Yellow "gunk" on my oil cap???

[sumo]

dont over think it. All it is really is oil vapors mixing with Moisture, It can happen if the engine dosent get to operating temps. Like lets say you do a lot of short trips. Also the type of oil you use can also be a factor. Youd tend to see less with synthetic oil. If you had a head gasket problem, youd be experiencing, Loss of Power, misfiring, Overheating, blowing white smoke out the tail. Your Coolant resivoir would be mixed with oil and look like the consistency of Mud

 

[07Burb]

Well, got the oil changed tonight. The oil was a nice dark black so that is very good news. So it looks like the yellow was in fact condensation and the yellow was caused by traces of oil. I also looked at the coolant level and it looked good with no oil in it either. All-in-all I think we're good but I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on it just to be certain.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

 

[THE YETI]

what caused it to be low 1 quart?

 

[07Burb]

From want I've read it's not uncommon for the 5.3 to use small amounts of oil. Considering the duration between changes (timeframe wise) this could make sense.

 

[ScottyBoy]

My 01 5.3 has given me a low oil warning before, but that was after going more than 5k miles on the same oil without even checking it. I now check it every 1000 miles and add a little if needed. I have NEVER been a whole quart low after 3500 miles though. Although from what I hear, using a quart every 3k is not too uncommon. I run synthetic and go 7500 miles on it so I have to make damn sure it stays full.

 

[sumo]

Many Manufactures will tell you 1q per 1000 miles is acceptable. Ive noticed on my truck by 50% id add half a quart cuase it low on the stick. I

 

[stevek]

Well, got the oil changed tonight. The oil was a nice dark black so that is very good news. So it looks like the yellow was in fact condensation and the yellow was caused by traces of oil. I also looked at the coolant level and it looked good with no oil in it either. All-in-all I think we're good but I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on it just to be certain.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

If it was black, that really is only relatively good news, but it definitely isn't good in general. Change your oil in a few thousand miles and see if it's dark again. Did you use synth?

 

[07Burb]

If it was black, that really is only relatively good news, but it definitely isn't good in general. Change your oil in a few thousand miles and see if it's dark again. Did you use synth?

No, just regular Valvoline. Every time I change oil on any vehicle since I was a kid the oil was dark in color