I just noticed that my truck's oil seems to be getting really hot. The gauges are all at normal levels, but the engine smelled hot, so I opened the hood. The heat was definitely coming from the oil tank and when I opened it up, there was quite a bit of steam. The dipstick was almost too hot to touch. The oil was just changed a week ago; the truck has a slight oil leak but the mechanics said it was not worth fixing. The level is staying up. Is this a problem? I don't think I have ever checked the oil when the engine was hot so I don't know if it is normal. I'm not a mechanic. Thanks!

 

Of course it gets hot.

Allan

 

yeah to your touch that oil is going to be pretty hot. As long as your gauges read good and what not I wouldn't worry about, you should worry if the actual temp gauge gets up there, but all in all that oil will get really hot. I will say this though when you say steam, make sure your not getting water in your oil by a head gasket or something because then you will have some serious problems, when you take the cap off where you put oil in make sure there is no moisture under that cap. If there is that is usually the first sign of a blown head gasket.

 

Thank you!

I am aware that the oil should get hot, but I am concerned about blowing a head gasket with the truck being so old. The reason I opened the hood is from the smell. The truck was only driven 15 minutes before I parked it so I was surprised it smelled so hot. The temp gauge has never gotten past the mid mark so I sometimes wonder if it works right or not.

So is checking for moisture in the oil cap the best way to see if the head gasket is blown? Would the mechanics have seen issues when they changed the oil? It seems to be running okay otherwise, but it is not driven too much.

I appreciate the help!

 

They should have been able to tell if something was wrong like a milky color to the oil or a bunch of metal frags on the oil plug. I don't know if its the best way to see but its usually a pretty easy way to tell if the head gasket is blown.