Just checked in my OCC and there was something not oil looking in there. I know shortly after installation there was little bits of oil. This looks like lard or some time of off white lube type gook. Put a few thousand miles on since installatin. It's the BSH occ so i just checked using the dip stick. Any idea to what it may be? I'll try and get a picture posted

 

When water and oil are mixed together it may look like thick, lardy chocolate milk.

 

I have a BSH setup as well.Car has been left outside and used sparingly during the winter.Infrequent short hops only.Motor never getting warmed up.
The contents looked like dirty dish water with a hydrocarbon odor.I thought it was gasoline for a moment as it gushed out of the can drain-overwhelming my little "catch can catch can".
Rod

 

Do you have a short commute? Its condensation in your oil. Could be soley from your catch can as that'll pick up watch from the can going through condensing cycles. Check under your oil cap. If theres white looking stuff on the top of the underside of the cap then its condensation in your oil, which happens when you don't let the car warm up all the way before shutting it off. Not the best for the car.. damaged can be minimized by more frequent oil changes

 

Thanks guys. I checked under the oil cap and there was no signs of condensation. So it's jush the OCC. It just occurred to me that the car is used cold just to swap cars to save a parking spot. This isn't often but I guess i'll let the car run a bit before shitting it off. I think when a mini is cold it sounds like such ****.

 

my MINI sits in the winter and while I start it occasionally for 15-25 min warmups I still see some milky oil/water condensation on my oil cap. Will a catch-can help along with letting the car run longer to prevent the condensation build up?

 

You would be better off not starting your MINI at all during the winter and keep a battery tender on it. If you are going to start it, take it for a drive and get everything warmed up so all that water condensate is completely gone from engine, exhaust, etc. Good luck.

 

good advice

 

That's pretty crappy life for any car - your OCC contents confirms it......

 

It would be better to drive it a bit instead of just starting it. My 2008 GTI did this A LOT. The VW dealers master tech, who is a buddy of mine, said its not really going to hurt anything to have some minor build up but if it starts to become major then you need to drive it longer.

My commute was 2.3 miles to work.

 

Oil needs to get warmed up in order to burn off the water vapors. I suspect it takes more than 5 miles or even 10 miles to warm up the oil. then depending on how much water there is to burn off maybe 20 miles.

Hence short trips are considered extreme service and would require more frequent oil changes. No matter what the nifty mileage counter says.

Bottom line is drive like you stole it A LOT!!!!!!!!

 

Joe's right, you don't want to just drive it till the water temp's up, you need to drive it far enough to completely warm the oil and the entire exhaust system - a good 20 - 30 miles on the highway would really do it good, plus it's enough to recharge the battery too.

You'll probably still see the emulsion in the catch can tho, that's pretty normal. Just clean it out and go on....