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Fuel in oil

Oddball

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That's where your "viscosity index" comes into play. You can actually calculate your viscosity either way if your oil doesn't have fuel in it diluting it. For my purposes, the drop at 40C was evidence enough of dilution that i didn't really care what it was doing at 100C, it would obviously be too low there as well.

If your lab is measuring at 100C they could still compare a new sample to your diluted sample though.
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got3fords

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Hi all,

I know this topic has been discussed before but just want to give some background on my findings in case it helps anybody.

I have worked as a level 2 oil analyst and have been a foreman for an oil analysis lab for a combined total of 14 years. So, it's easy for me to keep tabs on my engine oils, and the viscosity findings on the ranger had me worried. The new oil started at 59 cSt@40C and after 6 months it had dropped to 27 cSt@40C, this is lower than a 0w-16 oil.

Obviously, if you used such an oil in your engine it would void your warranty, so I called up my dealer, told them my findings and they did an investigation. They called me back about 6 hours after drop off to tell me that it was leaking injectors and that they would be replacing all 4 under my ESP.

Hopefully they found it and there will not be any more issues. But I wanted to share this because there are dealerships who will take your oil analysis seriously, and they can't really argue with a viscosity result, it clearly shouldn't be that low... I will update this down the road after i drive it for a bit.

Cheers
How did they determine leaking injectors, bench tests?
 
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ctechbob

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GDI's and fuel dilution is nothing new. The Honda 1.5 GDI tends to have issues as well. One thing that doesn't seem to be happening though is shorter engine life (within reason).

Now, massive dilution where you see the thing 'making' oil over an oil change, that is something to take note of for sure.

OP, have you noticed an increase in your oil level? Also, what is your change interval?

Plus, what are your driving habits? Short trips? Towing?

Under the right circumstances, you might not see an improvement even with new injectors. Although new/clean injectors will work better for a while for sure.
 

airline tech

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I'll try to remember to ask when I pick it up on monday
I do not know specifically if this test is available for the 2.3, but scan tools have a capability of doing this test on the vehicle. (Injector Relative Flow Test) I have not done this with a Ford, but I have done it on GM's.
I do know that for the 2.3 there is a Cylinder Balance Test that will show (pinpoint) affected cylinders.

The modern way is to use the Fuel Rail Pressure (PID) and note the pressure drop on the rail.

With the older GM's - you hook up a Fuel Press Gauge on the rail - pulse the injector and then measure the pressure drop - if you have a high pressure drop indicates a leaking injector.
 

Oddball

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GDI's and fuel dilution is nothing new. The Honda 1.5 GDI tends to have issues as well. One thing that doesn't seem to be happening though is shorter engine life (within reason).

Now, massive dilution where you see the thing 'making' oil over an oil change, that is something to take note of for sure.

OP, have you noticed an increase in your oil level? Also, what is your change interval?

Plus, what are your driving habits? Short trips? Towing?

Under the right circumstances, you might not see an improvement even with new injectors. Although new/clean injectors will work better for a while for sure.
Yes, i was having increasing oil level. After my oil change this month, it went from middle of the hash marks to a 1/4" above the upper dot in 400km.

Typically I'm driving to/from work which is 90% highway, doing to speed limit on the way there, but passing lane speed on the way home. The drive is 15 minutes going there. I typically warm the truck up for a couple minutes once the temp is getting close to freezing and plug the block heater in for 3 hours once it's below freezing, with the same couple minute remote start warm up. Otherwise, i try to avoid short trips, where it doesn't warm up, with this vehicle and use my 2011 escape for that sort of thing, knowing it's not great for vehicles...

Towing is rarely, ive towed my atv twice and my pop up camper twice. Occasionally will put a load in the back, but again, it's not even a weekly occurrence.
 

Oddball

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I do not know specifically if this test is available for the 2.3, but scan tools have a capability of doing this test on the vehicle. (Injector Relative Flow Test) I have not done this with a Ford, but I have done it on GM's.
I do know that for the 2.3 there is a Cylinder Balance Test that will show (pinpoint) affected cylinders.

The modern way is to use the Fuel Rail Pressure (PID) and note the pressure drop on the rail.

With the older GM's - you hook up a Fuel Press Gauge on the rail - pulse the injector and then measure the pressure drop - if you have a high pressure drop indicates a leaking injector.
I tried doing the PID method, but unfortunately my OBDII reader is bluetooth and takes power from the truck, so as soon as I stop the aux power, i lose connection.
 
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Stevedbvik1

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GDI's and fuel dilution is nothing new. The Honda 1.5 GDI tends to have issues as well. One thing that doesn't seem to be happening though is shorter engine life (within reason).

Now, massive dilution where you see the thing 'making' oil over an oil change, that is something to take note of for sure.

OP, have you noticed an increase in your oil level? Also, what is your change interval?

Plus, what are your driving habits? Short trips? Towing?

Under the right circumstances, you might not see an improvement even with new injectors. Although new/clean injectors will work better for a while for sure.
Honda bought back our 2021 CRV with the 1.5L . It only had 3600 miles on it and the fuel dilution was 15%.
 

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Oddball

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Are we really going to start another fuel in oil thread?
The only reason i posted a new one was because there didn't seem to be much resolution with the other ones when it comes to their dealerships. There was alot of "check your injectors", "might be your hpfp", but mostly it was "my dealer won't do anything because they don't care about oil reports". I wanted to share my experience that the dealership took it seriously and didn't argue at all to replace all 4 injectors under the ESP. Hence why i put "solution" into the title, instead of just a standard "help me" thread.
 

NotBudule2

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Mines still good according to my daily "scratch and sniff" test that I now do evey morning since first seeing this thread and freaking out way back when I first got the Ranger ... (get up, pee, let the dogs ? out, limp to garage and pop hood on the Ranger, pull the dipstick and sniff for fuel while scratching my ass, all while choosing to ignore the car bomb with a random fuse ((10R80)) that came installed from the factory)
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