Fuel dilution 2018 3.5 ecoboost

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Jul 9, 2018
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SK, Canada
How do I deal with fuel dilution in a new F150 Ecoboost?

I have been changing at short OCI around 2500 miles or 4000 kilometers, & don't want to have to change more frequently than that, when running a full synthetic

My last 2 oil samples have been at 4.0%, & 3.4%, the first oil analysis came back at 8.47%

I had the truck in to Ford for a service appointment, & they wont even document it on the invoice as a customer concern. I provided them with the results of my oil analysis, & they say they wont do anything until a check engine light comes on, & to run longer oil change intervals! This goes against any thing that I have previously learned.

Fuel dilution should be under 2%.
My 40 Deg C Viscosity is flagged at a "lower Critical" at 44.4, when should be closer to 61
My 100 Deg C Viscosity is flagged "lower reportable" at 8.5, & should be closer to 10.3

Is it something I should be worried about? Oil is due for an oil change, & might push it to 5500 kilometers or around 3400 miles.
The built in oil life monitor still shows around 75% oil life remaining.

not sure how to attach the actual Oil analysis for viewing XPS document, or adobe document
 
How many miles on vehicle?

What oil have you been using?

What lab have you been using?

How do you drive? Mostly highway, or city? Long idling?

Seems like it is trending in the right direction?
 
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Originally Posted by claluja
How many miles on vehicle?

If you read my post I am almost ready for my 4th oil change at 4000 Kilometer intervals so about 16000 kilometers, or around 10000 miles

What oil have you been using?
I have been using Canadian Tire Branded full synthetic oil, which was a Shell Canada product, but is now being manufactured by CITGO. For my next oil change I am going to use Penzoil Platinum synthetic 5W-30

What lab have you been using?
First analysis was sent to Fluidlife in Edmonton, last 2 were AGAT labs in Calgary, they both use gas chromotography, & not flash point interpolation.

How do you drive? Mostly highway, or city? Long idling?
mostly highway, very little city driving, or idling. Shortest trips are at least 30 kilometers or 20 minutes run time commuting to work, but many trips of 1-2 hours

Seems like it is trending in the right direction?
yes, but have seen others posting oil analysis on this same engine with same mileage, with no fuel dilution issues. 2% is the maximum most labs allow before flagging a sample as unacceptable. My oil scores a 10 of 10 for needing to be replaced.
 
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You say fuel dilution should be under 2%, NOT on a GDI/turbo motor in Canada.You will be above 5% for sure in the winters. Just get use to it and do short oil changes in winter. As the sun comes up in the morning, GDI/turbos get close to, or go above 4%-5% in winters.
 
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I've never had an analysis done on my 2016 3.5 eco F150. I have also not seen any rise in the oil level or smell of gasoline in the oil when checking the dipstick. I also run castrol 0w40 exclusively in the truck should there be dilution and it runs well on that. I change it in the spring and fall at around 8000kms.

Your engine has dual injection. It may not be fully broken in yet and leaking past the rings a bit. Have you towed with it or worked it hard? The only other place that will dump fuel is if the High pressure fuel pump has a leak in a seal and dumps fuel into the head as it's driven mechanically off the cam. Your fuel dilution levels are somewhat "normal" for these engines and don't necessarily cause higher than normal wear levels. Thicker oil may maintain normal viscosity with the dilution occurring.
 
You're worrying too much.

You think the Ford engineers haven't accounted for fuel dilution and the resulting reduction in oil viscosity? That's why they spec a 30W. After being diluted for 6000 miles, it's going to wind up as a 20W, which isn't going to hurt anything.

If you're that worried about it, I'd run a thicker 30W like M1 High Mileage 10W-30, change every 6000 miles, and call it good.
 
Simply add a quality oil thickener and don't tell Ford. That would be Schaeffer's Moly EP (amazon.com), kv100=238 cSt, with antimony and esters in there, a solid company behind it. That will boost the viscosity up just a bit, enough to mix with the fuel and counter it.

If you're absolutely opposed to any additives, and understandably so, then put in a high-HTHS 5w-30, recommending M1 ESP 5w-30 at HTHS 3.5, where a normal ILSAC 5w-30 is HTHS 3.0. That leaves you plenty of fuel dilution margin.
 
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Simply add a quality oil thickener and don't tell Ford. That would be Schaeffer's Moly EP (amazon.com), kv100=238 cSt, with antimony and esters in there, a solid company behind it. That will boost the viscosity up just a bit, enough to mix with the fuel and counter it.

If you're absolutely opposed to any additives, and understandably so, then put in a high-HTHS 5w-30, recommending M1 ESP 5w-30 at HTHS 3.5, where a normal ILSAC 5w-30 is HTHS 3.0. That leaves you plenty of fuel dilution margin.

Any proof the Higher HTHS oil make a difference? That said I prefer oil on the thicker end my self .
 
Originally Posted by CT8
Any proof the Higher HTHS oil make a difference? That said I prefer oil on the thicker end my self .
Higher HTHS results in thicker hydrodynamic oil films and less occurrence of boundary & mixed conditions we don't want too much of in an engine. In engineering, viscosity is important to keep more surfaces apart. Proof: Newton's mass-momentum physics are the basis of the Stribeck curve and are taken as solid truth without proof.
In any engine, there is some margin, it is true. Eating into the margin will work to some extent. Especially in winter when the sumps are cold, and lots of heat transfer cools the block and top end.
All those fuel-diluting Honda TGDI engine oil UOAs we've seen have shown that engine is very tolerant of thinning oil, at least in Fe ppm. By keeping the oil in it's spec J300 visc range we can make sure it'll survive though.
 
If the dilution can be kept under 5%, I would, unfortunately, consider it as good as it is going to get and either live with it or dispose of the truck. I would however up the virgin 100° cSt viscosity by running 50% 5W30 and 50% 5W40. If that doesn't result in a very high SAE 20 grade or low SAE 30 grade when fully used/diluted, it is time to consider 100% 5W40. There should be no negative consequences with less than 5% dilution.unless you continually dog the engine.

I feel your pain though. The wife's prior owned Cadillac and Mercedes Benz were both disposed of earlier than planned in part because of uncontrollable dilution.
 
only worried because my viscosity is already below specs for a 5W-20 in 2400 miles!

worried how low it would be if I doubled my intervals and ran to 4800 miles. Would I see my Fuel contamination double as well?

I have seen other oil analysis reports, & there are many that do have fuel dilution under 2% in this same year, & model.

Is TBN more important than viscosity? Should I be watching that number more?
 
Generally speaking, fuel dilution shouldn't simply double by doubling OCIs. This time of year, fuel dilution might get worse, too. Also, does it specify premium or regular, and what are you running? I know it looks painful, but there is only so much that can really be done. I'm paranoid and would be sorely tempted to run a thicker 30 grade; however, that's not necessarily within Ford's warranty expectations.

Also, with respect to fuel dilution and comparing to other similar vehicles, you almost have to compare same lab to same lab to have numbers that are comparable, given different testing methods, with Blackstone using an extrapolation, for example, and not a test at all. So, if you're using a lab that tests fuel dilution directly and are comparing it to Blackstone UOAs and are concerned because those UOAs show low numbers, they may not be accurate at the outset.
 
Originally Posted by Garak
Generally speaking, fuel dilution shouldn't simply double by doubling OCIs. This time of year, fuel dilution might get worse, too. Also, does it specify premium or regular, and what are you running? I know it looks painful, but there is only so much that can really be done. I'm paranoid and would be sorely tempted to run a thicker 30 grade; however, that's not necessarily within Ford's warranty expectations.

Also, with respect to fuel dilution and comparing to other similar vehicles, you almost have to compare same lab to same lab to have numbers that are comparable, given different testing methods, with Blackstone using an extrapolation, for example, and not a test at all. So, if you're using a lab that tests fuel dilution directly and are comparing it to Blackstone UOAs and are concerned because those UOAs show low numbers, they may not be accurate at the outset.

I use a regular grade 87 octane, usually filling up at Co-Op cardlock.

Yes, I experienced differences between labs, & called them on it.
My local UFA submits samples to ALS for tribology. On my last oil change I collected 2 samples, & sent 1 to each lab, AGAT, & ALS. When I got the results back from ALS the oil was perfectly fine! When I seen these results I called them up, & asked why don't they show a viscosity @40 Deg, because I was seeing drastically different test results from another lab.

They then informed me that they were not set up to test viscosity in gasoline engines, & were catering more to diesels.
They didn't use gas chromotography to test fuel dilution.

According to ALS test results my oil was 100% fine, & they recommended me to run longer run times!
They said their Edmonton lab was scheduled to get new equipment in the near future to test using gas chromotography.

I might try to send a duplicate sample to Fluidlife to compare their results against each other. The first sample that I pulled was sent there, & was 8.47%!

Maybe I am not really getting any better, & just differences between 2 labs!
 
Originally Posted by cdlamb
Originally Posted by Garak
Generally speaking, fuel dilution shouldn't simply double by doubling OCIs. This time of year, fuel dilution might get worse, too. Also, does it specify premium or regular, and what are you running? I know it looks painful, but there is only so much that can really be done. I'm paranoid and would be sorely tempted to run a thicker 30 grade; however, that's not necessarily within Ford's warranty expectations.

Also, with respect to fuel dilution and comparing to other similar vehicles, you almost have to compare same lab to same lab to have numbers that are comparable, given different testing methods, with Blackstone using an extrapolation, for example, and not a test at all. So, if you're using a lab that tests fuel dilution directly and are comparing it to Blackstone UOAs and are concerned because those UOAs show low numbers, they may not be accurate at the outset.

I use a regular grade 87 octane, usually filling up at Co-Op cardlock.

Yes, I experienced differences between labs, & called them on it.
My local UFA submits samples to ALS for tribology. On my last oil change I collected 2 samples, & sent 1 to each lab, AGAT, & ALS. When I got the results back from ALS the oil was perfectly fine! When I seen these results I called them up, & asked why don't they show a viscosity @40 Deg, because I was seeing drastically different test results from another lab.

They then informed me that they were not set up to test viscosity in gasoline engines, & were catering more to diesels.
They didn't use gas chromotography to test fuel dilution.

According to ALS test results my oil was 100% fine, & they recommended me to run longer run times!
They said their Edmonton lab was scheduled to get new equipment in the near future to test using gas chromotography.

I might try to send a duplicate sample to Fluidlife to compare their results against each other. The first sample that I pulled was sent there, & was 8.47%!

Maybe I am not really getting any better, & just differences between 2 labs!


OP - good that you figured that out. Many don't (e.g., some actually believe Blackstone's fuel dilution values).

GC is important these days with so many modern engines causing fuel dilution - need to know your real numbers so you don't extend too long. I wouldn't get too concerned about it at this point, as you can deal with it as long as you know your real fuel dilution numbers.
 
Originally Posted by cdlamb
Maybe I am not really getting any better, & just differences between 2 labs!

That is the thing. About all you can really do is keep an eye on viscosity, TBN, and so forth, and carry on. If you don't feel like extending as per their recommendations, it's certainly within your right not to. It has to fall within your comfort zone, after all.
 
How do I deal with fuel dilution in a new F150 Ecoboost?

I have been changing at short OCI around 2500 miles or 4000 kilometers, & don't want to have to change more frequently than that, when running a full synthetic

My last 2 oil samples have been at 4.0%, & 3.4%, the first oil analysis came back at 8.47%

I had the truck in to Ford for a service appointment, & they wont even document it on the invoice as a customer concern. I provided them with the results of my oil analysis, & they say they wont do anything until a check engine light comes on, & to run longer oil change intervals! This goes against any thing that I have previously learned.

Fuel dilution should be under 2%.
My 40 Deg C Viscosity is flagged at a "lower Critical" at 44.4, when should be closer to 61
My 100 Deg C Viscosity is flagged "lower reportable" at 8.5, & should be closer to 10.3

Is it something I should be worried about? Oil is due for an oil change, & might push it to 5500 kilometers or around 3400 miles.
The built in oil life monitor still shows around 75% oil life remaining.

not sure how to attach the actual Oil analysis for viewing XPS document, or adobe document

Install an oil catch can and use high octane premium fuel. I would switch to Mobil 1 FS X2 5W-50. It won't harm your engine, it will run with it just fine, as it's meant for supercharged / turbocharged applications. If you're concerned, run Mobil 1 FS 0W-40 or Castrol EDGE 0W-40. Redline 0W-40 is also a good choice, however, given how good Mobil and Castrol oils are and the fact that they do so much more testing, I tend to trust them over boutique oils. I am considering an F150 with the 3.5 EcoBoost, and if I end up getting one, I will do what I mentioned above. Time to renew my Costco membership to get that cheap Premium gas 😜
 
Would it be prudent to look at the wear values with respect to fuel dilution? Wear values are the important values here and I wouldn't just dump a vehicle because it has X% dilution without checking wear values. Ed
 
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