Fuel in oil

[Motorpsychology]

The only issue with this plan is that the viscosity would start out too high. In theory it would come down to the correct level over time but how long into the oil interval does it take for it to come down? On top of that, I don’t think it would solve the issue of the gas in your oil washing critical components of their oil coating. The higher viscosity can’t do much to help a cylinder wall that’s been cleaned of oil due to fuel washing it off.

It would probably be more effective to change the oil more often than to try and compensate for the fuel being there. Even better would be figuring out how to reduce the fuel dilution to a normal level for GDI engines.

I'm no petrochemist, but I don't think it works like paint thinner. The refinery does't start out with a barrel of grease and keep adding gas or kerosine to thin it out to the desired grade. If you start out with 5w40, you end up with 5w40 with gasoline in it, not 5w30. The oil will dilute but the viscosity will remain the same, I would think.

This whole issue is real hit or miss; some have a lot some have none. It's a little early in the engine's application to determine if this has any bearing on longevity, but I haven't seen any reports on blown engines, excessive oil consumption, fires etc directly caused by fuel in oil.
I'll likely put an extended warranty on mine when it comes in. I've used every extended warranty I've ever bought. Haven't gotten all my money back on some, a couple I have. But it sure is convenient and painless when something goes wrong at five years, one hour/60,000.1 miles and your'e a time zone or two away from home.

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[AdamHarris]

My 2020 XLT Fx4 has 2000 miles in six weeks of use and oil level is staying exactly the same and does not smell of fuel.

I hate that this is happening to some folks, and it may happen to me someday, but I think some need to stop being amateur engineers and worrying about when their fuel pumps are priming and such and just continue to be a thorn in the side of their local Fomoco service department until they have replaced enough parts to fix the problem. Btw, my fuel pump seems to prime every 15 or 20 minutes, open the door, look at it wrong, you name it, it’s priming all the time.

 

[N. J. Jim]

I'm no petrochemist, but I don't think it works like paint thinner. The refinery does't start out with a barrel of grease and keep adding gas or kerosine to thin it out to the desired grade. If you start out with 5w40, you end up with 5w40 with gasoline in it, not 5w30. The oil will dilute but the viscosity will remain the same, I would think.

This whole issue is real hit or miss; some have a lot some have none. It's a little early in the engine's application to determine if this has any bearing on longevity, but I haven't seen any reports on blown engines, excessive oil consumption, fires etc directly caused by fuel in oil.
I'll likely put an extended warranty on mine when it comes in. I've used every extended warranty I've ever bought. Haven't gotten all my money back on some, a couple I have. But it sure is convenient and painless when something goes wrong at five years, one hour/60,000.1 miles and your'e a time zone or two away from home.

Check some Blackstone reports on this thread. Viscosity does not remain the same with fuel dilution.

 

[Samsquanch]

I'm no petrochemist, but I don't think it works like paint thinner. The refinery does't start out with a barrel of grease and keep adding gas or kerosine to thin it out to the desired grade. If you start out with 5w40, you end up with 5w40 with gasoline in it, not 5w30. The oil will dilute but the viscosity will remain the same, I would think.

This whole issue is real hit or miss; some have a lot some have none. It's a little early in the engine's application to determine if this has any bearing on longevity, but I haven't seen any reports on blown engines, excessive oil consumption, fires etc directly caused by fuel in oil.
I'll likely put an extended warranty on mine when it comes in. I've used every extended warranty I've ever bought. Haven't gotten all my money back on some, a couple I have. But it sure is convenient and painless when something goes wrong at five years, one hour/60,000.1 miles and your'e a time zone or two away from home.

From encyclopedia Brittanica:

“Gasoline, also spelled gasolene, also called gas or petrol, mixture of volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbons derived from petroleum and used as fuel for internal-combustion engines. It is also used as a solvent for oilsand fats.”

Gasoline is a highly effective solvent for oils and greases. Old timers have been using gas to clean air filters on lawnmowers and such for many years. Gasoline actually does readily wash oil and lubrication off of critical parts and it will reduce the viscosity of oil over time.

I don’t think starting with a higher viscosity of oil will help in the long run. The only thing that will help improve the lubricity of oil with gas in it is to remove it from the engine and add some fresh oil.

 

[jsphlynch]

I'm no petrochemist, but I don't think it works like paint thinner. The refinery does't start out with a barrel of grease and keep adding gas or kerosine to thin it out to the desired grade. If you start out with 5w40, you end up with 5w40 with gasoline in it, not 5w30. The oil will dilute but the viscosity will remain the same, I would think.

The viscosity will definitely decrease with fuel contamination: lowered viscosity is one of the hallmark symptoms of fuel dilution. However, I'm pretty sure you're correct in saying "If you start out with 5w40, you end up with 5w40 with gasoline in it, not 5w30." Yes, the gas will drop the viscosity down into the range of 5w30, but surely that gas will change a lot more properties of the oil than just the viscosity.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Btw, my fuel pump seems to prime every 15 or 20 minutes, open the door, look at it wrong, you name it, it’s priming all the time.

I think that is Ford-wide from 2017-18 on. My Escape did this. And in a quiet garage, I could hear a real feint ~15 second hum after it was shut off. I think it was either the hi pressure fuel pump or something taking pressure off the injectors or the electric water pump circulating coolant to further cool the turbo.

 

[JTDay]

I'm no tribologist, but oil does shear down and lose viscosity in certain situations. So a 5w30 can essentially become a 5w20 if it shears down enough. High performance and turbo engines are especially bad at shearing oil.

Something interesting I've seen in a few other internet threads is that fuel dilution in modern, thin oils might not be as big of a deal as we think. This is just a speculation but there is some theory that even with fuel dilution and viscosity loss in modern engines/oils, there isn't necessarily an increase in measured wear. There was some mention about this a few pages back where someone linked to a webpage.. but I'm too lazy to find it on my mobile right now..

 

[N. J. Jim]

I'm no tribologist, but oil does shear down and lose viscosity in certain situations. So a 5w30 can essentially become a 5w20 if it shears down enough. High performance and turbo engines are especially bad at shearing oil.

Something interesting I've seen in a few other internet threads is that fuel dilution in modern, thin oils might not be as big of a deal as we think. This is just a speculation but there is some theory that even with fuel dilution and viscosity loss in modern engines/oils, there isn't necessarily an increase in measured wear. There was some mention about this a few pages back where someone linked to a webpage.. but I'm too lazy to find it on my mobile right now..

I posted a link on that most modern day synthetics can handle up to 4% fuel dilution. I've even read some saying it could be as high as 7%, but the article also stated just in testing not recommended !

 

[JKocot]

Dealership just called me - the new injectors won't be in until April 7th. "If" they come in I am looking at getting the truck back on April 9th. They never used the words "back ordered" but said parts were getting hard to get.

Just picked up the Ranger from the dealership after 15 days. Here is what they did:

 

[N. J. Jim]

Just picked up the Ranger from the dealership after 15 days. Here is what they did:

They claimed they did all those tests on mine and it passed them all! Before that they did change the HPFP, that helped it was really bad at that point!

 

[JKocot]

They claimed they did all those tests on mine and it passed them all! Before that they did change the HPFP, that helped it was really bad at that point!

I have no idea what to think. Hopefully they are being honest and this fixes it. I will give it 500 miles and see where it is at.

 

[Samsquanch]

Just picked up the Ranger from the dealership after 15 days. Here is what they did:

Mine is going in on Tuesday next week. Not sure if I should show this to them outright or let them try and diagnose. The service advisor was very short with me on the phone and didn’t leave me feeling like they were going to take it seriously at all. This was the dealership I bought the truck at so hopefully they treat me right. Not been fun dealing with this one a brand new truck that I otherwise really like. My oil is now at the top of the twist and reeks badly like fuel where you can smell it just pulling the dipstick.

 

[CompDude]

Mine is going in on Tuesday next week. Not sure if I should show this to them outright or let them try and diagnose. The service advisor was very short with me on the phone and didn’t leave me feeling like they were going to take it seriously at all. This was the dealership I bought the truck at so hopefully they treat me right. Not been fun dealing with this one a brand new truck that I otherwise really like. My oil is now at the top of the twist and reeks badly like fuel where you can smell it just pulling the dipstick.

How long did it take to get to the twist?

 

[JKocot]

Mine is going in on Tuesday next week. Not sure if I should show this to them outright or let them try and diagnose. The service advisor was very short with me on the phone and didn’t leave me feeling like they were going to take it seriously at all. This was the dealership I bought the truck at so hopefully they treat me right. Not been fun dealing with this one a brand new truck that I otherwise really like. My oil is now at the top of the twist and reeks badly like fuel where you can smell it just pulling the dipstick.

I printed put the pics (of service write ups) that other members posted and gave it to my service advisor. No idea if she passed the info along to the tech. My attitude is it can't hurt. I honestly feel like the dealership took a vested interest in this issue. They took care of me so far. Gave me a loaner for 15 days when they did not need to, and the service advisor called me a couple times each week to keep in touch.

 

[Samsquanch]

How long did it take to get to the twist?

My truck only has 700 miles on it!!!

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