Fuel in oil

[CO2Ranger]

Is there a pattern of people who drive "carefully and with a light foot" experiencing fuel dilution, and people who "drive with copious amounts of skinny pedal" aren't?

I haven't noticed very much fuel smell in the oil, the level stays roughly the same, if not goes down a tiny bit over the 7500 mile change interval I've settled to.

My theory is that the people experiencing this don't get their engine oil hot enough to burn off the excess fuel, so it just stacks up. This engine has a big ol' oil cooler, so it takes a lot of load to get the hot enough for fuel to burn off.

It's interesting. Not claiming causation here at all but I've done 2 things in the last 1k miles: driven more instead of truck sitting in garage and flashed a performance tune.

I don't smell gas at the front of the truck after pulling in the garage anymore. I'll have to check the oil level and report back after I do the next oil change to see if that stays consistent.
To answer your question, even with the performance tune I drive like a grandma most of the time although getting on the freeway feels like going to the moon now ?

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[HenryMac]

Is there a pattern of people who drive "carefully and with a light foot" experiencing fuel dilution, and people who "drive with copious amounts of skinny pedal" aren't?

I haven't noticed very much fuel smell in the oil, the level stays roughly the same, if not goes down a tiny bit over the 7500 mile change interval I've settled to.

My theory is that the people experiencing this don't get their engine oil hot enough to burn off the excess fuel, so it just stacks up. This engine has a big ol' oil cooler, so it takes a lot of load to get the hot enough for fuel to burn off.

I wondered the same thing.... some long haulers have the oil increasing issue too.

I'm curious if the issue may be from a lot of short drives such that the engine doesn't have sufficient time to get up to temperature and thus does not burn off the excess fuel?

I'm not saying there isn't an issue.. just trying to drill down and see if there is some common thread between the folks that are having these issues.

What's a typical day / week like for weasel1's Ranger?

That oil is a really odd color. Last time I saw that color I was looking at transmission fluid!

Well, I drive my truck home from the dealer and then back to the dealer (my parents live really close to them) and then home again. Next day, I went on that long (ish) drive. 30 minutes at highway speed, let it idle for 15 (picking up stuff from Grandma's) and then home. Left it until today (so it sat 2 days) and checked it again. Damn oil is back perfectly at the top of the hatch marks. Will have to monitor some more.

......For those interested, I just turned over 14,000 miles and have been running Mobil 1 since my first oil change at 4,000 miles. Almost all trips with the truck have been at least 25 miles one way and I never use the start/stop feature. Truck is stock and the fuel in oil problem only started within the last month. Drained well over 7.5 qts during the last oil change 2 weeks ago and the level on the dipstick is approaching similar height. Truck drives well and I have had no other issues. I am hoping the dealer doesn't brush me off as others have apparently been.

 

[Wade]

Is there a pattern of people who drive "carefully and with a light foot" experiencing fuel dilution, and people who "drive with copious amounts of skinny pedal" aren't?

I haven't noticed very much fuel smell in the oil, the level stays roughly the same, if not goes down a tiny bit over the 7500 mile change interval I've settled to.

My theory is that the people experiencing this don't get their engine oil hot enough to burn off the excess fuel, so it just stacks up. This engine has a big ol' oil cooler, so it takes a lot of load to get the hot enough for fuel to burn off.

I've had this thought, and I do generally drive pretty conservatively with a light foot. One of the big differences between the 2.3 setup in our engines and in the Mustang/focus is that we have a much more robust cooling system, as you stated. That is the reason why the Honda CR-V has a serious fuel dilution problem across the board, the engine just never really gets up to operating temperature. That is reflected in their gauge though, and I haven't noticed that in mine.

The only thing that really bucks the trend for me is that I do a decent amount of towing, and you would think that would make up for my light foot.

 

[t4thfavor]

If it's not reasonably heavy towing, the 47 gears in the 10R80 will keep the engine from working too heavily, could still be the reason if your trailer isn't very big.

 

[Wade]

If it's not reasonably heavy towing, the 47 gears in the 10R80 will keep the engine from working too heavily, could still be the reason if your trailer isn't very big.

It's a pretty big trailer for a small truck like the ranger. I've definitely maxed out the legal towing capacity on this truck, but I'll add that it still goes like a champ! I'm sure it could pull a lot more with a longer wheelbase.

 

[Harley_Mane]

I'm not sure if it's related or not, but I would fill a catch can every 500 miles with what seemed like unburt fuel. I changed the exhaust and switched to Rotella and barely get anything now. Either the can stopped working, or something else happened. I'm not smelling fuel in the oil either.

 

[Wade]

I'm not sure if it's related or not, but I would fill a catch can every 500 miles with what seemed like unburt fuel. I changed the exhaust and switched to Rotella and barely get anything now. Either the can stopped working, or something else happened. I'm not smelling fuel in the oil either.

What exhaust did you switch too? I'll have to try using rotella. That is exactly how I first discovered there was a problem, my catch can was filling up with raw fuel. It can't come from anywhere but the crankcase, clearly indicating the oil was contaminated by a very large amount of fuel.

 

[Wade]

I'm not sure if it's related or not, but I would fill a catch can every 500 miles with what seemed like unburt fuel. I changed the exhaust and switched to Rotella and barely get anything now. Either the can stopped working, or something else happened. I'm not smelling fuel in the oil either.

And did you use the Rotella gas truck 5w-30 full synthetic? I'm gonna try to replicate exactly what you did. Thanks!

 

[Langwilliams]

I used it when I did the oil change. It gets good reviews. I read it was over $30 a jug but I see it for $22 at walmart. I plan on changing it every 5K an I'll do an analysis after this change.

 

[Wade]

About a week and a half ago I decided to check the oil level after a few hundred miles since the hpfp was replaced and I had put fresh oil in. It was very high, above the twist in the dipstick, when I had changed the oil I only filled it to the top of the hashmarks. To get it just below the top dot, I drained out 3/4 of a quart with my fumoto valve. I was hoping that maybe I had accidentally overfilled during the oil change, but a few hundred miles later I just checked the oil after sitting another night and it is now well above the twist in the dipstick.

In addition to this, the last few days I've had misfires on startup at idle. Last one ended up throwing a code, P0300, random misfire. I'm really hoping that the two problems are somehow related. Anyone have any insight into this?

 

[N. J. Jim]

About a week and a half ago I decided to check the oil level after a few hundred miles since the hpfp was replaced and I had put fresh oil in. It was very high, above the twist in the dipstick, when I had changed the oil I only filled it to the top of the hashmarks. To get it just below the top dot, I drained out 3/4 of a quart with my fumoto valve. I was hoping that maybe I had accidentally overfilled during the oil change, but a few hundred miles later I just checked the oil after sitting another night and it is now well above the twist in the dipstick.

In addition to this, the last few days I've had misfires on startup at idle. Last one ended up throwing a code, P0300, random misfire. I'm really hoping that the two problems are somehow related. Anyone have any insight into this?

Everything I've read on this thread that could point to the fuel injectors. After that you always think maybe the rings, I hope that's not the case. But if your injectors haven't been changed that might be it!

 

[MotoWojo]

Everything I've read on this thread that could point to the fuel injectors. After that you always think maybe the rings, I hope that's not the case. But if your injectors haven't been changed that might be it!

I agree, stumbling at startup sounds like it could be an injector problem. My injectors were all replaced along with the HPFP on my truck. The oil level initially rose up to the max hole in the first 300 miles, but has stayed there the last 350 miles. I am hoping it continues that way.

If I were you, I would leave it with the high level into the twist and stop in at your dealer to let them check the level. I can relate to how frustrating this issue is. Good luck.

 

[N. J. Jim]

I agree, stumbling at startup sounds like it could be an injector problem. My injectors were all replaced along with the HPFP on my truck. The oil level initially rose up to the max hole in the first 300 miles, but has stayed there the last 350 miles. I am hoping it continues that way.

If I were you, I would leave it with the high level into the twist and stop in at your dealer to let them check the level. I can relate to how frustrating this issue is. Good luck.

That's damn good advice!!

 

[quirkybar8]

Guess I should add my little data point, which is to say that the HPFP in my Ranger was changed last week. The tech thought I was up a quart in 1,100 miles after they changed the oil. I'm skeptical but will see what happens.

 

[OWSportninja]

I'm still dealing with this as well. Just sent in another analysis to Blackstone after a 5k interval. My sample bottle REEKED of raw fuel. Ford keeps telling me its normal though so we shall see i guess.

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