the car has developed a slight miss in the last month or so. so i changed the plugs and wires. it made no difference. i figured i would set the valves again but when i poped the valve covers off they had milky **** all in the top of them and all over the rockers. i have the intake and the headers off already.

i called my dad and he said it could be milky because i only drive it about 10 minutes to work and back. so what do you guys think? could the head gasket be causing my miss and the milky stuff or what?

 

Not likely it's condension. Down on the Gulf Coast with the humidity at 70% most of the time an engine won't milk the oil. Do a leak down test and see if it's a gasket.

 

i just drained all the oil and there was no sign of water in the oilpan. if it was a head gasket wouln't there be water in the oil?

 

I'll disagree here... short trips are murder.... they will coat your valve covers with condensation = chocolate milk. The system will be aggrevated if your PCV valve has a problem, or if you have excessive blowby on the rings. Check for a plugged PCV valve, and listen at the oil fill tube for a "chuffing" that would indicate a blowby problem.

 

thanks fred.

i thought for sure i had a blown gasket until i drained the oil.

 

You need to do a little research in order to narrow down the root cause of your problem. You've already wasted money in plugs and wires as a result of your approach.
The key is not to panic, and start with the basics. Scanning the car will be one thing that will help in the diagnose. Checking the plugs will also tell you which cylinder is misfiring.
As for the milking stuff you're seeing, I have not idea.
A blown head gasket will cause the exhaust to expel white smoke.

Knowing the nature of the "slight" misfire will help narrow down the problem, such as at what RPM is happening, does it go away after a warm up, etc... Maybe it is your opti, or you ignition control module.