Fuel in oil

[slowmachine]

Often while working in the garage, I hear mine prime. I'm not even near it and key fobs are in the other end of the house.

Seems like a single prime when opening the drivers door would be enough.

Not sure about the Ranger, but this type of noise is common in modern fuel systems, and it comes from the fuel tank and evap system doing self-diagnostics.

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[Deathrider]

Often while working in the garage, I hear mine prime. I'm not even near it and key fobs are in the other end of the house.

Seems like a single prime when opening the drivers door would be enough.

I absolutely hear mine prime too when opening the driver door,
I also seemed to have the fuel in oil problem when smelling it and it was overfilled. Even right after an oil change it still smelled like fuel maybe because fuel has such a strong odor and it stays behind, so i added Redline fuel system cleaner and been monitoring it, so far 2000 miles and it still measures right where it was filled on the dipstick (still has a smell) im not worried until i see it rise.
I think everyone should try at least a bottle of injector cleaner and see if there is a connection, someone else did that here and seemed to have worked for them too.

 

[CO2Ranger]

Often while working in the garage, I hear mine prime. I'm not even near it and key fobs are in the other end of the house.

Seems like a single prime when opening the drivers door would be enough.

Mine does this too. I found it reproducable with the FordPass app. Every time the telematics wake the truck up, it primes the fuel pump.

The evap self-diagnostics mentioned above is something different. Our other vehicle does that and it's a completely different sound and procedure.

 

[Joeiconic]

It’s common for high pressure fuel pumps to prime upon opening the door (or some other trigger that makes the vehicle think its about to be cranked) so that the system is pressurized when the ignition is started. If the rangers fuel injectors are leaking when the engine is off, makes me wonder if the system is over pressurized. That or the injectors are not properly spec’d. Either issue should be correctable.

 

[Zaph]

Hello all. Got my truck back today after two months at the dealership. Here is what they did. Hopefully this solves it.

This is certainly promising, keep us updated.

Didn't someone mention in one of these threads that the fuel system was priming itself periodically with no input from the driver? That they could hear it doing that outside the truck?

I've always wondered if it could possibly be some sort of excessive prime issue. Open a door? Fuel system prime sound. Do it too much and maybe fuel in oil. Makes me afraid to do a door speaker install I had in mind this spring.

 

[jblc]

I've always wondered if it could possibly be some sort of excessive prime issue. Open a door? Fuel system prime sound. Do it too much and maybe fuel in oil. Makes me afraid to do a door speaker install I had in mind this spring.

Agreed. I looked around in Forscan, and there was an option to not run the fuel pump on door open (though that option didn't work).

Are we sure this is not the fuel pump? Does fuel pump activation automatically mean injector priming?

 

[Joeiconic]

I think you definitely want the system to prime before cranking. My question based on Fords findings above, is does the system remain pressurized when the engine is off and is that pressure forcing fuel through the injectors at a time when it can’t be burned off.

 

[JTDay]

Someone with a logging device could validate the fuel pressure at the rail under different circumstances. The rail most likely remains pressurized after turning the engine off and will slowly return fuel back thru the high pressure pump to the fuel tank. I don't have one of these trucks yet so I cant validate this myself.

Alternatively and on a cold engine, with some input like opening a door or initiating a KOEO test, the low pressure pump would send XXpsi to the high pressure pump and only after the engine turns over and the cam lobe engages the high pressure pump would you see psi in the hundreds or thousands.

Neither of those pressures should CAUSE a working injector to leak. Excess rail pressure is relieved via a fuel relief valve on the rail, not thru the injectors.

The injectors should not leak unless there is something wrong with them or there is some wonky code in the ECU or some weird electrical thing happening and telling them to open when they shouldn't be opening.

 

[MotoWojo]

Well, Ford has finally gotten back to the dealership with a recommendation. The Engineer informed the dealership that some other Ranger owners with this problem, have had success by replacing the oil separator system, even though all the PCV system checks were good. They are also going to reprogram the PCM, something to do with the catalytic converter temperature? I can only assume they will be leaning it out a bit? Sounds like they are still grasping at straws? So, the dealer will call me when the new oil separator parts come in. He did not have a copy of the last 2 oil sample tests, but was going to get them for me, and should have them ready when I bring the truck in for the separator system swap and the PCM reprogram.

 

[fORdEGON]

Well I beat the bush trying to get into a Ford service department to take note of my issue and do an oil change with no luck. Appointments are a week out and the service advisors are talked to left a lot to be desired. I need the truck for a trip this weekend so I guess i am just going to document doing my own oil change, grab samples to send to blackstone and keep an eye on it.

I cant even believe my luck with new vehicles this year..my brand new Ski Doo 850 snowmobile has been the biggest lemon ever has not run a single day and is back at the dealer for the 6th time with no fix in sight. .... my new KTM450 sx came with a leaking valve cover gasket that allowed moisture into the crankcase.... my truck was the only glimmer of hope for a solid new vehicle and now it has the fuel in oil issue.

 

[Deathrider]

Has anyone tried a performance tune and see if that fixes the issue?

 

[CO2Ranger]

Has anyone tried a performance tune and see if that fixes the issue?

I flashed my tune, switched oils, and switched driving habits all at the same time so I can't definitively say which helped with this on my 2019, but I stopped smelling fuel around my truck after these things.

Hoping my 21 stays out of this thread!

 

[55F100]

I think you definitely want the system to prime before cranking. My question based on Fords findings above, is does the system remain pressurized when the engine is off and is that pressure forcing fuel through the injectors at a time when it can’t be burned off.

That is plausible and I've seen it happen on other direct injection engines. For a few years I maintained big diesel generators and two of mine had serious fuel dilution problems much like some people in this thread are describing. It turned out the problems were caused by improper installations as the fuel tanks were well above the engines and this kept pressure on the injectors at all times and over time the occasional drips added up. BTW they were not the same, one was was a Detroit Diesel and the other a Caterpillar. Typically without power failures these engines were only run one hour per month by me...
Anyway thanks much to all for taking the time to post detailed info on the problem as I'd been planning to buy a new Ranger but will hold off until Ford has a definitive fix AND makes the change at the factory too.
(FWIW the 1.6L EcoBoost GDI engine in my Fiesta ST has been trouble free)

 

[Hirnlego]

Last night I was checking the oil and noticed a smell of gas and looked it up on the forum to find 91 pages of reading. Read only the first 50 and no answer. After wiping the dipstick I kept smelling gas on my fingers which was odd to me as I have never had a car leave that smell after wiping oil off the stick.

Several members have had the HPFP and/or injectors replaced with no improvement? (Tra1969, NJ JIM, MotoWojo, Wada, Dr Zaius, quickybar8) Most of these were 2019 models are the 2020 models also experiencing fuel dilution/smell and elevated levels?

What engineering is different on the Ranger vs the Mustang and Focus 2.3L? Looking at the data it appears the Ranger is affected by the dilution but not the Mustang 2.3 or the Focus RS 2.3L.

There is an Exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR) valve on the Ranger and not the others. I do not know anything about this system, just know it is not normally of gas engines.

In general, the dilution vs mileage from Blackstone reports are below for the first 50 post. Other than the one member who had a dealer report of 12 and 13 percent on ~600 miles most values are 1-2% over the <2% limit on a range of mileage. Viscosity just below the limit set by Blackstone (they do list two lower limits on reports 8.8 and 9.1) Anyone have long term monitoring of dilution on their truck. Any member with reports for mileage over 5000? I made this table because I asked myself what percent fuel dilution are we seeing per 1000 miles.

Mileage	Fuel dilution %	Viscosity
4700​	3.3​	6.6​	(8.8-11.3 or 9.1-11.3)
5500​	1.8​	7.6​
1200​	0.8​	7.8​
2000​	1.5​	7.5​
3000​	3.0​	7.7​
4000​	2.8​	7.0​
2000​	2.8​	6.7​
5000​	2.8​	?
1800​	6.8​	7.7​
5600​	1.8​	7.6​
3400​	0.5​	8.9​
2000​	6.0​	5.9​
4000​	1.3​	7.8​
4000​	2.8​	7.0​
7300​	2.0​	7.3​
2800​	2.8​	?
4400​	1.0​	8.3​
4600​	0.5​	8.7​

 

[MotoWojo]

Last night I was checking the oil and noticed a smell of gas and looked it up on the forum to find 91 pages of reading. Read only the first 50 and no answer. After wiping the dipstick I kept smelling gas on my fingers which was odd to me as I have never had a car leave that smell after wiping oil off the stick.

Several members have had the HPFP and/or injectors replaced with no improvement? (Tra1969, NJ JIM, MotoWojo, Wada, Dr Zaius, quickybar8) Most of these were 2019 models are the 2020 models also experiencing fuel dilution/smell and elevated levels?

What engineering is different on the Ranger vs the Mustang and Focus 2.3L? Looking at the data it appears the Ranger is affected by the dilution but not the Mustang 2.3 or the Focus RS 2.3L.

There is an Exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR) valve on the Ranger and not the others. I do not know anything about this system, just know it is not normally of gas engines.

In general, the dilution vs mileage from Blackstone reports are below for the first 50 post. Other than the one member who had a dealer report of 12 and 13 percent on ~600 miles most values are 1-2% over the <2% limit on a range of mileage. Viscosity just below the limit set by Blackstone (they do list two lower limits on reports 8.8 and 9.1) Anyone have long term monitoring of dilution on their truck. Any member with reports for mileage over 5000? I made this table because I asked myself what percent fuel dilution are we seeing per 1000 miles.

Mileage	Fuel dilution %	Viscosity
4700​	3.3​	6.6​	(8.8-11.3 or 9.1-11.3)
5500​	1.8​	7.6​
1200​	0.8​	7.8​
2000​	1.5​	7.5​
3000​	3.0​	7.7​
4000​	2.8​	7.0​
2000​	2.8​	6.7​
5000​	2.8​	?
1800​	6.8​	7.7​
5600​	1.8​	7.6​
3400​	0.5​	8.9​
2000​	6.0​	5.9​
4000​	1.3​	7.8​
4000​	2.8​	7.0​
7300​	2.0​	7.3​
2800​	2.8​	?
4400​	1.0​	8.3​
4600​	0.5​	8.7​

I should know when the dealer gets the parts in for their next fix attempt. I should have reports from both a 900 miles and 5000 miles on the oil. Ford engineer wanted an oil sample at 5000 miles to see how bad the wear metals would get. When I picked my truck up after that oil change, the dealer had my truck sitting with the windows open, because it reeked of gas so bad, and it still did when I drove off. To be honest, the smell was way worse than I had ever had before, I wonder what they did during that oil change that caused that. After it aired out, I do not smell gas unless I am checking the oil, which has quickly risen to the twist again. I have 14k+ miles since this started, and 24k+ on the truck. The motor is starting to make a surging sound, almost like a wheel bearing noise, but I am unsure if it is caused by this issue or not. Also, the AC has not worked in over a year and they can't seem to figure that out either. Other than that the truck has been perfect, LOL.

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