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Old 12-24-2019, 04:26 PM
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Excessive condensation on engine

Hello all and Happy holidays to all. I have an issue I've been dealing with for 2 years now with no good solution. I have an 06 3.0 liter automatic. The car has only 85k miles and is in excellent condition both mechanically and visually. The car runs great overall with some minor electronic issues along the way that have been all tended to. The big issue is the excessive condensation the engine puts out. Unfortunately, 2 winter's ago I lost the original engine due to this when the dressed mayonnaise froze and detonated my engine at highway speed. New engine installed and the same thing almost happened the following winter. I installed a catch can system that works great and in summer, no issues. Now that it is cold, the catch can is filling to top within 3-4 days of emptying it. This is an issue because of freezing temps in the north (Ohio). This car does have California emissions as well (car came from southern California. Can anything be done to help this issue that I don't have to sell a kidney for? Unfortunately, my son drives this car and it only sees light city driving in winter. He tries to warm it up in the morning but obviously at school, this is not possible. We also try to highway drive it once a week. Any thoughts?

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Old 12-24-2019, 05:37 PM
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When my wife drives her X5 in winter to take son to school 3 blocks away she continues driving untill the temp is normal before coming home.

There is a cold weather ccv kit which would not likely be on the original engine but if they just put in the same engine would also not have it.

I've considered adding a motorcycle hand grip heater to the hoses to keep them warm in winter vs just insulation that the cold weather kit has.
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Old 12-24-2019, 05:55 PM
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To be clear It's not the water temp that needs to be at operating temp for 25-30 minutes to remove condensation it is the oil temp.
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Old 12-24-2019, 06:22 PM
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Correct engine oil > 212F to boil off any water. I'm wondering if pulling the dipstick to reduce pressure could help (though idle will suffer)
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Old 12-24-2019, 06:55 PM
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I am not an expert on oil viscosity. So maybe I shouldn't opine.

But what about running 5W-50 oil in the winter months which as I understand it will run at higher operating temps than 5w-30 - in turn burning off condensation sooner?
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Old 12-24-2019, 06:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Effduration View Post
I am not an expert on oil viscosity. So maybe I shouldn't opine.

But what about running 5W-50 oil in the winter months which as I understand it will run at higher operating temps than 5w-30 - in turn burning off condensation sooner?
All weights of oil will run at the same temp. Water temp manages oil temp.
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Old 12-24-2019, 09:10 PM
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If the crankcase is closed, and gases within saturated, there is no way to expell moisture at any temp.
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Old 12-24-2019, 09:25 PM
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Through the CCV system but my suggestion to speed things along is vent though the dipstick tube or fill port where the water apparently gravitates and becomes mayo.
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Old 12-24-2019, 09:48 PM
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The water doesn't really gravitate anywhere, but letting some dry air in for sure will help. Leaving the dipstick loose may let air in but can't let air out because the bottom of the dipstick tube is well below even the oil add level because it acts as a vacuum break for the CCCV, so if there is any pressure build up in the crankcase it will be oil spewing out the dipstick tube, not moisture or crankcase fumes.

If you can get a little bit of fresh unsaturated air into the crankcase so that the CCCV or PCV can do it's job and suck the moisture out and cover the engine, especially the vacuum distribution manifold, with a (mostly)wool (mostly fire retardent) blanket, the problem will be solved.
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Last edited by 80stech; 12-24-2019 at 10:02 PM.
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