Poll - Test Results for Fuel in Oil

Oil test results, % fuel in oil:


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P. A. Schilke

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Seems to be all over the place. I once took inventory of all the Sept-Oct '19 Rangers (like mine) that reported and it was indeed ranging from .5% to the 5-10% range.
Hi Zaph,

I cannot get my head around this fuel dilution either. We did not at Ford run just one durability vehicle and deem the motor good.... There were many vehicles in a plethora of tests. You would think a systemic problem would bubble up if it were design related....Now quality issues might bubble up with the larger sample size and this seems to be where this is headed, but what parts? Injectors were flagged. HPFP was flagged. Some fixed with injectors, some with fuel pump, some were not fixed??? Just flat do not get what is going on here... You are correct...we need hard data to present to Ford....not fuel smell... Buy back some problem vehicles. Yank the motors and put them on the dyno and run the crap out of them with oil changes and analysis...see if it radars on something. Besides durability vehicles we have many other test vehicles dedicated to ride and handling, NVH etc...they also were used as pool vehicles if not in use for testing....you would think these additional vehicles would demonstrate a problem...Ford does not live in a vacuum.....Again...flat weird and hopefully Ford will start investigating.... Not the Ford Dealer telling customers, but Ford Motor Co. Engine Engineering....

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Zaph

Zaph

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Well damn, after my last oil test at 15K miles, I went from the happy <.5% camp to the questionable 2-3% camp. I updated the my own entry in the poll. Nothing really changed with my truck setup or usage.

Blackstone_-03-24-2012.JPG


2.8% is a little concerning but isn't enough to make me immediately run to the dealer and start making a stink - particularly since for most people dealers and Ford aren't doing shit. I'll just keep an eye on the oil level and see what it is at 20K miles.

My viscosity numbers were bad before when I had good fuel content numbers, but now they are worse. If my fuel content stays at this level or gets worse, I'll have to start changing it at 3K miles.
 
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Texasota

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Well damn, after my last oil test at 15K miles, I went from the happy <.5% camp to the questionable 2-3% camp. I updated the my own entry in the poll. Nothing really changed with my truck setup or usage.

Blackstone_-03-24-2012.JPG


2.8% is a little concerning but isn't enough to make me immediately run to the dealer and start making a stink - particularly since for most people dealers and Ford aren't doing shit. I'll just keep an eye on the oil level and see what it is at 20K miles.

My viscosity numbers were bad before when I had good fuel content numbers, but now they are worse. If my fuel content stays at this level or gets worse, I'll have to start changing it at 3K miles.
Winter driving in Wisconsin likely played a role in your higher oil dilution.
 

fusseli

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Is it as big a deal as the internet makes it seem? I mean ecoboost engines are exploding from the reduced flashpoint and nobody is talking wear metals correlation. So what's the big deal, ignore it.
 
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Zaph

Zaph

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Winter driving in Wisconsin likely played a role in your higher oil dilution.
Good point. The way the timing is working out, my next oil change is coming after a full hot summer of driving, so we'll see how that factors in.
 


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Zaph

Zaph

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Is it as big a deal as the internet makes it seem? I mean ecoboost engines are exploding from the reduced flashpoint and nobody is talking wear metals correlation. So what's the big deal, ignore it.
Nah, like I said I'm not running to the dealer or doing anything about it. IMHO it's the 5-10%+ guys that have to worry.

I checked my oil level and it was 1/8 inch under the top circle. Will check again in a month.

I think people overall are just a little concerned about engine longevity. Ford's silence and lack of action doesn't help.
 

Racket

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My next oil test is going to be interesting - I'm at about 20K miles, towing various loads, running updated tunes when not towing with some modest intake system mods and playing with gas mixtures; E30, midgrades and premium. Autostart disabled. My driving habits (and habitats) have changed.

I've had to add oil while emptying the catch can at irregular intervals.
 

NvrFinished

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Well, I'm posting up my third oil analysis. This was done after 5800 miles. Fuel in oil went back up. My first test with factory oil was 2.8%, second test with full synthetic was 0.5%, and now it's back up to 2.5%.

Driving habits have not changed. Mostly hwy driving and it doesn't get that cold here in SoCal in the winter, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. I'm scratching my head with this one.

oil analysis-3.jpg
 
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Zaph

Zaph

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Law of the universe: nothing is random! we just haven't figured it out yet.

Question: are you having dealers pull the oil during a change? Gotta be sure to get it mid stream, and not beginning or near end. Also pull it nice and hot without it sitting around too much.
 

NvrFinished

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Law of the universe: nothing is random! we just haven't figured it out yet.

Question: are you having dealers pull the oil during a change? Gotta be sure to get it mid stream, and not beginning or near end. Also pull it nice and hot without it sitting around too much.
No, I do it all on my own. Truck is driven first to warm up before I change the oil. It's pulled mid stream. ?‍♂
 

Trigganometry

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That’s my first oil change. I thought I might have a problem before I sent in the sample. Oil smelled like gas, level had risen to the twist. When I got the results back I was like phewww. So, I’ll keep my eye on it, enjoy the truck and see where it goes! To date I have not heard of one instance of this being a problem of engine failure or fire.

I will be adding a catch can as soon as I finish making it. That’s a thread for another day…

F1F4081E-A3D0-4CF6-B542-3471534F8D3D.jpeg
 

jsphlynch

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jsphlynch

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I've started a more comprehensive survey to hopefully be able to figure out contributing factors. If y'all wouldn't mind, could you hop over and fill out the survey?

Link to the survey: https://www.survio.com/survey/d/L5M7Q9Z5D1A3I5D7E
Link to the thread about the survey: https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...-and-without-fuel-dilution.13220/#post-259402
My survey has gotten an encouragingly good response so far, but mostly from people without lab data. Please, even if you already reported your lab data on the poll in this thread, consider filling out my survey at the link to enable determination of any correlation between fuel dilution and conditions/characteristics.
 
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Zaph

Zaph

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I would agree, it's looks good and very thorough. Early on in this thread I suggested we might post up conditions, a few data points to see if anything stood out. A few of us did but nothing was stood out as obvious, and it's made even more perplexing by results changing quite a bit over time, up and down.

My fear however is we may never get answers as it may lay in highly technical testing such as injector tolerances, compression testing, or buried in ECU code. We'll only get answers from Ford, and only if they 1)devote resources to finding it, 2)decide to tell the world about it and 3)do something about it.
 

Texasota

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That’s my first oil change. I thought I might have a problem before I sent in the sample. Oil smelled like gas, level had risen to the twist. When I got the results back I was like phewww. So, I’ll keep my eye on it, enjoy the truck and see where it goes! To date I have not heard of one instance of this being a problem of engine failure or fire.

I will be adding a catch can as soon as I finish making it. That’s a thread for another day…

F1F4081E-A3D0-4CF6-B542-3471534F8D3D.jpeg
Wow, up to the twist and only 0.5% dilution according to Blackstone. Either the Ranger dipsticks are whacky or Blackstone’s fuel % measurements are whacky.
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