Break In Oil smelled of Gasoline

[Chops]

Break In Oil Smelled of Gasoline.

And also had just a couple of tiny slivers of steel on magnet. This is normal right? Slivers definitely - the whiff of gas on the oil cap wasn’t expected though.
Anyway, a fun first oil change. 930 miles, 90% oil life. Rhino Ramps gave plenty of clearance.

The underside cover is an engineering marvel with the scoops and ridges. Came off & back on easily with a T25 torx bit. I was thinking of getting a Rival to make oil changes easier…Nope! Get the Rival if you want skid protection - but oil change & air flow advantages go to OEM!

edit - the OEM factory installed oil filter was removable by a strong grip/hand. Perfect torque. The scoop aimed at the underside exhaust & turbo was cool!

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[Tbone289]

What magnet? If there's a magnet on the drain plug, that would be a new thing for Ford. The fuel smell is pretty much normal for an Ecoboost, at least for the MY22-24. I guess that hasn't changed. Minimize short trips if you can.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Minimize short trips if you can.
Tuned up the Italian Way!

 

[Chops]

I put a “powerful” magnet on a screwdriver tip and gently swirled it in the plastic catch pan. The steel slivers showed up singling once a swirl - enough to be trapped by the filter I would think. By 4th swirl no more slivers & I stopped swirling. Slivers were small but enough to notice if in your finger.

The EB has lots of aluminum that is not magnetic. I’m going to Dremel cut open the filter to examine the folds. Just curious - I expect to find bits of barely visible metal bits…normal I would think.

 

[Geo8866]

I just did mine at 1600 miles. No gas smell and to the naked eye, the oil looked brand new.

 

[Chops]

I just did mine at 1600 miles. No gas smell and to the naked eye, the oil looked brand new.

Did you sniff the cap? I did not notice any gas smell except that oil cap sniff.

I did sniff the new 5W-30 full synthetic before pouring. Had a slight oily buttery smell that was not totally unpleasant - but no gasoline smell (which isn’t totally unpleasant either).

 

[Geo8866]

I’m not kinky. I didn’t sniff the cap.

 

[Chops]

I just did mine at 1600 miles. No gas smell and to the naked eye, the oil looked brand new.

1600 miles seems perfect! What kind of driving did you do for the early miles?

Me, first 80 miles were not mine - dealer traded forth & back with another dealer 25 miles away. Maybe a test drive in there also.

Next 400 miles in Sport Mode but never going above 3500rpm.

Next 500 miles in Manual Mode using the paddles - maybe hit 5000rpm briefly now & then.

Will soon use Lobo Mode for first time on my local canyon road

Sniff the Glove, Sniff the Cap

 

[Meeka]

Did you sniff the cap? I did not notice any gas smell except that oil cap sniff.

I did sniff the new 5W-30 full synthetic before pouring. Had a slight oily buttery smell that was not totally unpleasant - but no gasoline smell (which isn’t totally unpleasant either).

Oily, buttery, mmm, going to get dinner ready!

 

[Tbone289]

I put a “powerful” magnet on a screwdriver tip and gently swirled it in the plastic catch pan. The steel slivers showed up singling once a swirl - enough to be trapped by the filter I would think. By 4th swirl no more slivers & I stopped swirling. Slivers were small but enough to notice if in your finger.

The EB has lots of aluminum that is not magnetic. I’m going to Dremel cut open the filter to examine the folds. Just curious - I expect to find bits of barely visible metal bits…normal I would think.

Normal. If you had a large pan full of oil and tiny metal bits settled at the bottom and put a submersible pump in one corner of it, with the output of the pump pouring right back in, would you expect the pump to pick up 100% of the metal bits? I wouldn't.

There's a lot of non-ferrous copper in the oil from break in too. None of that is any concern. You can see this on an oil analysis, and if you're curious enough to swirl magnets around in your used oil, that might be something you should consider doing. It would be a lot more scientific.

 

[Chops]

Normal. If you had a large pan full of oil and tiny metal bits settled at the bottom and put a submersible pump in one corner of it….if you're curious enough to swirl magnets around in your used oil, that might be something you should consider doing. It would be a lot more scientific.

Like I said in my OP - steel bits in the break in oil is normal. So are the other metals that are non magnetic. Yawn.

I was more curious about the cap smelling like gasoline. Yes, an oil analysis would identify gasoline. But so did my nose at half the price. Don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the winds blows.

Anyway, any ideas how gasoline odor made its way into my oil? Normal piston ring blow by during break in? Additives in factory break in oil that smell like gasoline? Seriously curious.

 

[Tbone289]

Like I said in my OP - steel bits in the break in oil is normal. So are the other metals that are non magnetic. Yawn.

I was more curious about the cap smelling like gasoline. Yes, an oil analysis would identify gasoline. But so did my nose at half the price. Don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the winds blows.

The oil analysis would identify the percentage of gasoline and how many parts per million of all of the wear metals that exist in your oil. And that was the point I was making, since you were curious enough to swirl a magnet through your oil.

Your nose identified gasoline in the crank case, not how much is in the oil, so it turns out you're not as good a weather-vane as you thought.

Yawn? I'm sorry if I'm boring you. You asked if metal was normal in your first post and I tried to answer your question as best I could.

Anyway, any ideas how gasoline odor made its way into my oil? Normal piston ring blow by during break in? Additives in factory break in oil that smell like gasoline? Seriously curious.

Above you stated that you didn't notice a gas smell in your oil, but now you're saying it did smell like gas.

Why would you think there is gasoline in your oil if you didn't smell it in the oil? It sounds to me like it was just fuel vapors in the crankcase if the cap smelled and the oil didn't. Rings will pass unburned gasoline into the crankcase just as they will pass oil into the combustion chambers. Rings don't seal very well when the engine isn't up to temperature, and when the engine isn't up to temperature, the mixture is rich with fuel. That's why I suggested you minimize short trips. You would then maximize the percentage of miles you drive at full operating temperature, and a smaller percentage of your driving would be passing fuel into the crankcase and possibly end up diluting the oil.

By the way, there is no such thing as "break in oil" these days. The factory fill is just regular oil, with regular additives, proven by oil analysis over and over again.

 

[notfast]

Why would you think there is gasoline in your oil if you didn't smell it in the oil? It sounds to me like it was just vapors n the crankcase if the cap smelled and the oil didn't. Rings will pass gasoline vapors into the crankcase just as they will pass oil into the combustion chambers. Rings don't seal very well when the engine isn't up to temperature. That's why I suggested you minimize short trips. You would then maximize the percentage of miles you drive at full operating temperature, and less fuel would be passed into the crankcase and possibly end up diluting the oil.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I was getting confused as well. I'm over here thinking, "If used oil didn't smell like gasoline, I'd be concerned."

I can't say I've smelled the bottom of an oil cap but I wouldn't think that a gasoline odor emanating from inside the valve covers is abnormal since the oil itself smells like gasoline.

 

[Chops]

Break In Oil Smelled of Gasoline.

And also had just a couple of tiny slivers of steel on magnet. This is normal right? Slivers definitely - the whiff of gas on the oil cap wasn’t expected though.
Anyway, a fun first oil change. 930 miles, 90% oil life. Rhino Ramps gave plenty of clearance.

The underside cover is an engineering marvel with the scoops and ridges. Came off & back on easily with a T25 torx bit. I was thinking of getting a Rival to make oil changes easier…Nope! Get the Rival if you want skid protection - but oil change & air flow advantages go to OEM!

edit - the OEM factory installed oil filter was removable by a strong grip/hand. Perfect torque. The scoop aimed at the underside exhaust & turbo was cool!

Ok - I think I figured out why the gas smell at the cap…..

I have been meticulously following the rules of turbo use - but more importantly the engine break in recommendations. Keep the revs below 4,000, stop & go varied driving, and no short trips. No short trips has been easy since I’m having fun driving

Until today. I backed out of garage & pulled back up onto the ramps. Maverick was barely out of high idle when I shut it down. Did not want the oil to get too hot for my oil change!

That quick start & stop put the oil smell at my cap. Going to check the level tomorrow & may top off a bit - then take a long drive.

 

[Tbone289]

Until today. I backed out of garage & pulled back up onto the ramps. Maverick was barely out of high idle when I shut it down. Did not want the oil to get too hot for my oil change!

That would do it.

I always change mine hot. It's good to stir up the shit that's settled at the bottom of the pan into suspension before you drain it. It also allows more of the used oil to drain out since hot oil is at a lower viscosity and flows better.

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