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So i went to check my oil and pulled oil cap and saw this.


I understand that air cooled engines need to get to temp, but now that the weather is cooling down, I am concerned that the foaming will cause corrosion inside the engine damaging my internals. Bearings, coatings, rust etc. How can I control this? I try to get engine to temp when I drive. Minimum 20 miles eveytime I drive. Does covering the grill have a temperature restriction I should keep under consideration? It is a fresh oil change.

Pretty common, I think, especially in colder climes. There is an optional gadget that takes the place of the two-position flapper on the air cleaner box that provides for some auto adjustment of the air intake. SAV sold them, and probably still does. IIRC, it helps to warm the engine quicker and might help some.

See #83 here: http://www.pinzgauer.com/parts.php?cat= ... view=01-35

Very common. Cold damp air + hot engine = condensation. As the water & oil mix you get that coffee milkshake. I've pulled gobs of it out of the filler and it doesn't go away no matter how long the trip, till spring/summer.

Brickren,

About 5 years ago I found two fixes.

I pulled the thermostat and put it in a pan of water and turned on the heat.
watched for a change...couldn't see a change. Borrowed a thermostat from a friends 1970 Porsche 911, 2.2 liter and checked it in the pan. It turned out that MY thermostat was STUCK!
My friend recommended www.pelicanparts.com lots of spares on their classified link) . I was able to get a used one that works fine.

This helped bring the heat up, but I still had some foaming but not nearly as much.

My next idea was to insulate the oil pan. I bought some silver bubble insulation about 1/4" thick and made a template to fit around the oil pad and as far up the crankcase as was easy. I folded the flaps up the sides and held it in place with giant zip ties.

This even helped more.

Good Luck

Interesting. Now you've got me thinking an immersion heater would be the ideal solution. It could also be used as a pre-heater on those really brutally cold days.

does anyone know of an electric dipstick that will reach? Or would you just put a block heater magnetic type on this side of the oil pan?

I used a piece of cardboard in front of my oil cooler in the winter. Then pulled it when the weather got better and it solved my problem.

I am concerned that the foaming will cause corrosion inside the engine damaging my internals. Bearings, coatings, rust etc.

While the white emulsion is a combination of oil and water, the oil still coats the engine internals and protects from rust and corrosion even if there is water present. I would suggest that this has not been a problem for all of the years that the trucks were used in Switzerland, or any other cold weather climate in their civilian life (Canada, USA, etc.) or we would all be worrying about it.

Your comment "it is a fresh oil change" means that the oil has not accumulated much other contaminants from combustion; these are probably more damaging than a bit of water and you are doing right by keeping clean oil in the engine. Continue the regular oil changes, and if possible try to at least occasionally give the truck some extended operation (perhaps at least an hour?) during your cold weather to help to drive out as much moisture as practical. Jim L. rebuilt my engine that had endured a few years of sub zero winter operation (while in my possession) and he did not mention anything about rust or water damage. I, too, saw plenty of the white "gunk" in the filler neck during cold weather. I think it is just the nature of this beast.

Bricken,
While I will admit that viewing your photos it appears that you do have more foam than I am used to seeing in mine, I think it means that based on your location and the outside temps you are experiencing, a bit more driving might lower the degree of foam. Just the humidity of the air and the cold temps probably isn't getting your engine hot enough.
When I lived in WA state the constant low temps and humidity of winter would allow that kind of foam in mine as well. Long runs, not just going to the store for a few groceries, really helped alleviate the issue. Here in CO the winters are a bit colder than WA and it appears again. After some conversations with some long time pinz owners, I no longer worry.

I have "mousse" in my filler too. In most engines this means you are getting cooling water in the oil or the PCV valve is plugged. I think on the Pinz it is because there is no effective way to get blowby, which is mostly water vapor, out of the crankcase. I am really puzzled as to why they made it this way.