white substance on oil cap?

[chipete]

1998 expedition whinning sound - YouTubeI have a 98 expo 5.4. well today the temps dropped down too below zero as i was out and about. first i noticed a loud whinning noise coming from under the hood, so i took the truck back home to check the idler & tension pulleys .there was no play in them. while i was under the hood i decided to check the oil(1 qt low), and also noticed a milk shake like substance on the oil cap and part ways down the filler neck. im guessing the two are not related and almost afraid to here the problems, but if you can help lay it on me. wasnt sure how to add a video, but click up top for the link.

 

[toms89]

One of two possibilities as far as the oil cap goes...


Head gasket or cracked head, block leaking coolant into motor. Generally will also look like mikshake on dipstick and have other symptoms as well.

Or you drive frequent short trips and the motor never really gets hot enough for any period of time to remove all the condensation/ moisture from the engine block/oil and it collects on the cap/ filler area.

 

[chipete]

well over the last six months i only run it about ten min at a time to try to circulate the fluids(about once a week).but what about the whinning noise? plus the oil looks fine from the dip stick.no smoking at all from the tail pipe.

 

[toms89]

Wow... thats loud..

I would say most likely bad bearing or accessory (maybe a/c) but cant tell where its coming from with the video.

If you can remove the serpentine belt you may be able to locate it.

You can also run it briefly with out the belt to determine if it goes away. Not long though as coolant will not circulate and you will be running off the battery. Just long enough to tell if the noise goes away...

 

[toms89]

well over the last six months i only run it about ten min at a time to try to circulate the fluids(about once a week).but what about the whinning noise? plus the oil looks fine from the dip stick.no shoking at all from the tail pipe.

If you run it infrequently take it for a 1/2 - 1 hour drive to completely evaporate moisture from the oil/ engine block. 10 minutes is not long enough to remove moisture. Short run cycles will collect moisture and thats likely why the cap looks the way it does.

 

[chipete]

ok just got back from taking the belt off and no noise! i turned the alt a few times and it sounds like a cherping bird, not sure if thats the issue.what do you think?

 

[toms89]

ok just got back from taking the belt off and no noise! i turned the alt a few times and it sounds like a cherping bird, not sure if thats the issue.what do you think?

Sounds like you have a bad alternator bearing. It should not sound like chirping bird..lol. It should also spin relatively freely.

 

[chipete]

it spins free, but the birds are there...lol

 

[Butch Smith]

Just replaced my alternator 3 weeks ago. Not a real hard project. Took about an hour.

 

[FordandPolaris]

Take off the belt, there are two bolts that hold it in, unplug and swap. Fairly easy job. I get white build-up on mine when it is cold as well. I think it is pretty normal with these engines. Keep an eye on the coolant to see if you lose any over time.