1st. oil & filter change, some interesting observations

[garyoNC]

I did my 1st. oil and filter change at 5250 miles and used M1 0W-30. I have heard good things about this oil. I did just an oil change at 2900 miles because the oil was quite dirty, but not the filter. At 2900 miles when I did the change the oil smelled like any other used oil I have ever changed. This time I could really smell the fuel in the oil. I have never smelled fuel dilution like this before and I have been changing oil in vehicles for almost 40 years! I am a little concerned about this. Now with some particulars, I used my home-made ramps which are 4.5 inches high, a little more than 6 qts. came out and a little more than 6 qts. went back in. Also the OEM original filter was ever so slightly crushed, I do not think that this is a problem. Drain time was about half of an hour and I had to use two sets of gloves. One set for the drain and disassembly the next set to clean parts and re-assemble and re-fill. ----What do we do about this fuel dilution problem? ----I'm also the guy that got 27.5 MPGs on a local trip. The car runs great and we're both very conservative drivers no kids. I contacted Forge a while back to inquire about their BPV and one thing I came away with on that correspondence was that the Forge valve did a better job controlling the turbo and it tended to lean out the F/A mixture. Has anybody installed one thinking it might help with fuel dilution, and did it? Do any of the other mods like CAI, replacement TMIC, or cat back exhaust seem to matter with this fuel dilution problem? I sure am glad I did this myself, because I'm sure the dealer would have never told me about the fuel dilution problem. Anybody any thoughts?

 

[koala]

You need to get a UOA (used oil analysis) done... even though oil might appear dirty or smell funny, it might be perfectly fine still.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

I'd really suggest having them run a few tests on used oil and see what they say.

 

[garyoNC]

I have been thinking about it. But I have to ask myself how ever did I get along without them(UOAs)? Forty years is a long time to be working on cars and trucks and I've never lost an engine or transmission. Some made it to over 300K miles. I was more interested in what others thought of the fuel dilution problem with these types of engines. And how to over come the issue.

 

[Deacro]

oil change

I did my 1st. oil and filter change at 5250 miles and used M1 0W-30. I have heard good things about this oil. I did just an oil change at 2900 miles because the oil was quite dirty, but not the filter. At 2900 miles when I did the change the oil smelled like any other used oil I have ever changed. This time I could really smell the fuel in the oil. I have never smelled fuel dilution like this before and I have been changing oil in vehicles for almost 40 years! I am a little concerned about this. Now with some particulars, I used my home-made ramps which are 4.5 inches high, a little more than 6 qts. came out and a little more than 6 qts. went back in. Also the OEM original filter was ever so slightly crushed, I do not think that this is a problem. Drain time was about half of an hour and I had to use two sets of gloves. One set for the drain and disassembly the next set to clean parts and re-assemble and re-fill. ----What do we do about this fuel dilution problem? ----I'm also the guy that got 27.5 MPGs on a local trip. The car runs great and were both very conservative drivers no kids. I contacted Forge a while back to inquire about their BPV and one thing I came away with on that correspondence was that the Forge valve did a better job controlling the turbo and it tended to lean out the F/A mixture. Has anybody installed one thinking it might help with fuel dilution, and did it? Do any of the other mods like CAI, replacement TMIC, or cat back exhaust seem to matter with this fuel dilution problem? I sure am glad I did this myself, because I'm sure the dealer would have never told me about the fuel dilution problem. Anybody any thoughts?

Just wondering if you were using mobil 1 on your first oil change, The dealer told me to wait for 15000km before using Synthetic oil so that the engine breaks in.

 

[erhayes]

The CX7 comes from the factory with a 5w30 blend oil so I went to full Synthetic at ~ 2,500 miles. This fuel dilution issue is over played in my opinion. Yes, my oil smelled strong of fuel when drained at 12,000 miles (6,000 miles OCI). The UOA showed a very good analysis for an engine still breaking in. A tea spoon of fuel in 6 + quarts of oil smells like it must be 1/2 gas because of the aromatics in the gas. From the A/F ratios I've seen, it is apparent that the fuel mixture is stoichiometric(14.7:1) when under moderate power or cruising. The A/F ratio changes to rich when you get your foot into the turbo. Do a UOA and look at wear values first (Fe, Cu, Cr etc) before jumping to conclusions about fuel dilution. All these rumors doesn't do anyone any good and just scares some people without the facts IMO. Ed

 

[garyoNC]

It has been a while since I checked out this thread. Yes I'm using M1-0W30 actually. I think it is working out very well. I'll go out to about 6K miles and change. I'll do a quick smell test and report back. I do not see the need to go more than a few thousand miles before going to an all synthetic oil.

Ed,
I'm not sure what rumors you are talking about. Fuel dilution is well fuel dilution. In the forty years of working on Ford's and GM's when changing oil I never smelled fuel, ever. I do not know if it is a bad thing in my engine yet or not, hence my post.

 

[astraelraen]

My oil on the dipstick reeks of fuel all the time. I did an oil analysis at ~5000 miles though after a winter of cold temps and lots of short driving and the fuel dilution was <.5%

I don't know if the smell of fuel on/in the oil is a good indicator of fuel dilution.

I run Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 or Castrol 0w30. Next OCI will probably be Castrol 0w30 since I have some left over. I've been considering Mobil1 0w40 just for "fun" sake, but its always expensive, whereas I can usually find Pennzoil or Castrol synthetic on sale for cheap.

 

[wannabe]

i'm a fan of the original fill motorcraft 5w30 semi-syn. its cheap compared to the others, and i havent seen any negative UAO's on it.