Oil dilution issue making me cancel purchase..

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Justin says...

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YES, you are nuts, to base your decision to buy a product on a opinion based forum is lazy research.
Good to know. But, how else would you like me to research? What should I do? You have ruled out checking the enthusiasts forums and seeing what actual owners think. Ok, so what does that leave me? Should I pull over Ranger owners on the road? Should I follow them into Walmart and ask about their trucks?
It seems to me checking with owners online is a key step in seeing if there are any issues that could be concerning when buying a $40k product. How unbelievably stupid of me to check online before making a large investment.

OP came, stirred up trouble, and left!
It seemed that way, I know. I had a super busy day at work yesterday and today is shaping up to be the same. If you're interested, you guys (and the videos) have changed my mind. Turns out gathering information, aka research... is a good thing.
 

Elgorr4

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I am at 25k miles, about to change the oil for the 6th time (aiming for 4500 miles a change). Three of those changes I have done myself, three by the dealer. The oil smells a little gassy but the level never changes and the truck runs like a champ. My fuel milage just seems to keep getting better over time. I think 150k will be a joke for this engine, and even 200k will be easy.
 
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Justin says...

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I am at 25k miles, about to change the oil for the 6th time (aiming for 4500 miles a change). Three of those changes I have done myself, three by the dealer. The oil smells a little gassy but the level never changes and the truck runs like a champ. My fuel milage just seems to keep getting over time. I think 150k will be a joke for this engine, and even 200k will be easy.
I think you left a word out. Your fuel mileage keeps getting better?
 

NotBudule

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WAIT....YOU SMELL FISH IN YOUR OIL ????
Now you've done it...as if the occasional member smelling gas wasn't enough, now some will start smelling fish, which could mean that there are dead fish in the crankcase.
How much damage that will be found will all be dependent on the type of fish, size of aforementioned fish, and the sex of the aforementioned fish.
See what you started !!!

Then again, if you do an oil change, and this drains out, you definitely have a problem.....

gettyimages-146104160-612x612.jpg
The only way to really know how much fish dilution you have is to weigh your oil , that's right , your gonna need scales ...
 


Trustable

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I think you left a word out. Your fuel mileage keeps getting better?
I do have an issue with the fuel dilution in my engine. If I could get any sort of answer from ford or any attempt to fix besides fuel pump and injector test I would be happy unfortunately it is not the case as they refuse to go farther then that. Besides that I do love the ranger. It’s a great little truck and can do more than I’ll ever need it too. My main reason that I’m looking at other vehicles is not so much the ranger itself it’s fords response to various severe vehicle issues my family/friends and myself have experienced over different vehicles. Not to mention the QC issues. I do believe this is the best midsize truck out right now, but I’m not a fan of the new frontier design so it’s subjective. If you can wait a year and are dead set on a midsize truck I would recommend getting the next gen ranger as it looks to be a straight up improvement in every way. As I said I do really enjoy the ranger and try not to think about the issue I have with it, as I have 4 years left on warranty, but I need to get something else before that just in case. It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s the situation I am in.
 

Joeiconic

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I think checking the forum is a logical step and I’m sure most of us did so before buying. Just recognize that the critics, complainers, and paranoid are always the vocal minority on any forum. There is no objective evidence of any “issue” in that “fuel in oil“ thread. It didn’t worry me before I bought the truck and it doesn’t worry me now.
 

Dgc333

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I think checking the forum is a logical step and I’m sure most of us did so before buying. Just recognize that the critics, complainers, and paranoid are always the vocal minority on any forum. There is no objective evidence of any “issue” in that “fuel in oil“ thread. It didn’t worry me before I bought the truck and it doesn’t worry me now.
That vocal minority can turn anything into an issue. As I mentioned before after 6 years on the Ecoboost Mustang forum the topic of fuel dilution does not exist. But the low side fuel pressure sensor failing will not die.

Back around late 15 one of the more notable Ecoboost Mustang tuners posted on Facebook that he was working on tuning a Mustang when the low side fuel pressure sensor died. He suggested that a failure of the sensor would cause a sever lean condition which could result in a catastrophic engine failure. He also went on to say the Motocraft replacement he got looked different and had a different suffix on the part number. He concluded it was an improved design. That started a whirlwind of you better replace the sensor before your engine blows up. Even to this day people are buying new Ecoboost Mustangs and the first thing they due is replace the sensor.

Fact is the sensor in question has been used in every Ford gasoline engine without revision since 2010. The "new and improved" sensor is only supplied as a replacement from Motocraft which suggests the slight variation in appearance and different suffix on the part number is just a different supplier.

It has been documented many times that someone having a bad experience will typically tell 20 other people but someone having a good experience will only tell 5.

It has been my experience over the past 30 years of participation on automotive enthusiast forums that a disproportionate number of members come to forums with an issue hoping for a magic bullet to fix it. And going back to the previous paragraph they are very vocal about it.
 

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Good to know. But, how else would you like me to research? What should I do? You have ruled out checking the enthusiasts forums and seeing what actual owners think. Ok, so what does that leave me? Should I pull over Ranger owners on the road? Should I follow them into Walmart and ask about their trucks?
It seems to me checking with owners online is a key step in seeing if there are any issues that could be concerning when buying a $40k product. How unbelievably stupid of me to check online before making a large investment.



It seemed that way, I know. I had a super busy day at work yesterday and today is shaping up to be the same. If you're interested, you guys (and the videos) have changed my mind. Turns out gathering information, aka research... is a good thing.
Justin, you’re doing the right thing by checking with other owners on an enthusiast forum. So here’s my take. In my experience, you are more likely than not to have a really good experience with this truck. I’ve had mine 3 years come August, and I can honestly say that this is one of the best vehicles that I have ever owned or driven. Yes, some people have reported some issues, and yes some have even had to “lemon law” their truck, but the vast majority never do and just enjoy this truck every day. If you look at the thread marked “Would you buy this Ranger again?”, you’ll see that overwhelmingly, most say that yes they would. While there is never a guarantee that your truck will not have any issues, the odds are that it will not. I like this truck so much that i decided to keep it long term and ended up - for the first time ever - on buying an extended warranty from Flood Ford. If nothing else, it gives me some peace of mind. If you’re intention is just to keep it until the next Gen Ranger comes out, your factory warranty should be enough. Like Dave said though, I’d wait on the 2d year production of the next gen. Good luck on whatever you decide, but I think you’d be pretty happy with a Gen5 Ranger.
 

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Also forgot to add, I have 65k on another 2.3 Ecoboost in the garage and it runs fine. Oil smells and feels like oil every 9-10k when the light comes on.
 

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You have to make your own decision but I would guess that the supposed gas in oil issues represent less than 2-3% (if not less) of all Rangers....even all the people on this forum only represnt a small % of all Ranger owners. I have 43k on my 19' Ranger. Change the oil every 5k and it runs as good as the day I bought it....well it runs better since I have a 93 Octane Tune from Unleashed installed and I get just about 24mpg in the summer.
 

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I can understand your trepidation when you see that kind of information when researching a truck you actually want to buy. I know I only started reading and hearing about fuel in oil right AFTER I got it home. I kept a close eye on the oil level, it did rise a bit but I changed it a little earlier than some folks might, but way past when many others say you should. After about 13000 miles it seems to be happy, not making its' own oil, and I plan to change the oil every 5K miles with the good shit, don't cheap out. It has been a great truck, I hope you don't let this deter you from buying one.
 

awd.nv

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Yes this is a good point. Could always do the whole extended warranty thing. I was actually only thinking of keeping my {yet to be bought} '22 until the 23 model came out. So of course I wouldn't have but maybe 20k miles on it anyway by then.
Did I just understand you correctly? You are worried about the engine not hitting 150k miles on a truck yet you plan on trading it in for the redesigned '24 model year truck? Live on the edge a little and buy the Ranger if it is the truck you like the most :)

I have 20k miles on my 2021 Tremor, a good chunk of them towing our travel trailer, I would say at least 5k miles of that towing. Now I have 33" tires since our last two trips, no issues. Yeah, only 20k miles but I am not worried. I do oil full synthetic oil changes at the dealer every 5k miles. I also have the extended warranty for good measure. Kinda like the idea of having the fox shocks covered under warranty 100k miles.

The one thing I DO want to do that I have procrastinated on is the oil catch cans. The other are more luxury but since I tow a lot in Vegas summer heat, I want to upgrade the intercooler and radiator then get the Ford Tune. What holds me back more than anything on the cooling upgrades would be a jerk Ford dealer declining a warranty repair over them.
 

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I’d like to know how many people that have the fuel smell in the oil have a tune on it. More horsepower means more fuel. On my hot rod with a carburetor I like to run it a little fat and you can definitely smell the Sunoco fuel smell in that oil. If you worry that much just shorten up the oil change interval and use good oil. Who remembers a several years ago when Toyota had a problem with sludge building up in their engines, they gave away some free maintenance and everything was all better and people forgot that there was a problem. I would buy the truck, I’m a fanatic about maintenance.
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