Another head gasket question (sorry)

534 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Archaea, Dec 29, 2011

Archaea

Discussion Starter · Dec 28, 2011

Hi, All. I'm new here. I'm no expert but I promise to try and answer as many questions as I ask. I'm your typical weekend mechanic so I don't have a ton of knowledge but I can answer the "where is...", "how hard is it to..." types of questions.

I know that it is typical for the 4.7L engines to have head gasket problems. Mine has overheated once but it did not seem to do any damage and the compression checked out okay right after. This was about 4 months ago.

Its been running sluggish (no check engine) so I thought maybe I was losing compression (have not had it checked again) but there is no water on any of the plugs.

I do, however, have water on the oil cap and in the oil-filler neck (the light brown goo). No water or white from the exhaust. It does not use up water from the radiator. Fuel mileage is typical. I've attached a picture of the oil cap.

I guess my question is, how do I tell if a head gasket is about to go and is there anything I can do about it?

Its a 2002 Ram 1500 4.7L with 100,000 miles.

Thanks!

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bigdaddyII

· #2 · Dec 29, 2011

To my knowledge that is normal especially in the colder months. The location of the PCV valve and the fact that the oil filler is plastic, making it the coolest part of the head assembly attracts the moisture. This dates back to the 4.7 liter in the Dakotas. I took my filler neck off one day at work out of boredom and curiosity and the it was the only thing that had that gunk on it.

Short trip vehicles see this a lot, which was my concern on my truck as it is not a short tripper. You are good to go unless your oil on dipstick or on a drain starts looking like that.