I dont know that this belongs here but I couldnt post it anywhere else.

I brought my car in just to check up on my oil level since it seemed a little low to me when I filled it up and they were complaining about the milky residue on my dip stick and claimed I blew a head gasket. I chuckled and said thats impossible since it doesnt have a head gasket. He found it hard to believe but I could care less.

My main problem here is I went to the grocery store to grab a few things and heard like a squealing noise so I propped the hood up and seemed to be the alternator making the noise. Do these things go bad frequently? I replaced the coils plugs and wires roughly 1k ago not that would have anything to do with it but just a little more background.

Its an 04 just hit 77k auto

 

No, alternator failures are relatively uncommon. It's not unreasonable though, they won't last forever.

A squealing from that area is more likely a belt problem. If you haven't had belts replaced before, it could just be a failing belt that needs to be replaced.

The milky residue is entirely normal in cold weather. Just drive it harder periodically to burn it off. If you are really concerned about a coolant leak into the oil, pull an oil sample to test. The lab (Blackstone Labs is a good one) can easily tell the difference between coolant and water condensation.

 

I also seen that someone who referred to themselves as a "rotor expert" said all the milky substance is caused due to a coolant seal on its way out but ive never heard of that either. Im not 100% what i should do think i might just give it a little bit and see what happens. took it out on the interstate earlier today and was hittin 100+ mph and everything ran good so not stressing just yet

 

Best way to test the belt, pop the hood and spray some windex on the belt while the car is running if the noise goes away when the belt is moist but then comes back after it dries means the belt is bad.

Autozone has them for 16 bucks each, might as well do both at once.

 

Note: Running the engine hard doesn't mean speed, it means engine load. In 3rd gear at full throttle at 80mph is more engine load than holding 120mph in 6th


Just do a google search for "site:rx8club.com milky substance" or "white crap" or "milkshake oil" or "dipstick discoloration", etc... We get dozens of threads about it every fall as weather gets cold and new owners start panicking. It's just condensation.

 

^ listen to him I've had mine for 3 years and every time the weather gets cold I get that crap too just one of the fun parts of owning a 8