have i put wrong oil in........

[jpda4]

last weekend topped my oil up with some halfords 10w 40 that had been open on the shelf in the garage for a while

having checked the level today and removing the oil cap there was a load of 'white cream cheese' looking stuff on the inside of the cap
water levels are fine

so the question is have i used the wrong oil
or will the 'old' possibly have been contaminated
used less than 500ml not sure what brand or spec was used on last service

the cars a 2001 and service has been changed to fixed serving schedule
700miles till next service showing

any suggestions ?

should i get it to a garage and have it flushed and fresh oil added

 

[nik patel]

Sometimes you get that because your prpbably only driving for short trips, so the car does not fully warm up thus causing condensation in the egine. Give it a long run pref on the motoray it should clear it

 

[smitch]

Could mean the head gasket is on its way out.

 

[leecs3]

Could mean the head gasket is on its way out.

It would be a good idea to check the header tank and see if the coolant has been contaminated with engine oil. Just in case.

 

[jpda4]

thanks for the replies

the car is run daily 9 miles to work...... 1st mile and a half at 30 rest of way 70 on dualcarrigeway...... would this cause consensation?

water level is normal....... clean no debris or oil slick on top

have been out today and cleaned the 'sludge' out the filler cap and attached pipes, well as much as i could get off the engine breather pipe, thats a bit awkward as it has a 90 degree bend, and looks impossible to remove completely witout taking loads of bits off, will have them change that at next service

 

[dan_a3]

I would change the oil and flush the system, and monitor it for a few days. If it happens again I would guess that your head gasket is ******.

 

[Caesium]

remove the oil filler cap and sniff it, if it smells like oil then its likely to just be where the car doesn't get hot enough to burn off the condensation. If it smells like burnt exhaust gas then its likely to be the head gasket. Normally head gasket can be confirmed by loss of coolant, oil slicks in coolant and smell of combustion in coolant header tank.