I have always wanted to own a Maxima,and when I finally decided that my faithful '91 Sentra had to be retired I bought a used 99 GLE with 77k kilometers. Now I do not have to lurk around this website. LOL. I changed the motor oil when I got home. Looking inside the filler cap I could see rusty (dark brown) deposits that I wiped off with a rag. It had a gritty texture. What is this?

Thanks to all that can help.

 

Thats blow by. Sounds like that engine may not have had it's oil changes regularly. Consider having an engine flush done.

 

it could just be some older deposits of moisture that accumulated a while ago...not everyone wipes the cap off completely when they check/change oil changes so it can be any number of things from the previous owner...