Split case - white oil but seals look OK

[Guest]

So I've opened up my engine as part of a project to replace the internal seals. I had a really bad oil leak that my research on the forum suggested might be caused by a failure of the internal seals.

The oil was coming from the infamous mystery hole.

So far, the seals that are visible don't look nearly as bad as I had expected but I'm still exploring.

Anyway - here's my question - why is my oil white? It looked this way when I drained the oil in preparation for pulling the engine and I've been wondering ever since what could have caused my oil to turn color like this.



Here's a close up shot of what I mean -


Is there an obvious explanation or did a stalker just pour coffee mate in my engine?

[rapidray]

It has water or condensation in it. Ray.

[londonboards]

Could be water in the oil. Did you jet wash the engine with any exposed openings?

[oldgsfan]

Nope, I've never jet washed it. Of course, this is the Pacific Northwest so we do get our share of rain. But I've ridden in rain lots of times before and never had the oil change colors like this.

[tatu]

Do you do lots of short journeys and have high humidity? That will do it too.

[oldgsfan]

Well, I do commute daily, or did until this issue. But I've been riding the same way on this same bike for that past five years or so and this is the first time the oil has become white like this.

Maybe it is just water but I was always taught water and oil don't mix, and this looks pretty well churned into a common color.