2024 Hybrid 2.5 engine milkshake

[sprubs]

Common issue. Water will condense at the coldest point, which would be the oil cap. If you see the same on the dipstick or during an oil drain/change, THEN you have problems.

I used to see this on my 02 jetta VR6 later in my ownership of it because my commute to work went from 20 miles to about 5 miles so the car was barely warmed up by the time I got to work. freaked me out until I found out what it was.

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[HeyBales]

Take it for a long all-afternoon highway drive in sport mode to keep the engine always running. That should evaporate the condensation in your oil. Then think about using an oil that is specially designed for hybrids at your next oilchange.

What's funny with the timing - it had already been warming, those brutal cold days had been gone.
And if I had the miles available before hitting 0% OLR - 120 mile weekend highway drive on 70 F day sounds like it would have made it disappear.

I'd have never known, probably like last year.

 

[MYNOMAV]

Here's the next morning. You can see a tiny amount of cream on the edge.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Here's the next morning. You can see a tiny amount of cream on the edge.

Thank you for taking the picture and posting it.

 

[HeyBales]

Here's the next morning. You can see a tiny amount of cream on the edge.

And the rundown in the neck out of focus, but stands out.
Another drive and likely all gone.
Thanks for the test and photo.

 

[catrikejoe]

Good idea.

Because my 6 month checks of coolant strength (per scheduled maintenance) keeps showing it stronger - despite adding distilled water to top off mid to high level.
Because the level has always slowly gone down, very slowly for 6 month compares.

This last inspection with oil change soon after was the fastest drop I've seen.

I haven't researched if the refractometer would be effected by exhaust gases in the coolant.

If your adding coolant Have a coolant pressure test done for they can inspect for external leakage, if non found then have them perform the chemical block test.

 

[Darryl]

Replacing the engine Does affect his check. It BOOSTS it. They get a commission check too based on their sales which INCLUDES warranty sales. The service writer simply either parrots (often poorly) what the techs tell him. Or if something was EVER the case even once before, extrapolates and applies it to every vehicle. Having said all of that, I believe this was a hybrid. Although I've never seen this on a Maverick, I have seen the goop on an oil cap when there was no major problem under the following conditions: 1. repeated short trips during cold weather under humid conditions where the engine seldom reaches operating temperature. 2. A malfunctioning crankcase ventilation system. 3. A thermostat opening too quickly not allowing the engine to warm up properly. Again, more common under cold weather, high humidity conditions.
If coolant is disappearing that's a different issue. But if no coolant is disappearing, it could be one of the situations I've named. It would seem that a hybrid engine would be more sensitive to this condition if it's driven primarily in short trip conditions since it's shutting off and on frequently.

 

[Ryom]

I checked my oil cap from cold, after 10 minutes idling from cold (temp gauge highest blue area), then drove 5 minutes down the road at low speeds and rechecked (temp gauge lowest white area), then drove 20 miles at highway speeds (temp gauge middle white) and checked again. Ambient air temps were 25-30F, original oil from factory, about 4000 miles on the odometer... not seeing any peanut butter.

The original poster noted coolant loss and oil that isn't oily in the cap. Maybe the coolant ran down into the felted cover and is hidden, maybe the PB is just harmless condensation from his particular pattern of use. Maybe he has a defect from the factory that needs remedied and is causing coolant to dilute the oil. I don't know... but I'm hesitant to tell them to just write it off and not to worry.

Today it was drizzling rain for several hours and just above freezing at 35-40 degrees. I repeated the 4-part test to see if the high humidity and low temperature changed anything, and the oil cap looked exactly the same as the sub-freezing dry test did.

It's pretty funny to see how many oil cap inspections this thread launched.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Today it was drizzling rain for several hours and just above freezing at 35-40 degrees. I repeated the 4-part test to see if the high humidity and low temperature changed anything, and the oil cap looked exactly the same as the sub-freezing dry test did.

It's pretty funny to see how many oil cap inspections this thread launched.

It doesn't hurt anything. It's free other than a little time. If it gets people more interested in what's going on in their engine, that could be a good thing.
I see involvement, enlightenment as benefits of this forum.

 

[Ryom]

I'm going to get some food dye and shaving cream together and see if I can start a new trend tomorrow.

 

[HeyBales]

I'm going to get some food dye and shaving cream together and see if I can start a new trend tomorrow.

Like transmission milkshake?

Actually saw a commercial for espresso machine - and they focused a long time on the ending crema coming out for some reason.
Almost thought of that, though a tad darker.

engine crema

 

[F100Lobo]

This is a, only taking short trips during periods of cold weather and not getting the oil temperature high enough to burn off condensation thing. Happens to all types of vehicles, hybrid or not. If you live in a warm climate you’d likely never see this.


Bingo, this is the answer. Way to much over reaction about a possible blown head gasket.

Double bingo, this is a common condition cause by cold weather and short trips. The engine is not getting warm enough to evaporate the condensation.

 

[22XLThybrid]

I need to start popping the oil fill cap off during fillups when I check the oil dipstick.
Or in this case, even at the 20k inspection that occurred about 300 miles before the oil/filter change.
At which time I had to refill the engine coolant tank from mid-level. Which was mid-level again by the oil/filter change. Hmmm.

Never had anything show up on the dipstick.
Nothing in the old oil showed a thing.
Went thru last years winter and the oil change didn't have this in Apr.
But service writer said - nah, normal condensation, he's seen it on his F250.
Really?

Guess I'll have to wait until coolant drops more, and this shows up again - to get their attention.
I've never had this in a vehicle, and many oil/filter changes ended up being the same time of year for the same potential.

This can be kind of normal for the hybrid With extreme cold and short trips. The engine really doesn't warm up (Which also means it isn't burning a lot of gas) I've had a little bit of this once. It's pretty much going to be just up in the cap. Probably has something to do with plastic construction and not conducting heat. Make sure you using the right oil and don't Wait to change it at the maximum interval of 1 yr 10k.

 

[Maverick131]

Guys you are making this WAYYY to complicated - its most like a bad or stuck PVC

 

[HeyBales]

I'm glad my normal route to work is by highway, especially on the colder mornings, despite the 6 miles being in the Severe Driving category. Which I didn't realize until I checked.
15 minutes means Temp always up to operating region at least.

Back to home via city streets usually has several short errand stops, tad longer then, and almost up to same temps by the end.

But obviously on the shorter side of the range, and more extreme cold days changes that line.
But I'm betting I'm normally getting it up to operating temps 5 out of 7 days, twice a day.

I'll mention the OLR% did drop faster during the brutal 2 weeks of cold than prior weeks.
That's why I couldn't get the weekend 120 mile highway drive in there before reaching 0, making this mess disappear.
Whereas 20 days prior to oil change the estimated mileage was going to easily allow it to happen. The cold snap happened between these 2 entries.
So the OLM seems to take extreme temps into calculations - cool. Or cold.

From manual for others that don't look often like me. (system will know about all but dusty)

Severe Driving Conditions
A vehicle that is driven for short trips of less than 5–10 mi (8–16 km) miles, driving in temperatures greatly below or above average, driving in any dusty conditions, idling more than recommended such as in traffic, and driving with a heavy load or while towing a load are considered severe driving conditions.

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