# DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside!



## vasillalov (Nov 5, 2003)

Folks,
I am creating this post for all the people that will come here and ask before searchin!








*THE PROBLEM*:
You drive your 2.0 in the winter time and just out of a sudden you pull the oil cap and you notice this:








The notorious yellow goo on oil cap is scaring the crap out of you... You post left and right and you ask your buddies what could it be... Someone sais: "I've seen this only when the head gasket on Pete's HONDA blew up"







. You are scared. You think your engine is messed up...

*WHAT IT IS*:
What you are seeing is nothing more but a creamy mixture of oil fumes and water vapor. Oil fumes are produced naturally by the normal operation of the engine and they tend to accumulate at the oil breather. When they mix with water vapor, you get this goo, gunk, sludge, or whatever you want to call it. This "phenomenon" occurs more frequently in the winter time because it is colder and it is easier for the oil fumes to condensate and mix with water vapors.
*WHAT CAUSES IT*:
1. You drove the engine frequently on short trips and it could not heat up long enough to burn off the water vapors.
2. The oil seals on the oil breather and the oil cap are shot.
3. You did not tighen the oil cap all the way
*HOW TO PREVENT AND AVOID IT*:
1. Replace both oil gaskets in the oil breather. One sits between the oil breather and the valve cover. The second gasket you must replace is the one on the oil cap. When these gaskets get heated, the rubber/silicone often burns and shrinks thus allowing for moist air to enter and interact with oil fumes
2. Avoid short trips. This is primary leading cause for this sludge. Long trips will allow the engine to stay hot for longer, thus burning off any excess fumes and sludge.
3. Switch to synthetic oil. Synthetics have better detergent qualities and will not sludge as much as the conventional motor oil
Additional reading material can be found here:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1759840

Thanks for your time...







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by vasillalov at 1:29 AM 3-29-2006_


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## pjam (Aug 29, 2003)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

Nice job!
I like the way you combined humor with the facts.


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## tdogg74 (Mar 1, 2002)

Nice job Vassil. You get my stamp of approval.








Too bad this will fall a couple of pages back and next week some n00b is gonna ask what the yellow sh*t in their oil cap is.


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## ATPTourFan (Jul 14, 2003)

*Re: (tdogg74)*

I think it should be recommended that the average joe simply first replace the oil cap gasket. I had to do this a few weeks ago because I had a lot of foam and my gasket looked like crap. Now I haven't gotten any traces of foam at all.
The gasket was $1.80 at the dealer.


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## vasillalov (Nov 5, 2003)

*Re: (tdogg74)*


_Quote, originally posted by *tdogg74* »_Nice job Vassil. You get my stamp of approval.
Too bad this will fall a couple of pages back and next week some n00b is gonna ask what the yellow sh*t in their oil cap is. 

Thanks!
Actually, I got it to stick to the FAQ/DIY at the top..


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## tdogg74 (Mar 1, 2002)

How?? I wanted my USRT thread stuck up there too......well, just the first post on the thread anyway.


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## emoryl (Apr 15, 2001)

*Re: (tdogg74)*

http://flickr.com/photos/sempai/124792030/
That is my photo of what my oil cap looked like one day.
I've been using Mobil1 since it was out of break-in.


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## ctuagent117 (Oct 4, 2005)

^^looks like an STD


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## highoutput (Oct 24, 2005)

*Re: (ctuagent117)*

their's an old thread thats almost exactly the same as this....wording and everything.


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## Kougaiji (Apr 8, 2006)

This is the old thread.
wait.. wait... no it's not.
wtf?


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## vasillalov (Nov 5, 2003)

*Re: (ctuagent117)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ctuagent117* »_^^looks like an STD

Aahh, the voice of experience!


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## puebla (Sep 9, 2003)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

Good read!


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## ABF Jeff (Nov 16, 2005)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (hazw8st)*

Wow, I expected a thread about how to fit 6 bodies in the trunk of a jetta from the Russian Mafia.








Good writeup, vassil... Now you have to tackle the issue of getting people to use the search.


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## independent77 (May 23, 2003)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (ABF Jeff)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ABF Jeff* »_ Now you have to tackle the issue of getting people to use the search.









never happen.


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## vasillalov (Nov 5, 2003)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (ABF Jeff)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ABF Jeff* »_Wow, I expected a thread about how to fit 6 bodies in the trunk of a jetta from the Russian Mafia.










Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Been there, done that!


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## Betont (Apr 5, 2004)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

Nice writeup http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## nebone18 (Feb 3, 2005)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (Luvmy8V)*

This gooey poo seems to show up in winter mostly. Last school semester my brotyher drove his 2.0 on long trips in the warm days and it was never there. Now, he commutes like 4 miles to school and work in the freezing cold and its there like a rash. Also, as the cap is pulled, water drips from it, must the the water vapor.


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## doodpod (Apr 27, 2004)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (nebone18)*

Can anyone with a G60 valve cover give some insight into whether this is abated by a separate oil cap and PCV? I've got a G60 cover but have been waiting to install it until I have my new head and intake ready to go also.


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## elwoodclark (Jul 27, 2005)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (doodpod)*


_Quote, originally posted by *doodpod* »_Can anyone with a G60 valve cover give some insight into whether this is abated by a separate oil cap and PCV? I've got a G60 cover but have been waiting to install it until I have my new head and intake ready to go also.

The combustion process creates water as a by-product. That evaporated water is always present in your engine. The reason it "appears" as that "gooey pooh" (as a previous poster called it) is that the metal oil cap is cold and the moisture condenses against the inside of it where it emulsifies with the motor oil. As long as you are changing your oil at specified intervals, it isn't doing any harm.
Its nothing to get freaked out about. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## doodpod (Apr 27, 2004)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (elwoodclark)*

I'm not freaked out, but you didn't answer my question. I'm used to the gunk in there, but I'm also used to taking the whole assembly off the valve cover every spring and shooting it with a bunch of degreaser. I'd like to think that when I swap heads this spring, I'll be doing away with that procedure. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## kempas (Aug 5, 2006)

thank you for that tid bit of info i didn't know what the f it was


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## Bombtrack (Dec 22, 2004)

I have a 98 2.0L jetta. What oil do you recommend I use for it. I live in toronto so winters are fairly cold. Im not using synthetic currently, just 5w20


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## Wolfdub (Apr 15, 2003)

*Re: (Bombtrack)*

5w20 is fine for colder weather....


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## VWklubkid (Jan 25, 2007)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

would it make the car run bad when this happens? cuz i have the same exact problem right now


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## kempas (Aug 5, 2006)

just changed out my valve cover gasket a couple months ago and no build up of junk yet


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## pkvwgolf4 (Oct 18, 2007)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

i have a 2000 golf 2.0
i was wondering if i can just replace the valve cover with a newer model valve cover?....just wondering because i saw a photo with a different valve cover. it looked like a aluminum casted one with the breather/oil cap...... did the newer models get better at eliminating the oil sludge?.....


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## MikeWire (Oct 20, 2003)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (pkvwgolf4)*

You have an AEG 2.o with the black painted valve cover. There are no differences between the aluminum and the black version other than color, so why would you want to change it? Besides you can barely see the cover underneath your upper intake and engine cover....


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## ninety9gl (Nov 27, 2005)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (pkvwgolf4)*

If you want to try to reduce the amount of condensation you're getting, you might want to make sure all of the lines are good, clear and snug... You also might want to consider a new oil cap, because if yours isn't sealing as well as it should that may be why you'd get more buildup than normal - that is, if you _do_ get more buildup than normal.


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## psilo (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

where is the oil breather on a 2.0?


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## Jay-Bee (Sep 22, 2007)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (psilo)*


_Quote, originally posted by *psilo* »_where is the oil breather on a 2.0?

Rigth under your oil cap! some have a seperate plastic piece like on the AEG, others have an all in one valve cover that only has a oil cap with the PCV built into the valve cover.
Edit: on a side note, since my last oil change (Motul 8100 X-cess 5w40) I have not had any sludge problems on my oil cap, but I still need to shake off a few water drops that built up.


_Modified by Jay-Bee at 1:56 PM 4-3-2008_


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## psilo (Jan 19, 2008)

So I get the oil breather is what the oil cap sits on and i've replaced that gasket but i don't know where the other one goes... how do i get at it... is it inside the tube that connects the breather and the airbox?... at the breather side or the airbox side?


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## RogerSmith (Aug 5, 2006)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

I have the same exact thing on my cap as well as some running down the inside of the valve xover and also on the dip stick. Now this only occurs once in a while. Its not all the time that i see this. I was think head gasket at first but now that i saw this thread im thinking otherwise. Also, my oil light has been coming on once in a while, even when the oil isnt low. Could this white goo contribute to the oil light coming on?


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## TM87 (Dec 30, 2008)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (GTiKid2k6)*

Had a same problem the other day.My sister took the car to Firestone for a regular oil change and they refuse to change it cuz of the vapors.They said it was a bad headgasket.






















I wouldve replaced the headgasket if i havent read this.Thanks a lot man.Helpfull as always.
BTW I LOVE "Search" button


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## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (TM87)*

I wish all the folks who keep putin up threads askin about "how often should I change my oil?" would take a look at this....It all depends...on how you use the car..long hiway blasts an everyday occurence?...or is a long trip for you 1 mile?....Short poopin around town trips put lots more strain on the oil's additive package and mean you should be changin oil under the "severe duty" maintenance program, not the 10K that VW reccomends for normal use that allows car to burn off combustion by products from the oil! 
Excellent write up! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## vwandabmw (Jan 5, 2007)

I have the sludge on the oil cap, but there is a LOT of the sludge on the inside of the valve cover. Could it still be this problem? I drive about a 75 mile roundtrip each day during the week.


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## vwandabmw (Jan 5, 2007)

I have the sludge on the oil cap, but there is a LOT of the sludge on the inside of the valve cover. Could it still be this problem? I drive about a 75 mile roundtrip each day during the week.


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## clevebb (Feb 2, 2009)

First time I changed the oil on my jetta I was kinda concerned but figured It cant hurt having a little more lube in the engine. When the spring comes I'll change again and will make sure the oil is very hot before I drain it.


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## 96mk3gti91 (Feb 10, 2009)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

so is it ok to just leave it alone and drive with it


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## itsthatguyjustin (Jan 14, 2008)

i have this sludge on my oil cap. the guys at Mavis told me it was a bad headgasket. that was about 4 months ago. i've also notice that my RPMs are unusally high at idle. they drift around 1k. and when i give the engine some gas and let go of the throttle, the RPMs drop to almost 400 RPMs and then go back up. can a headgasket affect that? or is that an entirely different problem?


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## clevebb (Feb 2, 2009)

*FV-QR*

Sounds like a fuel injector problem


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## Arsigi (Oct 1, 2003)

*Re: FV-QR (clevebb)*

Thanks to this thread for putting my mind at rest this morning.


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## vee wee 16vee (Feb 12, 2008)

*Re: FV-QR (Arsigi)*

Thanks to this thread i stopped freaking out i almost went insane trying to figure out what it was.


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## bange.fur.sie (Aug 10, 2007)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

its happening to me, I freaked out a little checked the water for oil, then came across this. and my blodd pressure is going back down.
I'm relieved, nice informative writeup! 3 beers!





















http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Ickey (Sep 6, 2009)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (bange.fur.sie)*

holy hell glad i found this too seems like s imple fix ...like the rest of u guys i was seriously freaked about this ...saw some creamy goo on the dip stick but the oil is clean i was like ok this has to be condensation from the cold ass weather ...and pulled the oil fill cap and saw nothing but this creamy chit all over the inside of the valve cover ....i cleaned out what i could just cuz i am like that lol ...but anyhow ...i am glad to know i just need a few pieces of rubber lol ...my cap was tight too ..i need a tune up soon i know that but the car runs great ...granted i have a swap engine from a 95 jetta ...still a 2 slow ...man i been searching all over for this problem and voila found it finally ...where do i get the parts for this minor fix ? no dub dealer with in 50 miles of me either ...but i can order it lol ..


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## Citizen_Erased (May 26, 2009)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (bossdame)*

I always wondered what that was. Thanks for the awesome explanation.


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## alandis64 (Nov 16, 2009)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

i got an '01 golf 2.0 always had this problem, but now when it rains my damn car wont start, could this be a related issue?


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## Jeremy Reid (Jan 10, 2010)

*Re: DIY: 2.0 Oil Sludge On Oil Cap Explained! Pics Inside! (vasillalov)*

Posting late in this thread just to say thanks! I could have sworn my head gasket was blown, I was literally about to pull the sucker apart. What a huge load off my mind this is.


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## Jorgie5150 (Nov 5, 2011)

psilo said:


> So I get the oil breather is what the oil cap sits on and i've replaced that gasket but i don't know where the other one goes... how do i get at it... is it inside the tube that connects the breather and the airbox?... at the breather side or the airbox side?


Sorry to drag up an old annoying topic, but I've been trying to figure this out too. Do I need to take off the valve cover to replace the seal?

I don't have a Bentley manual to reference and the illustrations at 1stVWparts aren't very clear.


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## shad0wzrs3curity (Jan 21, 2008)

*thumbs up*

this thread is still useful..Thank you :beer:


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## deagle (Feb 22, 2011)

argh, happened to me this morning

Vasil, i hope you're right that its just water condensation

i just refilled w/ mobil 1 so hopefully it'll be fine


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## GolferDude (Apr 18, 2011)

Bringing this thread back. I have this problem of the milky formation on the oil cap. However, I also have bubbles at the end of my dip stick and sometimes loose coolant...I'm thinking head gasket. This enough evidence to dig in and replace it? My PVC gasket on the valve cover is **** and the elbow hose from the PVC unit itself to the plastic pipe is pretty bad. I assume so is the oil fill cap gasket is gone as well.


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## benjiboxer (Sep 20, 2014)

*sludge in my breather box, pipe and airfilter*

hi there
i have a seat leon 2001
i know its been said but can you tell me wat to do here .
ive been cleaning this crap for ages every week and i do long journys.
if you could just explain again if you would.
i have no sludge on oil cap
i have put an oil cleaner and cleaned the engine out yet its still there

thanks


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## Brodieman87 (Sep 23, 2014)

*truee*

i replaced the one gasket on the filler cap, and it solved the sludge problem almost immediately. My gasket was melted pretty bad. good tutorial!


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## Brodieman87 (Sep 23, 2014)

*just do it*



deagle said:


> argh, happened to me this morning
> 
> Vasil, i hope you're right that its just water condensation
> 
> i just refilled w/ mobil 1 so hopefully it'll be fine



Replace the oil filler gasket. I found mine at a local NAPA for under $1. I was really worried i had a blown head gasket until i did this $1 fix! big relief.


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## Doverboy (Mar 6, 2014)

Great post. My 2001 2.0 surprised me yesterday with the yellow goo under the oil fill cap. Obviously scared the goo out of me, too! Over the past couple weeks I've been making only short trips and we've had some pretty cold weather up here in Maine. I'm very relieved to learn what is causing this mess. Thanks!


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## tomato_red (Feb 3, 2016)

Sorry for bumping this. Posting this in case anyone can't find the gasket number (and mostly so that I can find it again easily if I have to buy another). Gasket part number for my 2000 2.0 GL was 06A 103 483 D. The black crankcase vent under the oil filler cap can be removed by rotating clockwise after removing all of the hoses. On my car, both gaskets were warped and had hardened in spots, but it's too soon to expect results.


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