I am needing any information on the steps I need to take to determine why I am getting a slight milky color on the dipstick. It is very minimal and I decided to first perform an oil change and replace the oil cooler. I have lost a minimal amount of coolant in the reservoir over the last several months. I have not seen any drastic fluctuation in oil temperature or car temp. There is also no smoke coming from the exhaust. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone ever heard of moisture building up causing this slight discoloration on the dipstick due to not regularly having the car up to a normal running temperature. I only put about 5-8 miles a day on this car. The build up on the dipstick is not as bad after I changed the oil cooler and oil, but still showing up a little bit.

2001 Audi A4-1.8T
115,000 miles

 

I have been measuring the coolant reservoir over the past week and I have seen no decline in the level. I do realize that the problem with the head gasket or cracked head can come in to the picture, but is is possible that moisture is building up since I am not seeing a drop in the coolant level?

 

A small amount of coolant leaking could cause the "milky" oil, so small that it might be a while before you notice a loss in the reservoir.

I "think" the only three places where your oil and coolant get get together are the head (gasket), oil cooler and turbo.

Or, like you stated, since you are only driving short trips every day you may be getting condensation in your oil. If your oil temp never gets above the boiling point you aren't going to boil off that moisture.

 

Any recommendations on how to check the turbo? Would a pressure test determine whether there is a leak in the turbo, gasket, or head. On a long trip (about 200 miles), the oil temp. usually stays stable at 180 degrees, but during my short trips around town (5-8 miles) I am lucky if it even gets to 160 degrees.

 

After reading a few threads that discussed this problem possibly occurring from cold temps. and short distances, I recently drove the vehicle for an extended time since the temp. got up to around 70 today. I noticed that there was no residue on the oil cap and pulling the dipstick I did not notice any residue on the neck, but a little still showing in the oil. Would this indicate that the condensation build up in the oil is starting to evaporate?