Milky color in sight glass

I just finished a detailed sevicing of a new to me 01 VFR with 19K miles. I noticed a little oil in the air cleaner but do not know if it's blow-by caused. I'm noticing a little bit of a milky streak in the oil sight glass with the new oil, which normally means water or antifreeze in the oil. I would guess no more than a couple drops at this point. I suspect a possible bad head gasket but I don't believe antifreeze shows up as milky in oil, but separates out. Could it simply be moisture from an overzealous washing.

Changed the oil, plugs antifreeze and checked the valves. Service intervals had apparantly been neglected on the bike but I found no issues of concern in the service that would point directly to the problems above.

The bike runs good though a touch rough, like a 60's musclecar with the points bouncing, likely just a minor ignition problem.

Could I get blow-by with a bad head gasket and is there a way to check the head gasket? Would it show up in a compression test? Or am I as paranoid as my wife says I am............

Thanks for the help.

 

watch for loss of coolant.......loss meaning bad head gasket. If no loss, no worries.
or have a shop pressure test the cooling system.
on a VFR this would be an unusual failure, probably related to incidents of overheating, possibly because of bad temperature switch or bad fan.

Why would you listen to your wife...what does SHE ride??

 

If you have milky oil - and compression test shows low - more than likely, it's a blown headgasket.

 

or..

The most likely cause of a milky/cloudy oil sight glass is simply that there has been condensation in the case and the bike has not been warmed up sufficiently to disperse it. Get the bike good'n'hot (after checking that you do actually have coolant..).

Never, ever heard of a VFR bustin' a head gasket.

 

Coolant shows up as a milky, frothy cappuccino in your oil. With the other guys - run it a bit w/ very close eye on coolant level.

There are additives/dyes that can be used to confirm a leak.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. It could well be condensation but will have to wait until gets warm enough to go for a ride. Colds comin' here in Montana.....single digits!! I'll let you know when I can do more investigating.

 

Italian Tuneup

Take it out and give it the old "Italian Tuneup", everything that's going to burn off will, or if it's a head gasket it will blow up.......

 

Thanks for the tips

By way of a quick update I did a compression test and found them all to be acceptable. #1 was a litle slow getting there but it was within specs.

I think it is simple condensation.

Thanks for the help.

D

 

Make sure all the "blow by" hoses are cleared like the PAIR valve system and any vent hoses.


My car would have the milky on the oil cap and the PCV valve was a little clogged. I hosed it down and it went away.