dnunamacher

is it normal to get a little smoke from the valve cover when you open the oil fill cap?

phister

are you doing this after the engine has been running for awhile?

Glyn M Ruck

Yes!

dnunamacher

yes. but i also see sludge on the cap also. what do you think?

Glyn M Ruck

Is the sludge like mayonnaise or dark?

If like mayonnaise you might have a blown gasket & coolant leak.

If dark the car might not have been regularely serviced with the correect Benz approved 229.5 oils.

Change oil every 5000 miles until the sludge has cleared.

contact148

if its cold outside and i do short trips i get the yellow sludge/goo on the oil cap

NEVER get it in the warmers months thru

dnunamacher

its dark i will make sure the oil is changed every 5k, thanks

Glyn M Ruck

Yes - in very cold conditions it is water from the combustion process getting past the rings. Made worse by short trips with the engine never getting hot enough to evapourate it all off.

In dyno testing over repeated 20Km's from a cold start I've got water in oil content up to 7%.