2022 EcoBoost Oil Analysis Shows >5% Fuel Dilution!

[RobbieAG]

The first thing I thought when I saw the thread was you're doing a lot of short trips where the engine is not getting fully warmed up. You've confirmed that. This is an issue for direct injection engines. Other manufacturers (ex/ Honda) have had the same issue. When I get my truck, I'm going to make a point to avoid short trips if possible and change the oil more frequently than the recommendation.

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[mav_kev]

So, ignore the noise, change oil at 4-5k miles. Got it!

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Short answer to your take away is - yes.

If you're taking shorter, infrequent trips in your EB (GDI engine) those can contribute to an increased level of fuel in your oil.

Fuel can decrease viscosity of the oil which can reduce the oil's ability to coat and protect the metal inside your engine - making cold (or any starts) harsher on the engine.

To combat this - you'll likely want to change your oil at a shorter interval than what your oil minder or factory interval suggests - but it is not entirely necessary either as many EBs survive following the oil life minder.

Short answer = the oil minder calculation will take short trips and engine temp durations into considerations along with other things. There are those among the masses which will support a severe pollution tax for more frequent oil changes than indicated by the oil minder.

 

[710-oil-614]

Short answer = the oil minder calculation will take short trips and engine temp durations into considerations along with other things. There are those among the masses which will support a severe pollution tax for more frequent oil changes than indicated by the oil minder.

Do you know that it takes short trips and engine temps into consideration for the calculation?

I've known it to be driven by two factors - miles driven and time since last change. I would interested to see where Ford discusses the calculation.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Take a picture of the dipstick & scratch or somehow mark the oil level so you can detect a small change in the future. I don't think Sharpie Pen will last very long in hot, oily conditions.

Time for a cell phone app to test oil on dipstick to determine time to change oil. Maybe through the Ford app which could place engine in limp mode if test was not run every 90-120 days????

 

[colinl]

- fuel dilution is common for GDI and more so when the engine is cold?

fuel dilution happens in direct injection engines because the extremely high fuel pressure spray washes past the piston rings.

this readily happens when the engine block is cold and is a lot less of a factor once it's fully warmed up.

the piston, of course, heats up extremely quickly, literally a few revolutions. but the rest of the engine takes longer. when you see 4 bars on your Maverick, that's the coolant temp, and it's probably in a range of 170-180F. when it first gets to 4 bars, the oil is nowhere near 180F and the engine block itself isn't either.

anyone with a OBDII integrated gauge should be able to select oil temp. it's on one of the screens in my Bronco (which is a 2.3 ecoboost with GDI, similar to the Maverick) I can see oil temp and it seriously takes up to 20 minutes of driving in temperate weather to go from full cold to 170F or higher oil temp. (btw I can see battery voltage, transmission temp, turbo boost as well on that screen. no point in an add-on gauge for it, unlike a Maverick.)

the oil has to get hot to burn off the diluted gasoline. that's why many people, including me, are saying to drive 20-30 min at least once a week and to do this before changing the oil. and turn off autostop, since if you're in stop and go with the engine off... you're not warming up the oil.

 

[todd92]

Black oil in a DI engine is not an indication that the oil needs to be changed. If this were true, I would be changing the oil in all of my diesel equipment every week.

 

[colinl]

Do you know that it takes short trips and engine temps into consideration for the calculation?

I've known it to be driven by two factors - miles driven and time since last change. I would interested to see where Ford discusses the calculation.

oil minder in the Maverick only takes into consideration time and miles since the oil service was last reset. it's looking for 12 months or 10,000 miles.

I don't recommend 10k intervals but that's a whole different topic. my wife's Bronco easily hits the 12 months before 10k, so I've seen the life % drop as the year comes up.

 

[realshelby]

So it is entirely possible he has had upwards of 5% fuel dilution in his oil consistently (or at various points of the engine's life) and he has never known it - sometimes ignorance is bliss.

That is an assumption I don't agree with. Again, I have carefully "smelled" the oil ( as has he ) for ANY gasoline smell. Also the oil seems to be normal in that it does not seem to be thin as in it has lost viscosity.
Bottom line is that 5% fuel dilution is harmful to an engine. I have been around diesel engines most of my life and seen what harm can be done when you have high fuel dilution from a bad injector ( or more than one...).
My guess is that some of these 2% and higher fuel dilution cases are caused by shorter trips and colder weather might exacerbate that. Fuel can evaporate out of the oil to some degree when oil temps are at 200 F or so. But it takes quite a few miles of driving under a decent load ( not stop and go for 4 miles to work...) for the oil to reach those temps. Then it needs to stay there for a while to evaporate fuel and moisture. Because of this evaporation, oil maintaining a 5% solution of fuel means the engine has fuel bypassing the piston rings much of the time. That is NOT good!

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Do you know that it takes short trips and engine temps into consideration for the calculation?

I've known it to be driven by two factors - miles driven and time since last change. I would interested to see where Ford discusses the calculation.

I have not written down my minder percentages by mileage and have been following dealers window sticker date or time since it's in warranty period. In my Honda CRV the oil minder would come on between 8-12k miles depending.

I just looked online found on Ford's site that trip length, operating vehicle temps and ambient temps, drive mode, towing, etc, etc, etc. are used to adjust remaining oil life. Some dealers have utube videos stating such.

 

[Guv]

So, recently did my second oil change on my 2022 EB. As you can see in the report, I was running AMSOIL Signature Series 100% Synthetic in 5w30. Run time on the oil was 5,600 miles. Note this change interval is WELL BELOW factory recommendation, and the onboard oil life meter indicated 50 percent oil life remaining.

All in report looks good EXCEPT the analysis shows a fuel dilution of greater than 5%, and SEVERELY low viscosity.

Anecdotally I can confirm the oil definitely had a strong fuel odor when emptied. So, not surprised by result. Question is, what to do? Obvious answer is shorten change interview to perhaps 4,000 miles and sample again.

But beyond that, any other recommendations? Catch can? Vented oil cap?

Please see full report attached.

Did you change the oil after it was good and hot? The oil must be hot enough to allow the fuel to vaporize from it.
If you pulled it up on some ramps or just let it idle for a while before draining I would suspect a problem if you Didn’t have some fuel dilution.
All GDI engines will show more fuel dilution when the oil is not up to temperature.
This is and has been normal for GDI engines since their introduction.

 

[Guv]

Took it out of my mouth hahaha

Took what out of your mouth?

 

[Guv]

Have you ever had an oil analysis performed on his EB?

You don’t think 180,000 miles is a good indicator of adequate lubrication?

 

[710-oil-614]

You don’t think 180,000 miles is a good indicator of adequate lubrication?

How did you infer that from my comment?

Which was in response to a comment saying OP should be very concerned about his engine, possible injector failure, and to contact the dealer - and then they followed up with the anecdote that their son's EB has 180k miles on inferring that it does not have the fuel dilution issue.

So I asked the question because (and like I said in my comment) ignorance is bliss and neither he or his son know the fuel dilution of his son's EB engine - and it is a little histrionic to be so concerned for OP.

Like all of my comments in this thread have said - OP (and all EB owners) should be aware of the fuel dilution symptom and take adequate measures and maintenance - but they should not be concerned.

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

Did you change the oil after it was good and hot? The oil must be hot enough to allow the fuel to vaporize from it.
If you pulled it up on some ramps or just let it idle for a while before draining I would suspect a problem if you Didn’t have some fuel dilution.
All GDI engines will show more fuel dilution when the oil is not up to temperature.
This is and has been normal for GDI engines since their introduction.

That's EXACTLY what I did. Drove it up on some ramps and let the engine warm up for 5 minutes before draining.

So, it's entirely possible the level of fuel dilution in this report is somewhat misleading. That said, I am sure there is still plenty of fuel dilution in virtually all GDI engines.

Again, my point in sharing this report was not to give anyone a "sky is falling" sense of doom. Although a few folks who have responded here seem to think I should bring my truck to the local dealer immediately and demand they tear the engine apart and fix this, my guess is just about every Ford tech in the country would say "all the Ecoboost engines do that" and laugh.

IF -- and I stress IF -- I get repeated oil analysis <5% fuel dilution, I will certainly address the issue. However, I am not going to panic over one result. As I said, I'm going to shorten the oil change interval, run the engine longer/hotter before the next change and retest.

Then, we'll review the next result and evaluate next steps from there. I think making any kind of huge, definitive conclusions from a single data point is inconclusive at best. A reason for concern? Sure. A reason to panic? Not yet, IMO.

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