White sludge in buggy engine

[ajsstormer]

Observed a considerable amount of white sludge in our VW buggy engine. Installed an Empi aluminum oil filler w/ vent hose to the intake just before the carb a few yrs ago & now find the vent hose and oil filler neck partially plugged w/ a soft white oil sludge. Observed some oil weeping out f/ behind the lower belt pulley when motor running a few months before we parked it for the winter & after some research found that the cause may be insufficient crankcase venting. The big bore 1200 motor was rebuilt by a VW shop in 2020 & runs very well w/ about 6k miles on the rebuild. Never needed to add oil between oil changes. Been using regular 20/50 motor oil changed every 1500 miles. Buggy always parked in a dry garage. What causes this white sludge? Incorrect crankcase venting? Wrong type motor oil?

[67rustavenger]

The white sludge occurs when the engine has been run, but not long enough to build sufficient heat to cook the moisture out of the oil in the crankcase.

In the spring, drive the car a fairly long distance, you want the engine to get hot and drive the moisture out of the oil.
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[Glenn]

you needed a vented 710 cap.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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[DeathBySnuSnu]

You have water in your oil.
It could be from outside exposed storage and/or the engine never getting up to full running temperature and condensation not getting burned off
It is common when the thermostat has been removed and the engine has not been run hard/long enough to make any heat.

The oil neck extension fitting for a vent is wayyyy to small diameter (less that stock). You don't need huge breather boxes and hoses all over the place. Even stock would be good enough. So yes better venting but don't go overboard for a street engine you are not gonna wring the guts out of all the time.
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[clonebug]

My Buggy engine very seldom will get above 170* F. engine oil. Especially in the fall and spring. A lot of my driving is to work and back ten miles each way. Oil temps sometime struggle to get over 160* F.
I have real time tracking of oil temp on a digital dash and the only time I see oil temps above 180-190 is long, high speed travel...or mid summer temps of 90* F. or higher.
Anything less than 180 degrees will give the Vaseline issue in an engine.

I have all the tins on plus a higher temp thermostat.

Getting an engine really warm in a buggy is not the easiest thing to do.
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[EVfun]

My first buggy ran a power pulley and I still had trouble getting the oil 90F over the outside temperature. Since Seattle has only a few days over 80F it usually had that sludge. My solution was changing the oil twice a year, the last one right before putting it into winter storage so the engine only ran maybe 5 minutes on the fresh oil.

I sometimes wonder if a beach buggy needs even the stock oil cooler. Don't want to take the chance of frying an engine to find out.
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[oprn]

That engine has never reached proper operation temperature, it's that simple! And whatever you do DO NOT leave that oil/water/acid sludge in it all winter! That is exactly what rots the sumps out of these engines!

Over the winter collect all the proper parts, thermostat, flaps, connecting rod, ALL the proper lower tins and a stock oil filler with the draught tube and hose connection for the air cleaner. Put them all on in the spring.

Oh, and the proper weight of oil may stay cleaner as well just due to the fact that it will be easier for the water to separate out... less tendency to turn into whipped cream.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[slalombuggy]

The weight of oil has nothing to do with sludge build up. I've seen engines running 0W20 oil develop sludge in them. It's all about temperature pure and simple

[oprn]

Not the formation no but heavier oil whipped into an emulsion is a lot harder to clean up. I know this from years of work in the oil industry, heavier crude takes way more heat, time and chemicals to separate the water from the oil. It all comes out of the well whipped into a froth by the down hole pump, light crude will separate in seconds and heavier oil will take hours and sometimes days to settle and separate on it's own.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[slalombuggy]

[Glenn]

I would not vent the case to the carb... good way to make a mess.

BTW.. nice red cap.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

[oprn]

[EVfun]

[oprn]

Don't take my word for it, take a cup of your favorite 50 wt oil, 1/4 cup of water, put it in a blender , pour it in a glass and time how long it takes to separate. Then do it with some 10 wt. Do it cold, do it hot...

Slalombuggy is right. The weight of your oil has no effect on how soon or how much sludge forms but it does effect how readily it separates and boils off.
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Our cars get old, we get old but driving an old VW never gets old!

[ajsstormer]

Thanks for all the advice on white sludge in our VW dune buggy engine. Cleaned out the breather and fill pipe thoroughly of sludge. Ran the motor until warm replaced the oil w/ 15W/40. Posted the buggy on FB marketplace & sold it to a local buyer.

[rugblaster]

Maybe overkill, but I like over doing everything. Vents in both valve covers, oil filler and where the fuel pump used to be. This can is filled with copper Brillo pads... Otherwise, I'm a fan of a pan evac system on a race motor.

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