Milky oil on the dipstick

[PATHRIDER]

Hey guys Im not sure if I can post this question here

 

To start off I have my 1993 pathfinder taken to a shop to have them go over it since I have not driven it in 10 years or maybe more and was told it has a blown head gasket because of the white smoke coming out when it was started and it has that milkish color on the dipstick, its more of a light color of white and amber mixed together

My question is, Should I try draining the oil and put a fresh one on there? After doing some research it also mentioned that if its a blown head gasket the oil cap would have that gunky residue which I did not check when I was at the shop

Whats strange is when my rig got stolen and was recovered the first thing me and a friend checked was the dipstick, it was normal no milkish substance on it so I decided to restore it by changing all the fluids and timing belt , water pump the whole work on that and test drove it for about 5 blocks maybe and no white smoke and it ran great. I decided not to drive it anymore but did the restore just in case I need her for a back up. I would start it every 2 years and the last time I started it theres white smoke so I turned it off right away and asked on here what could have happened or caused that and I was told old gas and condensation maybe, never had the time to mess with it after that so I figured worst comes to worst slap on another motor in it.

What puzzles me is if it does have a blown head gasket as what the mechanic claims it shouldve blown white smoke the first time I started it after restoring it 10 plus years ago?

The pathy has not left my carport all those time and also, took out the battery and fuel pump relay just in case somebody try to steal it again

 

Can you guys please tell me from your experience on what to look for on a blown head gasket besides the white smoke and the milkish color on the dip stick. Im really tempted to change the oil and coolant again, completely drain both and  replace the oil filter, What are your thought guys?

 

 

Thanks in advance

[Strato_54]

I'm no licensed mechanic, but what I can say in terms of the gunk on the inside of the gas cap is it may not be from a head gasket. My 08 Armada has it really bad, where the gas cap and filler tube will be filled with the foamy gunk but does not have a head gasket problem, its just from the moisture in the crank case. I have had a vehicle blow a HG (my 6.0 lol) and the cap trick didn't indicate a HG failure, it was actually oil in the coolant reservoir that was one of the tell tales. I have had the same gunk on the top part of my dip stick on my 97 pathy and sometimes inside the cap. Doesn't happen that often but I noticed it happen most on colder, moist days. 

 

When my 6.0 blew, it ate all of the oil, pressurized the degas bottle (fords name for the reservoir) to an extreme pressure, while also turning the once green coolant to a really thick rainbow tint brown sludge. Most people say that the main thing to tell if you have a HG failure is from the exhaust which I had none of, or at least no more then what a cold diesel in a Canadian winter would put out. Though not false information, it did not indicate MY HG as much as it probably should've. From my experience, checking for excessive pressure in the coolant system was what gave me an idea of what was happening, as well as a very underpowered drive home from school. 

 

Again, I am no professional, I'm just giving my input on my experience with a HG failure, and having a similar gunk in a non blown motor. 

[PATHRIDER]

Thanks bud. Im going to the shop tomorrow and check the reservoir and radiator.  From the time I restored it it ran strong and didnt lose any power, it even ran better

 

It kinda made me wonder also why the mechanic is willing to buy it from me for $2000 as is.It could be something that can be fixed easily, we all know how mechanics exaggerate thats why I never took my pathy to a mechanic but this time I just dont have the time thats why I did. My guts telling me to bring it home and work on it as I get some free time like drain the old oil thats been sitting in there for a long time. I put a lot of work on this pathy and had a lot of good memories

Thanks for your input bud sure appreciate it. Isnt there like a cleaner that I can put in after draining the old oil? I read somewhere on here that you can use this oil cleaner to clean out the crankcase and all and then drain that before topping it off with fresh oil ?  Its not seafoam

[Strato_54]

2 hours ago, PATHRIDER said:

Thanks bud. Im going to the shop tomorrow and check the reservoir and radiator.  From the time I restored it it ran strong and didnt lose any power, it even ran better

 

It kinda made me wonder also why the mechanic is willing to buy it from me for $2000 as is.It could be something that can be fixed easily, we all know how mechanics exaggerate thats why I never took my pathy to a mechanic but this time I just dont have the time thats why I did. My guts telling me to bring it home and work on it as I get some free time like drain the old oil thats been sitting in there for a long time. I put a lot of work on this pathy and had a lot of good memories

Thanks for your input bud sure appreciate it. Isnt there like a cleaner that I can put in after draining the old oil? I read somewhere on here that you can use this oil cleaner to clean out the crankcase and all and then drain that before topping it off with fresh oil ?  Its not seafoam

Yeah I've heard of a few mechanics try and pull stuff like that. Its why I'm not afraid to work on my own cars and learn on my own. like the 6.0, my dad and I did at our shop and was the first time either of us had torn apart a motor that far ever, and we got it running and today runs like a beast.

 

I have heard of something like that, but since we never had coolant inside the oil, it was mostly the other way around we never bothered and just flushed it with another oil change after a few months anyways. I know there is a coolant system flush you can buy but we tried cleaning it out as best as we could and it just wouldn't come off with anything, no over heating or clogging problems as of now a year+ later so should be fine I think? only time will tell lmao. Honestly I would flush the oil, maybe the coolant as well, and just run it for a while. let it get through a good few heat cycles and check on it periodically. If nothing bad shows up then the mechanic might be feeding you garbage, but having a solid baseline like knowing you have fresh oil and fresh coolant is a good place to start if its just now getting out of storage, like mine was. 

[PATHRIDER]

I will be picking her up at the shop later and get her home. I will flush the whole thing lol. Wish me luck and will post here again see what the outcome is. 5 quarts of oil and a gallon of coolant and 2 filters oil and coolant flusher is cheaper than $3000

[PATHRIDER]

Got her home and next week ill be draining the coolant and old oil then do a complete flush before putting the fresh oil and coolant.