Water In Oil?

Oil leaking into the oil? Yes, that could happen, but my guess is you have coolant leaking into the oil. ;-)

One of the signs of water in the oil is foaming of the oil. The oil also can take on a cloudy appearance. There are a few routes the coolant can take to get into the oil, the head gasket is one of them. Usually, when this happens, the radiator will have air bubbles as the coolant flows past the opening where the cap normally goes. If you CAREFULLY open the cap -- or start the engine cold with the cap off and wait for the engine to warm up -- you can check to see if air bubbles are present. If so, then this suggests a blown head gasket.

And, dump that oil. Do oil changes as frequently as necessary so you don't see any signs of water until you get the repair made.

The detergents in motor oil tend to emulsify water. A small amount of water makes the oil milky looking and foamy--this is too much water for engine safety. If you see any increase in the oil level or any free water when you drain the oil, that is way, way too much water.

Ken

Usually coolant/water in the oil will cause the oil to discolor and the foam will be right on top of the oil. Did you check the oil after engine was really warmed up or still somewhat cold? I think the foam is normal, a product of the moisture that is in the air of the oil pan and on the metal surfaces inside the engine. It will usually dissipate once the engine is really warmed up. Another thing that could cause this is too much oil in pan and crankshaft is hitting it causing foam, or sometimes when you drive really hard the oil can foam if there isn't enough baffling in the pan. For now I would just keep an eye on it, just in case. HTH, davidj92

Drain the oil. Water in the oil will be obvious, especially after it sets for a while.

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Perhaps it's time to "pay a pro". How much is your engine worth to you? Even a small coolant leak into your oil will destroy your engine if you continue to run it in that condition.

And contrary to what someone else here wrote, foamy oil is NOT normal, nor is milky oil. And you cannot simply "burn it off" by warming up your engine. If you have foamy/frothy oil, milky oil, or visible water droplets in your oil, you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM that requires IMMEDIATE repair.

- Michael

It might be a blown head gasket, the chain could have damaged the front timing cover, a bad intake manifold, if coolant goes to intake. but all of them are fairly serious and need attention. Try pulling all the plugs at looking at insulators, any of them different colors or corroded. Especially greenish if green coolant used or reddish if red coolant used. I also second one of the other posters, open radiator cap and warm up engine and see if it shoots out with alot of air, if it just kinds of pours out it is normal as coolant expands, and especially when thermostat opens.