dalspaugh

I've searched the forum for this a bit and it looks like this could be some really bad news about the head gasket.

FWIW, when I bought the car, there were no fuses for the fans, making me think this car could have gotten really hot, no fan back-up = warped heads. I do lose coolant, slow but I do notice it. But, I can sometimes smell it so I'm not convinced its not leaking elsewhere. I also lose oil, but there is evidence of it just coming out around the pan.

I was hoping this white foam is a result of the detergents in the Mobil 1 that I use. Oil on the dip (checked every fill-up) always comes out clean and nice...

Car only has 96K but I can't speak for how it was treated for the first 75K and it obviously sat for an extended period of time...

Much Appreciated.

Hybrid_Hatch

You should do a compression check. if its leaking, that will tell you. it is always possible that you got some condensation or something in the engine that resulted in that foamy stuff. Don't assume its bad, test for it.

uberwgn

That light-colored emulsion is oil + water (coolant?). Many of us see this during very cold weather and when running short trips where the condensation can't burn off. It typically disappears once the weather warms up unless you've got something more serious going on like a head gasket or worse.

I'd pull the dipstick and see if there's more goop on that.

It's obviously a bad omen if your coolant level is dropping.

hubturn

Pull the passenger side breather tube off the head and see if it's filled up with foam. Then check the plugs and see if you have a really clean one. The head gasket job is not too difficult, but even doing it yourself it's not cheap. $250 for the whole gasket set, $40 for new head bolts, a speciality socket to remove the factory head bolts and one for the replacements because they are always different, the cost of machining the heads, assorted studs and nuts for exhaust manifolds, injector O-rings because the originals will leak when you reinstall the injectors, and any other "while I'm there" items.

x19

If your engine had overheated and suspect the head gasket problem. Try this simple way and cheep way. On cold morning,removed radiator cap and starts engine for couple to few second,
then you see the coolant blow up from radiator mouth or use the combustion leak tester. Now you know this is a head gasket problem and it's OK if you didn't see this. Moreover you can test compression with cooling system pressure tester on radiator or using cylinder leakage tester. x19

Luxus Panzer

mine has been like that...or worse for 50+K miles.

comes with the 12v

COULD be bad seal on valve cover gasket. As long as you are not burning a **** tonne of coolant and change your oil on time...no worries

dalspaugh

Thanks for the info everyone. Compression was checked last summer but I the recorded data is long gone. As I remember though it was healthy and even. I talked to a fellow - more experienced - gear head at work and he seemed positive it was just condensation and oil from cold winter running.

Thanks again!

egp320i

I've had that too and even asked about it many years ago. It only happens during the winter season and not during the warm/hot summers.

Simply condensation.

If your coolant is not going down it's most likely not a major issue.