28* & snowing out, was out earlier with a trip to the store... amount towards the baffle area has gone down with the cover on the cap, looks like the cap is the same.

 

It was 72 degrees in Atlanta today. I was running the AC. Pretty sure my cap will look cleaner than yours as it's all temp related. Also I drive roughly 45 min to work each way. Wish I had taken pics in 2020 when I had the plastic/composite valve covers off. Some of that snot forms under there too. Best thing you can do is is keep engine temps up, same as you're trying to do with the cap. Don't think you have a neoprene sleeve big enough for the engine. Maybe you're starting to understand why I'm so against lower temp stats.

 

interesting comment on the valve covers... pretty sure mine are not plastic but will have to confirm. read that early ones had a magnesium cover.

going to take the thermal cam & temp sensing gun out with me and measure the valve cover temp at full engine temp, then let it cool for a bit (unknown time at this point) and remeasure. when i was doing the cap pics i iioticed early on the cap was cold as well as the fill tube.

back in MN i made an intake manifold blanket for the ram. the goal was to trap as much heat as possible in and around the intake plenum while ambient temps were below freezing. maybe one for the 4.7 is a good idea...

 

Yes, some early ones had the magnesium covers. They look pretty nice when shined up but if they catch fire, you won't be able to put them out. Lucky for this guy, it was just the magnesium dust that ignited. Fire starts about 55 seconds in...
This was my valve cover but after cleaning (the rubber bands were my method of keeping the gasket in place when installing). IIRC, the snot was caught up in the ribs you see there. Doubt my engine would have made it this far if it was a real problem. I do run a motor flush thru every few years.




Wasn't as bad as this, but you get the idea. Good thing is, I didn't see any on any of the engine surfaces.

 

Thanks for the pics!

Do you recall ever hearing of anyone doing oil analysis on a motor that had the snot in it?

Still considering the engine blanket... not so much for snot control but for retaining heat better.

 

I would imagine that most wouldn't know it was there unless they opened it up, so I'm sure oil has been analyzed from motors having it present. If it's suspended there, doesn't mean its in the oil. The yellow snot would melt if it drips in the hot oil. It's the black sludge that's more dangerous cause it's mixed with soot.

So you want to lower temps with a thermostat, then add an engine blanket? Bad analogy, but it reminds me of my wife....she likes to run the AC down to like 65* at night in the summer, then sleeps wrapped up in a winter comforter. Can't get her to sleep with a lighter cover in the first place.

 

the goal is to get the operating temp to run between 190-195* or so, not 200-205. it is easier & cheaper to bring the temp up from a 180* stat then it is to bring it down from 205. the blanket part would be to trap heat over the intake, the valve cover coverage would be an experiment.

mpg goal for the blanket would be to keep the intake temps up fuel and cool up to injection. hot air to reduce fueling, cooler fuel to keep it from pinging and advanced timing to get the most power from that combo .. we will see how all that pans out

 

Do a search on optimum engine oil temperature. Just sharing...

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/en...l-temperature/

"For a dual-purpose car, engine oil needs to be at least 220 degrees F to burn off all the deposits and accumulated water vapor. For every pound of fuel burned in an engine, the combustion process also generates a pound of water! If engine sump temperatures rarely exceed 212 degrees (water's boiling point), the water will mix with sulfur (another combustion by-product) and create acids that can eventually damage bearings."

https://www.calverst.com/technical-i...ture-critical/

"Almost since the appearance of the immortal Cooper S, fitting an oil cooler has been the essential thing to do to any tuned Mini without any comprehension why. The original fitment was necessary because oil and bearing technology wasn’t too advanced. Asking an oil of yester-year to cope with lubricating an engine at racing speeds, and a gearbox pushed their performance to the edge of their all too narrow capability, so extreme control over their working environment was essential for reliability. Hence oil cooler fitment.

Giant steps forward in technology since then has benefited modern motor oils enormously. They’re far more capable than their ancestors, coping easily with broad temperature ranges without suffering total degradation. Correct temperatures are essential to disperse combustion products and other contaminants (such as water), and give maximum lubrication. Running the oil too cool is worse than running it a little hot. Short journeys cause low temperatures, protracted periods of hard driving excessively high temperatures. Constantly running the temperature outside the right temperature range dictates oil changes are needed far more frequently, and many miles sooner than normal. Generally by two thirds - and that’s no exaggeration. Incidentally - the short journeys syndrome is responsible for that milky substance that accumulates in rocker covers and breather pipes - it's condensation that has emulsified the oil because the engine/oil isn't getting hot enough to burn it off."

 

Update... 5 days of at or below freezing, 20~28* temps, here are the pics... mostly short trips, 1 longer 40 mi RT drive & still no wipe down...

 

So with the wrap and cover in place now for several days and 200~300 miles (not sure exactly when, would have to check fuel receipts) When I make that switch to the 180* stat, will post pics of the cap & fill tube. I dont believe the ~10* drop in CTs is going to impact anything, pics under the cap after the swap will be interesting. As stated above, still have not wiped the cap or fill tube, just letting it build as time goes on. I do find it interesting that the accumulation around the fill tube increased quite a bit in a short amount of time before the wrap, then dissolved after the wrap and only remained near the PCV port.