foam on dipstick

i have a 93 grand am with the 2.3 sohc, has 167,000 miles on it. my waterpump went out on me. according to the temp gauge, the car did warm up, but never got into the red. today before changing the pump, i checked the oil and i had white foam on the bottom of the dipstick. i wiped it off and pull it back out and it was mostly clean oil, but still some foam. i started the engine for a minute and it sounded ok. does this mean i have a cracked head? if i do have a problem is there anything i can pour in there to seal it?

Sounds like coolant in the oil, a sign of a cracked head or blown headgasket. Neither will be fun to deal with...are you getting white smoke out of the exhaust as well? I don't know of anything that you can simply pour in to repair a blown headgasket, you will probably need to get it replaced, and labor on this is not cheap.

I don't think it is a head gasket, unless you consistantly get a lot of water either in the oil or you see a large amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust. Change the PCV valve and see if you continue to get the white foam. If you do you may need to check a little further. If the temp guage never got into the red then you shouldn't have any gasket problems. However, anything is possible. By the way, how far do you drive the car on a daily basis? That foam could be due to condensation from not warming the engine up for a long enough period to burn the condensation out of the engine.

I seen to rember while working at a Valvoline between 93-97, that about 95% of those "Quad 4" engines came in with condensation on the dipstick. Was something with the engines design. Look down the tube with a flashlight, see if there is any on the sides of the tube (that's probably where it came from after you wiped the stick clean for the second time).

I wouldn't worry, as It seems to be pretty normal. I'd say more normal if you don't let it warm up and only do short distance driving.

I don't rember.... Do 2.3's have a PCV system (Valve) or not??? For some reason I'm thinking they don't. If it does, try checking the PCV valve.... If it doesn't have the system, then that would explain alot.

Good Luck

Once in a while I will get foam on the dipstick, usually shortly after an oil change. I've also got a '93 2.3L sohc, it's been doing this for years, and I don't seem to have any engine-related problems.

i have a 93 grand am with the 2.3 sohc, has 167,000 miles on it. my waterpump went out on me. according to the temp gauge, the car did warm up, but never got into the red. today before changing the pump, i checked the oil and i had white foam on the bottom of the dipstick. i wiped it off and pull it back out and it was mostly clean oil, but still some foam. i started the engine for a minute and it sounded ok. does this mean i have a cracked head? if i do have a problem is there anything i can pour in there to seal it?
Could be just a head gasket and not the head. Drain the oil. Change the filter. Add new oil and let run for a few min. If it still has foam then you should let a local mech check it out.