Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Chaps,

My much-loved S2 is less than a thousand miles from the magical 200,000 mark. It had a new (rebuilt) cylinder head and gasket last summer (less than 5,000 miles ago) and runs like a swiss watch. It's serviced regularly and kept in very good mechanical order. Having done a couple of hundred miles in it last weekend I can happily report that it is running as well as ever. (A gentlemanly tussle on a fast A-road surprised me by how little a new M4 has over it. Judging from the - glorious! - noise then I think the driver of the M4 was most certainly trying but he didn't seem to know much about balance and corners; in the right hands that car should be a whole lot quicker.)

The bad news is mayonnaise on the dipstick. It appeared before the long trip but I had wiped the dipstick clean to see whether it would re-appear, and it did. There's not a lot; it all gathers on the 'bobble' half way down the dipstick when you pull it out and there is no sign of the stuff in the oil fill tower or under the oil fill cap. However it's making me uneasy. I don't know whether it is using coolant as it always spits the stuff out until way below the 'Min' level (as as has been discussed on here before).

So, in short, what other than head gasket problems can cause mild mayonnaise-ing (is there such a word?) on the dipstick and should I be worried? Is it likely to get worse and should I re-christen the car 'Hellmans'? Is it significant that it only seems to form on the dipstick (and fairly high up the tube at that, as it all appears on the dipstick bobble and not below the bobble).

Obvious next step would be to take the cam cover off and have a look in there but it's cold outside and I don't have a garage.

Thanks,


Oli.

I don't think it's anything to worry about, as you said it's cold out. If water level is static and no steam from exhaust after a run, then it's just condensate.

Oli

I always get this (on the bobble only) oil is still nice and clear, I get it winter months only and as used as a daily driver lots of short runs.
It's been like this for the 6 winters I have owned it.
I think it's fine too.

Regards

Mark

I would check the thermo/oil housing block gasket/oil seals, located where the oil filter screws into. Although the S2 has an external oil cooler, it still uses a similar oil/water configuration - and thus fluids can bleed into the engine system and not unheard of for the S2... so worth a look...

Thanks - do you mean the seals where the oil thermostat housing meets the block? Or elsewhere?

Oli.

Follow-up; I donned my best wooly hat, overalls, scarf and gloves and took the cam cover off just now. If I was Bruno the Belgian from Brussels looking for something to put on his chips - sorry, pommes frites - then I'd be disappointed. Very disappointed indeed. Everything looked exactly as I would expect with not the slightest hint of anything mayonnaise-y anywhere. Here's a photo:



... and here is a photo of some Belgian chips for good measure. You'll see that Bruno found some Mayonnaise (but not in my engine).



I think I can't fully explain where the smear of mayonnaise on my dipstick comes from but I'm not going to worry about it.

Thanks for your help chaps.


Oli.