Hey guys, pinned my cut-out problem to the throttle body after months of speculation. Had a look at the intake valve and it's got a lining of oil/grease all around the inside. There's a puddle of creamish emulsified oil in the intake pipe which is obviously coming from the breather hose.

the oil cap is like a bomb site! creamy whitish yellow emulsification all around the top of the oil pipe. Many garages have said it is just condensation but it is horribly excessive! Saying that, after a drive i have flicked the cap off and noticed water droplets running from the lid down the pipe

Anyway, many people have glanced at it and immediatley shouted head gasket, BUT, i'm not losing any coolant whatsoever. I've had the gasket done about 3 years ago and was losing water every journey. My water level has remained constant (maybe dropped a little bit) since i had my radiatior replaced well over a year ago. Plus i had the car compression tested not long ago and all checked out.

So i'm completley stumped! I reckon all this gunk flying through my throttle body is what has knackered the thing to the point of my car randomly cutting out. There's no point replacing the TB until i get this oil problem sorted!

Could i remove the breather hose? that would instantly solve this problem, is it safe to do?

The emulsion can be created by condensation, but usually only in engines covering low mileage. The other biggy is, as you say, blown head gasket, but if you're confident your head gasket is fine and you're not losing water then stop worrying. It could also be water in the oil from last time you had problems, so it might be worth an oil & filter change.

+1 on the oil and filter change. Use a high quality fully synthetic oil (such as Mobil 1 0W-40) and I would be very surprised if your emulsion does not disappear.

And, as has been said, if you're doing lots of short runs, give the car a proper warm up over a few miles every so often...

Before doing the oil & filter change, I would consider using a tin of engine flush to help remove the crap in the sump.

I did an oil and filter change back in august, with the engine flush as well. For some stupid reason i never pushed all of the emulsifed oil down into sump so it would get battered by the engine flush but i'm convinced it's still emerging from somewhere.

I think i'll leave it for now and give a change after payday.

What about oily puddles emerging at the top of the air intake? is that normal? and can i remove the breather hose and feed it elsewhere or remove it all together?

james2609 said:

Before doing the oil & filter change, I would consider using a tin of engine flush to help remove the crap in the sump.

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I'd strongly recommend against NOT doing that! Well known to cause more harm than good! If oil is changed regularly then there shouldn't be any build up of crap

Most Easterly Pandas said:

I'd strongly recommend against NOT doing that! Well known to cause more harm than good! If oil is changed regularly then there shouldn't be any build up of crap

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+1

And I'd be interested to know what type and grade of oil the OP used at his most recent change...

Zer089 said:

What about oily puddles emerging at the top of the air intake? is that normal? and can i remove the breather hose and feed it elsewhere or remove it all together?

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You could fit an oil catch tank, but you shouldn't need it unless the engine is worn or has been race modified. I'm sure an oil change or two will sort it out. If not then you might have a worn engine, but if it keeps driving and passing MOTs then why worry?

Hot meeting cold will create water.

Hot fumes from the engine will find their way up the oil filler. There it will meet cold air as you drive. And as long as the engine bay don't get real nice and hot all over, condensation will appear, and react with the oil into a mayo cream. This is a result of placing the filler tube in front of the engine - even on the opposite side of the really hot exhaust manifold (which might be a good idea).

Don't worry about it.