Fuel in oil

[hawk43]

Possibly. Something of interest would be to determine not only the dilution percentage of the fuel in the oil, but also the amount of metal content per PPM. An engine with this much fuel in the oil would certainly have more metal content due to the highly irregular reduction in viscosity. Truly the only way to determine this would be a head to head comparison of two oil samples. One from a vehicle that exhibits the excessive overfill condition and one that does not. A baseline would have to be established to prove anything. Not completely impossible but for certain Ford Engineering would need to collect their own data well before establishing a TSB. I for one have not experienced this on my Ranger. I'm nearly on my second oil change. We are also keeping a close eye on my Stepfather's new Ranger. He's right at 5k on the clock with no signs of this issue. Doesn't mean it may not present itself in the future. However, this is an important thread to follow. All good info here. I for one would keep this real simple with my dealership. The oil level is increasing and you need to fix it period.

In my opinion any raw fuel in the oil is unacceptable.

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[Stangman570]

In my opinion any raw fuel in the oil is unacceptable.

Agreed, raw fuel directly in the crank case is unacceptable. Gas smell in oil will naturally occur from blow by or atomized vapors. So I wouldn't be overly concerned and freek out if I smelled gas when changing the oil. I can imagine that this thread has alot of people sniffing the dipsticks and taking theirs directly to the dealership because the oil has a gas smell to it. It would be the increasing oil level that would be alarming and would need immediate attention. I for one wouldn't drive it until the dealership or Ford had a fix. And even then I would hold tight to the paperwork just incase I had an engine failure later.

 

[hawk43]

Agreed, raw fuel directly in the crank case is unacceptable. Gas smell in oil will naturally occur from blow by or atomized vapors. So I wouldn't be overly concerned and freek out if I smelled gas when changing the oil. I can imagine that this thread has alot of people sniffing the dipsticks and taking theirs directly to the dealership because the oil has a gas smell to it. It would be the increasing oil level that would be alarming and would need immediate attention. I for one wouldn't drive it until the dealership or Ford had a fix. And even then I would hold tight to the paperwork just incase I had an engine failure later.

Not only did I sniff it...I got oil on my nose... It is night and day difference from my other two vehicles too....but the oil level look good. almost 2k miles.

 

[Wheazy]

Agreed, raw fuel directly in the crank case is unacceptable. Gas smell in oil will naturally occur from blow by or atomized vapors. So I wouldn't be overly concerned and freek out if I smelled gas when changing the oil. I can imagine that this thread has alot of people sniffing the dipsticks and taking theirs directly to the dealership because the oil has a gas smell to it. It would be the increasing oil level that would be alarming and would need immediate attention. I for one wouldn't drive it until the dealership or Ford had a fix. And even then I would hold tight to the paperwork just incase I had an engine failure later.

I said as much earleir in the thread and it didn't go over well. The smell isn't overly concerning in and of itself, as that appears to be a normal trait of a D.I. F.I. engine. The increasing oil level as well as the look and feel of the oil on the dipstick (runny / almost diluted looking) is the my main concern.

Dropped mine off this morning at the dealer with explicit instructions for them to get me a sample if they do not do that on their own. I'll report back when I get the truck back.

 

[Ed Venture]

Crazy thought:

Could the auto start/stop function be contributing to fuel dilution in the oil? In city traffic / stop-and-go, it would be hard to keep the engine temps up to ensure efficient / optimal combustion. Just a thought.

Best,

Ed

 

[Rusty]

Read through this thread twice and then checked the oil in the truck and the car.

2019 Ranger 4500 miles. Royal Purple oil changed in the last 300 miles. Same level as when I changed the oil. Slight hint of maybe fuel. Feel and consistency is what I would expect with 5w30 full synthetic oil. Running Livernois Tune.

2014 Taurus SHO - 65k miles. Royal Purple changed in the last 1500 miles. Owned since new. Livernois tune, downpipes, and exhaust since 30k replace plugs more often than I should at 20k intervals. Oil smells extremely similar to the Ranger. Consistency is the same as well.

2015 F-150 - Stock - Work truck 3.5 twin. 110k miles - Company owned Driven since new - tows more than half of the time. Royal Purple oil. Oil is similar to the above.

Thread has me, aware of a possible issue. Ranger engine was built in July of 2019. I will keep and eye on the oil level and keep an eye on this thread. Interesting so far.

 

[BcP28]

Crazy thought:

Could the auto start/stop function be contributing to fuel dilution in the oil? In city traffic / stop-and-go, it would be hard to keep the engine temps up to ensure efficient / optimal combustion. Just a thought.

Best,

Ed

No impossible, but probably not the main contributor here, at least speaking on my personal experience. For myself and the OP, we first encountered the issue after long (600-1000 mile) highway stints. In addition, my daily commute is 22 miles each direction, with ~20 of those miles being highway and interstate driving (45+mph). I have maybe 2 stop-start events on an average day -- probably not enough to contribute to a major dilution issue.

 

[hawk43]

Crazy thought:

Could the auto start/stop function be contributing to fuel dilution in the oil? In city traffic / stop-and-go, it would be hard to keep the engine temps up to ensure efficient / optimal combustion. Just a thought.

Best,

Ed

I can say in my truck I have the night light for the last several weeks...Mine did start a few times in the beginning but only a few when I would forget to push the button...Guessing ten times or so in the first week or so, none since. (not saying its not possible though)

 

[hawk43]

Read through this thread twice and then checked the oil in the truck and the car.

2019 Ranger 4500 miles. Royal Purple oil changed in the last 300 miles. Same level as when I changed the oil. Slight hint of maybe fuel. Feel and consistency is what I would expect with 5w30 full synthetic oil. Running Livernois Tune.

2014 Taurus SHO - 65k miles. Royal Purple changed in the last 1500 miles. Owned since new. Livernois tune, downpipes, and exhaust since 30k replace plugs more often than I should at 20k intervals. Oil smells extremely similar to the Ranger. Consistency is the same as well.

2015 F-150 - Stock - Work truck 3.5 twin. 110k miles - Company owned Driven since new - tows more than half of the time. Royal Purple oil. Oil is similar to the above.

Thread has me, aware of a possible issue. Ranger engine was built in July of 2019. I will keep and eye on the oil level and keep an eye on this thread. Interesting so far.

So all of your vehicles are boosted?

 

[Rusty]

So all of your vehicles are boosted?

Correct.

 

[Wheazy]

Crazy thought:

Could the auto start/stop function be contributing to fuel dilution in the oil? In city traffic / stop-and-go, it would be hard to keep the engine temps up to ensure efficient / optimal combustion. Just a thought.

Best,

Ed

The thought has crossed my mind.

Just got off the phone with dealer and as expected....."Cant Smell the Gas", "It's probably the Factory Fill with all the Additives", .......

I advised them to go ahead and change the oil, mark the dipstick, and I'll monitor over the next 500 to 1000 miles. If the level increases it's coming back. In the meantime I advised them I will be opening a case with Ford Customer Care.

 

[hawk43]

Correct.

So do us all a favor and smell the inlaws oil and see if you can detect a distinct difference. It does make me feel a little better knowing your eco's all smell "similar" but the same would have been more better....


Thanks for the info...

 

[hawk43]

The thought has crossed my mind.

Just got off the phone with dealer and as expected....."Cant Smell the Gas", "It's probably the Factory Fill with all the Additives", .......

I advised them to go ahead and change the oil, mark the dipstick, and I'll monitor over the next 500 to 1000 miles. If the level increases it's coming back. In the meantime I advised them I will be opening a case with Ford Customer Care.

They are in denial if yours smells like mine does.

 

[Rusty]

So do us all a favor and smell the inlaws oil and see if you can detect a distinct difference. It does make me feel a little better knowing your eco's all smell "similar" but the same would have been more better....
Thanks for the info...

Felt a little weird last night in the garage popping the hoods and smelling the dipsticks, but I was curious since all of them are turbos and all running the same oil types what the results were. I am also curious enough that I will be sending oil samples off on each on at the oil change intervals. It will be interesting to see what that shows. I have not come across this in reading the 3.5 twin forums. Both the 2.3 and the 3.5 both use DIFI with high pressure fuel pumps.

For the record I won't be smelling my inlaws oil....

 

[Wheazy]

Bit of an update from my vehicle pickup. When the service adviser initially gave me that response above, I politely but firmly voiced my displeasure with the troubleshooting as it had been relayed to me as the previous post mentioned.

At pickup, they had miraculously talked to Ford and here is the game plan at their direction (most of it is what I asked them to anyway, but....)

They Changed the oil and marked the dipstick. Marked the oil filler cap and zip tied and marked the dipstick. In 1000 miles I am to bring it back. My plan is break the seal for the dipstick when I take it back and smell for the gas smell at the time of drop off. By that time, my oil sample kit will be in and I can get the bottle filled and sent off.

I get it and on some level like the marking and zip tying to ensure no contamination as they have no idea what the oil level was before I brought it in and if there is something amiss, they have nothing to fall back on. My hopes are a little bit higher so we will see.

I truly hope all this was for nothing and there is nothing wrong in 1000 miles. If so, I got a free oil change out of it. If not, hopefully we can all start to get some answers from good folks here on the forum working through this.

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