oil in exhaust

[thomashoebus]

I have a volvo md22l. When motoring there are faint traces of oil on the water. The fumes are ok in color or amount. Is this oil or unburnt diesel? Where does it come from. It disappears after 30 Minutes or so but not sooner. The engine runs and starts smooth and has a constant oil level through the year. I should think that if it's oil or diesel this should affect the color or the amount of the exhaust fumes which is not the case.

 

[Malish]

you need only a very small amount of oil / diesel to produce a faint trace on the water. It could be a little of oil passing down the valve guides into the cylinders when the engine is at rest (nothing to worry about if the oil level does not fall through the season) or a little bit of diesel which accumulates in the cylinder whilst the engine is still warming up - again unlikely to be an issue (I was always recommended to give an old diesel Land Rover a good thrash up a hill a couple of times to remove any such deposits before going for an MOT test)