As the title says, I have a strong fuel smell in the oil I smelled on the dip stick. I just had it changed a couple of weeks ago so if there is a problem it is recent or ongoing.

I might be paranoid, but anyone else have this?

If it is a problem I would assume that it is either fuel getting past the piston rings under boost or a leaking injector. Anyone know the best/easiest way to diagnose if it is an injector?

I am not having an oil usage problem.

 

Pull each sparkplug out and sniff?

 

This is very bad!!! This happened to a Civic friend of mine with a Hondata engine management system. They had put in the wrong injector size in the program and it was dumping fuel into the bores...it wasn't burning and was going straight into the oil. In short the fuel washed the bores....the rings were ruined, all his bearings were down to the copper and his balance shaft bearings had seized to their bearings....the aluminum got so hot it turned black/blue like a clutch. This all happened within a few hundred miles. Find out where the un-burned fuel is coming from....because that will KILL you're motor in no time at all.

 

Did you taste it to confirm? j/k

How strong is the smell? If you smell any dipstick, and the oil has a decent amount of miles on it, it will likely have some odors of fuel. That is normal.

 

No I haven't tasted it LOL

It smells pretty strong but then again I had not smelled it before, I just had the oil changed a couple of hundred miles ago and was checking the level and noticed it was kind of dark so I smelled it and noticed the fuel smell.

To double check the Greddy settings, what size injectors are you inputting into the emanage parameter settings? Mine has 280 is that right or should it be 300?

 

I use 280 -> 440. Hopefully you don't have a damaged ring. Do you have any vapor coming out your dipstick when the car is running?

 

i would do a compression check..

 

First of all stay calm......Drain your oil out...put it in a fresh drain pan/or a very clean one....Look at the oil if there is any fuel in it. It will look like a clear liquid it flooting on the oil....As for there being too much fuel or a misque in you computer you would have to be so far off that it would smell like fuel is coming out of you tail pipes....Then look at your plugs they will have unburnt fuel on them if they are wet just after running you are way rich again youwould be smelling fuel from the pipe...As gq_626 stated as oil breaks down it collects carbon and other imperities one of which will shell like fuel.....If you have any other concerns go back to were you had it tuned/installed they will help you out...

 

Thanks, I am not panicing yet just concerned.

Well, I did a compression test and good news and ??? news.

Not sure of the cylinder numbering so here goes:
Front Driver's side 195
Middle Driver's side 199
Rear Driver's side 197
Rear Pass side 205
Middle Pass side 200
Front Pass side 160-175

I did the Front Pass side fourth and got the 160 then I went back and did it at the end again and got 170 and 175.

Doesn't look good but I will change oil again and check it again.

I haven't driven the car in a few days and did not warm it up or run it before this I figured if it is a leaking injector and it is washing the cyclinder I didn;t want to run the car and lube it up and help the rings so now if it gets better after an oil change and running it before the test to warm it up then it might be a leaking injector if it doesn't improve then we have a problem Houston.

 

Well, I warmed it up and ran compression on just that cylinder and got 190-195, I stupid question but it wouldn't matter that I left the other plugs installed as I didn't feel like pulling them all out again.

Also, I did notice a intermittent noise coming from the coil at that location, is it mine or does anyone else's make noises as well, I am going to swap it with another coil to see if it makes a difference.

 

After thinking about it, it is probably the injector making that noise with erratic flow.

So, should I try to get Greddy warranty on the injector or buy another set, in which case what is better and should I go up in size even though I may not go up in power soon.

I may be talking to myself in the post

 

You know I wouldn't be too concerned yet....If you think that the injector is malfunctioning get a new one or send it to get checked out....They,the injector,will make a slight noise but not one that is real noticable....Leaving the plugs in when doing a comp test is okay if you ask me...I have done them both ways all in or all out....did not really find a dif...I would swap the injectors out for ones that are flow matched so you know they all flow around the same amount....Just a suggestion...Going larger when it is not needed is just a waist of time if you ask me as you will have to retune your car for the increase in flow of the larger injectors..
Later

 

Thanks, I feel much better after the followup test that showed the cylinder is OK, I am going to contact Greddy and RC Monday to see what they think and try to get a replacement injector and take advantage and install the fuel return system while I have the plenum off.

I am just glad it is not boost related.

 

Good to hear it was just an injector.

 

Thanks, it is just then when you find something going wrong and with all of the potential problems you jump to conclusions that is has to be boost related and my engine is falling apart, but I feel good and that the MAPS from ACP and the J&S were good investments and are doing their job.

 

How did you diagnose it as a fuel injector problem?

 

It is basically assumptions but all seem to lead to an injector problem.

I am getting fuel in the oil so the only way is for fuel to pass the piston rings, and that would be fuel being pushed past them under boost or worse if the rings have gone bad and the fuel is just getting past without the aid of the boost, or the injector is leaking or malfunctioning so badly it is washing the cylinder walls and getting past the piston rings which again could be bad.

So after letting the car sit for a few days, it could be just overnight, this way if the fuel is washing the cylinder walls you wont have a good seal to maintain the pressure during the compression test, which was the case.

Then I started the car and let it run for a few minutes which allowed the cylinder to get lubricated and if the everything was OK and just fuel washing out the cylinder then the pressure should be higher, if it was bad piston rings then the pressure would have stayed the same, low.

Also, I am hearing a wierd noise right from the area of that cylinder which at first I thought it was the coil but it sounds like an intermittnent swish sound so I am guessing it is the injector and it only happens at idle which is probably when it is dumping fuel in right before I turn it off hence washing the cylinder and causing the low reading after the car sits for a while.

Who knows maybe I am talking out of my a$$ but it all seems to make sense to me

 

As odd as it may seem, my banjo bolt that leads into the oil pan (one of Greddy's first kit designs) broke, so I have to find a new one. I removed the other one which was fine to use as a point of reference when I go to the semi-truck place (they use really large turbos so I might have good luck there) to search for this bolt. Needless to say, the oil on my bolt and copper washers smelled like fuel too . . . not sure what to think since I've get less than 2k miles on the kit and stock boost settings. Could it just be the richness of the kit?

G

 

In general it could be the richness but with the test results I got plus my assumptions I would say in my case it is one injector.