new addition to the family : 1992 244 40 miles : probably has only been driven 'around town', engine oil changed 1000 miles ago, (just drove 300 miles at 65-70 mph) two days later checked the oil - seemed very dark, checked the oil cap and there seemed to be a bit of white oily froth (water and oil?), the coolant level has not changed - it runs beautifully. I just dropped the oil out and replaced it again to monitor the oil color. I do not have receipts or verbal communication with the one previous owner so it makes me a bit nervous?

would the engine if never driven on the highway build up some 'guck' that would dirty the oil for the first few times she gets rolling on the highway ?

any advice or experience is appreciated

Everything else that has been suggested sounds perfectly reasonable and true but my I suggest one "far out" possibility.

The white oily froth is definately water in the oil which is probably condensation from not being used much so keep changing the oil regually until that problem is solved.

As for the oil turning black quickly, this could be burnt oil being cleaned out of the engine or it could actually be fuel. If the car hasn't been used for a while then the injectors may not be working properly and may be causing fuel to be entering the cylinders as a liquid rather than a gasious mixture and then getting past the cylinders into the oil.

Sounds "far out" doesn't it? Well it's happened to me. The previous owner of my 144 had the engine rebuilt and the fool who rebuilt it installed 2 strombergs that were setup for being installed as singles. He never changed the needles to suit a twin setup. I've always used a high quality oil and you could imagine how annoyed I was when it went black after 100mi

I'ld be changing the oil again and taking it for another good drive since the odds say it's just water and previous oil.

If the car has never been driven HOT (ie: hard and fast and long), be sure to baby it for a while. Treat the car as if you are breaking it in. If the engine is used to slacking, and you gun it, don't expect it to last too long. If you very gently break it in, you can eventually run the heck out of it with no troubles.

Rene

The white froth is moisture build up on the oil cap is from lack of heat. This car has probably never been driven over 2-3 miles at a time, and although that is not bad in itself, the oil just has to be changed more often. If you are lucky the acids that form in the crankcase haven't erroded the metal on the friction surfaces. You did not state if the car used any oil on the trip, so I assume it did not. At any rate, changing the oil and monitoring its discoloration is vittal. 10W30 major brand blended dino oil (Valvoline is my favoite.) changed at least every couple of months until the "gunk" goes away. Also chech the thermostat, mae SURE it is a 190 degree (f) otherwise the gunk will just keep on happening...

Good luck.

thanks for the input - how do you know if you are 'lucky' and the surfaces have not been corroded? it did not seem to use any oil - no puffs and no decrease in level (noticable anyway), so would you say it is 'normal' that the oil would be more dirty (meaning it was just darker) after 1000 miles than what I am used with our other cars? how do you check the thermostat temp rating?

so if you only drive your car short trips you would expect to have white froth more than if you typically drove in longer intervals?

should I change the filter every 2 months as well? or everyother change

thanks

Previous posts accurate regarding thermostat and flushing.

With regard to engine "rust", it will show up real soon as "loose" parts begin to knock together, mostly bearing surfaces (which are softer) and made out of composite materials which will wear suddenly. Most important, drive it about 500 miles and get it up to full operating temperature with "working" thermostat before driving it hard. Make sure you have fresh oil in it until it gets cleaned out, usually 2-3 changes. Dark oil is doing its job, and gritty oil is not.

Xavier:

With the engine cold, start the car and watch the temperature gauge while monitoring the upper radiator hose. The gauge should rise rather quickly to about 1/3 (8:30 position) within a few minutes, and the upper radiator hose should stay cool, then get hot all of sudden as the thermostat opens. This is normal behavior. If, on the other hand, the gauge rise very slowly to less than 1/3 and the upper hose warms up gradually but never gets really hot, your thermostat is probably stuck open and should be replaced. It would probably be prudent to flush the cooling system anyway, so this would be a good time to do the "stat".

WRT the oil, an engine flush followed by a change to a synth blend or full synthetic (especially if you're in a cold climate and do a lot of stop and go/short trip driving) would seem to be in order.