moisture in crankcase..."normal"
 

I have had my rx-8 since November and have 2800 miles. Recently my engine light came on. I made an appointment to have it looked at. Before taking it in I had checked the oil and found milky crap on the bottom of the dipstick. I took it in the next day for my appointment and mentioned what I saw. When I picked up the car they said the engine light came on because the pcm needed to be updated/flashed. As far as moisture in the engine, they said they called Mazda and had an ongoing conversation throughout the day and they said that it was "normal" and Mazda would be coming up with some kind of new vent hose that would help with the moisture problem. But for now its normal, they did not do a thing. I'm sorry but I have never heard of moisture in an engine being normal. Enough venting......would like others imput

thanks,
sc

Do a search and you will see that it has happend to ALOT of people. From what I remember, it's nothing to worry about too much since it's not actually IN the engine but in the dipstick area. BUT I don't remember too well so either do a search or wait for a better explanation.

Sorry to hear you had some problems and I hope it get's resolved ASAP! Good luck!

Do a search here for "dipstick", and read all the threads with variations on "milky substance on dipstick", "foam on dipstick", etc - you'll find dozens of threads about this subject.

Bottom line - it's not moisture in your crankcase, it's an oil/water emulsion that condenses in the cooler area of your engine in the dipstick area. When the engine gets hot for long periods, or when ambient temperatures increase, the emulsion will disappear. This happened to RX-8 owners last winter, it's happening to more RX-8 owners this year, and it really is no big deal. It's not harmful in any way.

Further - it does happen on some piston engines as well, but depends on the design and location of the dipstick tube. Re moisture in the oil, there's always condensation occurring inside an engine crankcase, and the engine relies on the oil getting hot enough to vaporise the condensation to get rid of it - that's why short trips in winter where the engine doesn't get fully hot are bad, and more frequent oil changes are required if those are your typical operating conditions.

Regards,
Gordon