not aware short trips could be so bad. I am now warming up the car by idling it for 5 minutes before driving off. Is there anything else you think I should do?

 

[Annoying_Orange]

Hi Annoying_Orange, I appreciate your reply.
It is a 2019 Kicks and the mileage / kilometerage is about 72,000 km.
I mostly use the car to drive to local stores which are less than 1 km away, so definitely short trips for sure. I was not aware short trips could be so bad. I am now warming up the car by idling it for 5 minutes before driving off. Is there anything else you think I should do?

You now know what the problem is. Cold driving for short distances. You're fuel economy will be at worst during this time.
What are your average litres / 100 km?

Just letting idle does nothing unless you are remote starting to de-ice the windows/warm up the interior. Should be no longer than 30 seconds of idling otherwise with modern cars.

Best warm up is just driving it easy until up to operating temperature. You should be taking it out for longer drives and/or occasional highway cruising for half an hour to balance out your short trips.

How often are you changing your oil in general? Using the correct oil as per owner's manual?

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

You now know what the problem is. Cold driving for short distances. You're fuel economy will be at worst during this time.
What are your average litres / 100 km?

Just letting idle does nothing unless you are remote starting to de-ice the windows/warm up the interior. Should be no longer than 30 seconds of idling otherwise with modern cars.

Best warm up is just driving it easy until up to operating temperature. You should be taking it out for longer drives and/or occasional highway cruising for half an hour to balance out your short trips.

How often are you changing your oil in general? Using the correct oil as per owner's manual?

Hi Annoying_Orange,

Thanks for the suggestions.

The dashboard says I am getting 7.4 L / 100 km. When I did mostly highway driving I got 6.9.

I will drive around till warm up instead of letting it idle to warm up from now on.

I have always changed my oil at least as often as required, at 8000 km or less. Always using 0W20 synthetic oil as per manual, at Mr Lube or Costco.

Thanks

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Hi Annoying_Orange,

Thanks for the suggestions.

The dashboard says I am getting 7.4 L / 100 km. When I did mostly highway driving I got 6.9.

I will drive around till warm up instead of letting it idle to warm up from now on.

I have always changed my oil at least as often as required, at 8000 km or less. Always using 0W20 synthetic oil as per manual, at Mr Lube or Costco.

One thing I would like to add - I recently drove about 250 km and when I came back, there was more yellow stuff in the cap. So taking a long drive seems to keep making more of the yellow stuff.

Thanks

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Hi otto888man,
Thanks for responding!
I was doing short trips actually. I had someone else mention that it could be due to short trips so now I let the engine warm up for ~ 5 minutes and drive a longer route but that does not seem to help.
The last oil change was done at a Mr Lube and before that at Costco.
Nothing was done or happened as far as I know before I saw the yellow sludge.
I will check the coolant tomorrow and report back.......

Hi otto888man,
I checked the coolant in the coolant reservoir and what I noticed is that the coolant level is about a 1/4 inch below the MIN level, when a week ago it was at the MIN level. It is hard to see the color of the coolant since it is down at the bottom of the reservoir, I am not sure if it is dirty or not.

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Hi Annoying_Orange,

Thanks for the suggestions.

The dashboard says I am getting 7.4 L / 100 km. When I did mostly highway driving I got 6.9.

I will drive around till warm up instead of letting it idle to warm up from now on.

I have always changed my oil at least as often as required, at 8000 km or less. Always using 0W20 synthetic oil as per manual, at Mr Lube or Costco.

I checked the coolant in the coolant reservoir and what I noticed is that the coolant level is about a 1/4 inch below the MIN level, when a week ago it was at the MIN level. It is hard to see the color of the coolant since it is down at the bottom of the reservoir, I am not sure if it is dirty or not.

Thanks

 

[otto888man]

Hi otto888man,
I checked the coolant in the coolant reservoir and what I noticed is that the coolant level is about a 1/4 inch below the MIN level, when a week ago it was at the MIN level. It is hard to see the color of the coolant since it is down at the bottom of the reservoir, I am not sure if it is dirty or not.

Most likely the Coolant has just settled in. As these uses Aluminum engine and it's more porous as it will absorb some of the coolant.

 

[oldkick]

Hi I,those quick lube places i'm not a fan of. did they talk you into some sort of engine oil additive which could be part of reason for crap in oil cap,but mostly short trips. take that car out for at least a 25/ 30min. highway drive once a week. like us old timers would say take her out and blow the cobs out. make sure pavement is dry and not slick!!! bring her up to rpm. i totally agree with others here your trips are doing your motor a diservice. i also wonder quality of oil at those quick lube places. i used to do all my own sevice to all my vehicles when i was younger bu now just save that kind of thing for my 85 yr. old girl my 1937 ford. all the rest go to nissan dealer. we have a very good dealer close by. they know your car. wish you luck I . Tom.

 

[oldkick]

hello again I,that pic of your dipstick looks like that is coventional motor oil not synthetic like your dealer would have installed. that doesn't look like motor oil with that low of miles. are you sure they even changed the oil. did they change the oil filter? you said you have those quick lube places put in 0/20 full synthetic? Tom.

 

[otto888man]

Agreed. Quick lube places are notorious for using low quality parts and oil

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Most likely the Coolant has just settled in. As these uses Aluminum engine and it's more porous as it will absorb some of the coolant.

Hi otto888man,

hello again I,that pic of your dipstick looks like that is coventional motor oil not synthetic like your dealer would have installed. that doesn't look like motor oil with that low of miles. are you sure they even changed the oil. did they change the oil filter? you said you have those quick lube places put in 0/20 full synthetic? Tom.

Hi oldkick, I appreciate the feedback and will go to the dealership from now on to get oil changes. I might just get an oil change soon to make sure the right oil and filter is being used.

 

[IGotMyKicksOnRoute66]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond.

 

[CB_DRMP15]

Just, get out on a long-ish trip at a constant speed to: properly cycle battery charging, clean all oil passages, clean cooling passages and heat cycle brakes and don't forget to exercise the suspension.

I personally use 5W30 Full Synthetic LiquiMoly oil and if not available, Repsol 5W30 Competition Elite Full Synthetic, also full synthetic GL4 for the gearbox in 75W90 LiquiMoly, LiquyMoly DOT4 Brake Fluid and
Coolant Ready Mix RAF 12+

Got 35 000kms and 7 oil changes, 2 brake fluid and coolant changes and 1 gearbox oil change. Very humid where I live, and brake fluid absorbs water. Still have about 50% life in front brake pads and rear shoes ... Will replace them this year as well as the suspension, going on 5 years

 

[oldkick]

Just, get out on a long-ish trip at a constant speed to: properly cycle battery charging, clean all oil passages, clean cooling passages and heat cycle brakes and don't forget to exercise the suspension.

I personally use 5W30 Full Synthetic LiquiMoly oil and if not available, Repsol 5W30 Competition Elite Full Synthetic, also full synthetic GL4 for the gearbox in 75W90 LiquiMoly, LiquyMoly DOT4 Brake Fluid and
Coolant Ready Mix RAF 12+

Got 35 000kms and 7 oil changes, 2 brake fluid and coolant changes and 1 gearbox oil change. Very humid where I live, and brake fluid absorbs water. Still have about 50% life in front brake pads and rear shoes ... Will replace them this year as well as the suspension, going on 5 years

Hey CB DRUMP,is the car you are speaking of a kicks? to each his/her own sounds like you are making a race car out of it. i hope if I is has read your post they are not thinking of doing what you have done to your nissan. sounds like you have ridden her pretty hard and all hard driving,braking,cornering,over revving that motor no matter the high performance lubricants you install in the car it is not intended for that kind of severe service.the exspence you are incurring by this imo could hurt your car and void your warranty. please be careful in traffic and take her to the track not on the street. no disrespect. Tom.

 

[CB_DRMP15]

Hey CB DRUMP,is the car you are speaking of a kicks? to each his/her own sounds like you are making a race car out of it. i hope if I is has read your post they are not thinking of doing what you have done to your nissan. sounds like you have ridden her pretty hard and all hard driving,braking,cornering,over revving that motor no matter the high performance lubricants you install in the car it is not intended for that kind of severe service.the exspence you are incurring by this imo could hurt your car and void your warranty. please be careful in traffic and take her to the track not on the street. no disrespect. Tom.

Yes, is my Kicks, I drive it hard, I take care of it ...
Warranty? The dealer can go and play with turds if they want, had my 36 months past during C19 when I only had15 000kms so, they are useless anyways ... I am a trained auto technician, I have always, after 10 000kms switched to full synthetic oils in my vehicles, both cars and motorcycles ... Why not my Kicks?

Why am I hurting my car?

Track? Don't have $500.00 for 1 hour ... Roads where I live are fun, never straight, they go up and down, left and right ...

Cars are meant to be driven, not treated as garage queens, no direspect ... As you said

to each his/her own

BTW, forum's name is CB_DRMP15 NOT CB DRUMP