matty23 said:

Hi,

I'm completely confused and I'd like some advice.

- On Sunday (22nd May) I decided to clean the air filter and air box and upon doing so I came across the oil/petrol (not sure which, light brown, assuming it's oil) inside the breather pipe.

- I wiped off the excess (not that there was a lot and nor was there any traces of oil in the air box) and left it.

- Today I decided to check the breather pipe once more. I stuck my finger inside the breather pipe to be met with a smudge of oil. The breather pipe itself is not split and looks to be in very good condition.

- The car runs and drives fine, oil level is roughly consistent (although the level has dropped slightly) although that's mainly to do with heavy motorway driving, having covered 8,000 miles in 5 months!!). Current mileage is 27,700 miles.

The car is a 1.2 petrol, Euro 4 with 60 bhp. I hope it's nothing because if it's a big problem, I won't be best pleased

Matt.

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jrkitching said:

Probably a mixture of both, with a little condensed water mixed in for good measure. Seen frequently, particularly on cars used mainly for short journeys. When you first start, the relatively cold breather condenses out some of the vapours flowing through from the engine. My first encounter with this was on a Mini circa 1972. Just remove and clean the breather with a toothbrush dipped in degreaser & you'll be good to go.

I clean mine whenever I have the airbox off.

If you're mainly using the car for motorway work now, it'll be less likely to recur.

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