vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge

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Wed 1 Apr 2015 00:21
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - taxi123

09 plate car

Looked at the oil today and there was white ish sludge on the dipstick. Otherhalf took it for a 40 mile drive and told me that the oil light briefly came on, but that the sludge wasnt as thick after the drive.

Generally I do short trips with the kids and a friend has told me that its just moisture because of the cold weather and that I shouldnt worry about it.

Other half put in some extra oil.

Is it just moisture? Could it do damage? Should I carry on as usual and ignore it? Or should I do something?

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Wed 1 Apr 2015 09:58
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - RobJP

It's probably just, as your friend suggests, condensation due to lots of short trips.

As to doing something, the only real thing you could do would be to get the oil / oil filter changed. When (in terms of time AND mileage) were those last done ?

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Wed 1 Apr 2015 11:05
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - hardway

What engine/size?

'cause some of them the dippy doesn't go into the sump as such but into a chamber adjacent to but connected to the sump.

And I would be concerned if that was full ofsludge.

Engine size?

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Wed 1 Apr 2015 13:00
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - taxi123

It is a 1.6

Went to a local garage this morning. They put in about 1 1/2 litres of oil in and then asked me to go for a 20 mile drive (which I did).

After checking the dipstick a few times I was told that it looks like condensation and not to worry. Just keep a very close eye on the oi level.

The car is really used as a taxi for the kids. So the largest trip it usually does regularly every week is a few miles here....or a few miles there. At most once a month we go to see family, which is only about 30 miles away.

Edited by taxi123 on 01/04/2015 at 13:04

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Wed 1 Apr 2015 14:10
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - Railroad.
This is oil condensation caused by the engine running too cool or by mainly using the car for short trips. Neither will do your engine any good in the long term. Perhaps your wife should consider walking the children to school everyday. That would be better for your car's engine, better for other road users, better for your bank balance, and much better for the kids.
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Wed 1 Apr 2015 15:12
vauxhall astra - whiteish sludge - jc2

It's also worthwhile checking the crankcase ventilation system-I 've found orifices in the system blocked on both Fiesta and Panda.

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