Creamy Oil In Sightglass - Can I ride it ???

[SV-net]

Morning all...yep its 04:24 new baby boy here and he is nocturnal haha.
Anyway I have an MOT at 9 in the morning (soon)! And I ran the bike up earlier just to check it over and noticed the oil looks creamy in the sightglass. Whats that all about? Can I still ride the 5 miles to the MOT station where I can buy some oil and a filter to do when I get back or should I cancel and do the oil first?

Cheers guys n gals:smt114

[zadar]

white cream?
if yes don't ride it.
how cold is it there now?

[YZEtc]

Did you bring the engine up to full temperature, or did you take it for just a short run?

[ixlr8]

AFAIK, water in oil. My suggestion, don't ride until diagnosed. Someone may correct me.

[fizzwheel]

Do you do a lot of short journeys where the bike never or perhaps only partially gets up to working temperature ?

If so that may explain the creamy looking oil, is there a lot of condensation on the sight glass ?

I'm not saying thats definately what it is, but it might be one possible explanation, for the price of a filter and some new oil I'd just drop it out and change it its not a big job.

[Stig]

It's not an MOT failure if that is what your asking. However as indicated it does mean water in the oil. How much water is the key question.

It is possible to get condensation build up in the sump. Especially in this weather. This would cause the milking of the oil, but only a very small amount. If you have a thin milky film across the top of the oil but it disappears after cranking the engine over and it has settled again, don't worry. But if it is a thick layer and when cranking the engine and the oil settles, all of the oil has gone milky, then you have a serious problem.

[jambo]

If the oil looks like mayonnaise you may have an issue, if there's just a little layer above the oil and the bike's last run was a short one I'd say condensation. When I picked up my ZX6R the bloke had run it that morning for a few minutes and it had a very thin layer of creamy coloured emulsification at the top of the oil. I ran the bike for the 70 miles home and it had cleared up as the engine had spent long enough hot to get all the water vapour out.

As said above though, if there's a lot of thick white goo it's worth looking into.


Edit, beaten to the answer by MrApe :D

[SV-net]

Cheers I cancelled the MOT and will go get some oil and filter. It does not look too much and I reckon its condenstion as its pretty cold here at the moment, plus I only ride short trips mostly 10 to 15 miles to beat traffic so no real heat for any long periods. I remember on my GSXR I had the same thing in the winter and the problem there was I do leave the bikes standing for long periods sometimes and an oil change sorted that so I will do that now.

Thanks for your comments and compliments of the season to you all.

[thedonal]

I think there's a gasket between the coolant pump and the oil reservoir, or somewhere thereabouts- if this gasket breaks, then the oil will go milky as the 2 fluids mix. I'm fairly sure that the first thing that should happen is that the liquid will be vented from the coolant drainage bolt on the pump housing above the oil sightglass. So you may need more than an oil and filter change.

I'm sure Spannerman or someone equally qualified will correct or confirm this soon.

[Richie]

I think there's a gasket between the coolant pump and the oil reservoir, or somewhere thereabouts- if this gasket breaks, then the oil will go milky as the 2 fluids mix. I'm fairly sure that the first thing that should happen is that the liquid will be vented from the coolant drainage bolt on the pump housing above the oil sightglass. So you may need more than an oil and filter change.

I'm sure Spannerman or someone equally qualified will correct or confirm this soon.

That gasket is on the clutch basket side or the right hand side if sat on the bike.
But it sounds like condensation, if it's only a thin creamy layer then get the bike hot, wear protective gloves and goggles (PPE) and drain the oil whilst warm / hot, and take the oil filter off and discard it.
then flush out the remains of the old oil and refit a new filter and fill oil to correct level.
As said above.

[yorkie_chris]

Have a look in the rad cap, see if you can see any oil droplets floating about in there (do this cold)

[Tim in Belgium]

I had this when I left my bike over the winter with only the occassional short blast. After a long run all was fine again.

[northwind]

A bit of yoghurt in the oil is pretty much a fact of life if you ride in winter and don't do long trips... It's not ideal but it's either that or change your oil once a month IMO, or don't ride it at all, so I just carry on... Bikes are for riding not coddling, to me. But we're talking small amounts here, obviously, if the entire of the oil is emulsified then it's not going to lubricate properly any more, not to mention that it points to a real failure somewhere.

[-Ralph-]

If it's all gone creamy how is your coolant level? If it's low that would also be indicative of a gasket problem.

[dizzyblonde]

A bit of yoghurt in the oil is pretty much a fact of life if you ride in winter and don't do long trips... It's not ideal but it's either that or change your oil once a month IMO, or don't ride it at all, so I just carry on... Bikes are for riding not coddling, to me. But we're talking small amounts here, obviously, if the entire of the oil is emulsified then it's not going to lubricate properly any more, not to mention that it points to a real failure somewhere.
I would agree with this guy......if you listened to all the scaremongers we'd all be rushing off and thinking our bikes were blowing up. ( not getting at you guys....really I aren't but just sometimes looking at the worst can frighten some inexperienced folk like me)
When I got Suze off Im Indoors, she'd been sat in a damp garage for 6 months. A dump of said creamy gunk and a neew filter was all that was required. I run a lot of short journeys in Winter and Suze has said creamy gunk sat around the cap. I can bet my bottom dollar that Dave looks the same, cause he's been sat in the garage fer a couple of months, and that'll be after the oil change I did. So horses for courses, but thats what happens in winter am afraid