Amsoil SS 5w-50, 3.1k mi; Ford Focus RS, 2.3L EB, 59k mi

[Ecoboom]

Stock Focus RS that is daily driven in 4 season North American climate.
-first UOA is spring summer driving w/o catch can
-recent UOA is all winter with PCV catch can (that is always empty)
-mostly stop and go traffic with some open highway
-always couple minutes of warm up idle in winter
-always wait for oil to get to temp before pushing
-I never lug the engine
-OCI has been 5,000kms (3,100 mi, report is in kilometers)
-Car runs great, no loss of power or check engine light

When I change the oil it never smells like fuel, catch can is empty and doesn't smell like fuel either. I understand blow-by and direct injection and that a certain amount of fuel dilution in the 2.3L EB is going to happen. I've seen other threads of RS owners with fuel dilution but not this high. Does this seem like another problem?
Could the very cold weather affect it that much?
Is there somewhere I should be looking for a leak or a faulty part?

 

[cammyfive79]

Stinks that the dilution is at this level at only 3100 miles using a great oil. If you're going to be relegated to 3-4K mile OCIs I wonder if a less expensive oil might be "just as good" despite Amsoil being part of the best out there.

 

[Brian123]

I like the Oxidation Number!

 

[buster]

Everything looks good other than the fuel/viscosity. You could run it longer but I don't know what long term impact is of running oil with 5% fuel dilution has on the engine. TBN still high and no oxidation.

 

[scrllock]

I guess that explains why they want you to run a 5w50.

I'd be looking at replacing your injectors with whatever the latest revision is. I assume the reason you don't see more UOAs with this is because most people are using blackstone which regularly under-reports dilution.

Annoying but not uncommon, direct injectors are a wear item.

 

[ltslimjim]

Deleted. Misread the grade.

 

[OVERKILL]

I'm not sure what's going on. If fuel dilution is present, but the oxidation is remaining at VOA levels, then how come the viscosity has increase >4 cSt at 100c compared to VOA? Regardless, the rest of the results themselves look superb.

Increased? According to AMSOIL, virgin KV100 should be 19.4cSt:

So it has lost 4.6cSt, a part of it due to the fuel of course.

 

[ltslimjim]

Increased? According to AMSOIL, virgin KV100 should be 19.4cSt:
View attachment 280135

So it has lost 4.6cSt, a part of it due to the fuel of course.

I misread the title of the post as 5w30. Please disregard.

 

[buster]

That is a big viscosity loss. The fuel and a 5w50. You could try RL 5w50. What does it call for?

 

[fantastic]

Fuel isn't pretty but wow those low metals are amazing. I'd say it's working whatever you're doing. Keep it up & a good run.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Lube added- 6qts? I hope that’s the total volume you added when you drained the sump, not makeup oil as everyone else interprets things?

 

[Jetronic]

I wouldn't change a thing.... the 5w-50 does seem to lose viscosity, but not to the point where MOFT is impaired

 

[lakestone]

@Ecoboom from everything you posted, it seem like you take a lot of short trips in your vehicle. However, it's just a wild guess. If that's not the case, then you may have one or more injector that don't spray as they should or leak. I would start with small steps, say, use Red Line SI-1, one bottle per full tank. Then pull a sample and see if anything changed. A high quality oil like AMSOIL SS will hide the fuel smell du to the myriad of detergents, dispersants, and antioxidants. So you won't smell fuel unless you dump it by the quart in your sump. The reason why I brought up short tripping is mainly the empty oil catch can. If you could tell us a little bit more about your driving habits, that would be helpful - like for example: do you drive for 3 to 5 miles, or even 10, especially in winter, then turn the car off? In winter the catch can should catch a lot of condensation and have a healthy "milkshake" that looks like a bad tasting cappuccino.

 

[Ecoboom]

I guess that explains why they want you to run a 5w50.

I'd be looking at replacing your injectors with whatever the latest revision is. I assume the reason you don't see more UOAs with this is because most people are using blackstone which regularly under-reports dilution.

Annoying but not uncommon, direct injectors are a wear item.

I might replace the injectors then. Maybe try a fuel cleaner first and see.

That is a big viscosity loss. The fuel and a 5w50. You could try RL 5w50. What does it call for?

Ford calls for 5w-50 in the car. What advantage does Redline have? Amsoil SS is easy for me to get and the price is good.

Lube added- 6qts? I hope that’s the total volume you added when you drained the sump, not makeup oil as everyone else interprets things?

Yes this sample was taken during an complete oil change.

@Ecoboom from everything you posted, it seem like you take a lot of short trips in your vehicle. However, it's just a wild guess. If that's not the case, then you may have one or more injector that don't spray as they should or leak. I would start with small steps, say, use Red Line SI-1, one bottle per full tank. Then pull a sample and see if anything changed. A high quality oil like AMSOIL SS will hide the fuel smell du to the myriad of detergents, dispersants, and antioxidants. So you won't smell fuel unless you dump it by the quart in your sump. The reason why I brought up short tripping is mainly the empty oil catch can. If you could tell us a little bit more about your driving habits, that would be helpful - like for example: do you drive for 3 to 5 miles, or even 10, especially in winter, then turn the car off? In winter the catch can should catch a lot of condensation and have a healthy "milkshake" that looks like a bad tasting cappuccino.

I don't take a lot of short trips, its mostly stop and go heavy traffic. With some highway. I thought I would get a lot of condensation too, but it's empty.

Stinks that the dilution is at this level at only 3100 miles using a great oil. If you're going to be relegated to 3-4K mile OCIs I wonder if a less expensive oil might be "just as good" despite Amsoil being part of the best out there.

It's actually comparable in price for me to get the Amsoil SS vs other brands. I've usually done oil changes around 5,000kms.

 

[Ecoboom]

@lakestone
I just got some bottles of redline si-1. This could help if the injectors aren’t spraying properly, but would it do anything if one is leaking?

 

[ltslimjim]

@lakestone
I just got some bottles of redline si-1. This could help if the injectors aren’t spraying properly, but would it do anything if one is leaking?

It can’t hurt. Do you use Top Tier fuels only? Seems like a must in DI engine.

 

[scrllock]

@lakestone
I just got some bottles of redline si-1. This could help if the injectors aren’t spraying properly, but would it do anything if one is leaking?

Depends if the injector is dirty, has a bad seal, or if it's physically out of spec. IMO it is less likely to help if you with excessive flow.

 

[Ecoboom]

It can’t hurt. Do you use Top Tier fuels only? Seems like a must in DI engine.

Yeah I usually use 91 with good results. 93 sometimes. From reputable gas stations

Depends if the injector is dirty, has a bad seal, or if it's physically out of spec. IMO it is less likely to help if you with excessive flow.

That’s what I started thinking after I bought the stuff. I’ll see if anything feels different after running 2 bottles.

 

[2.7ecoboostFordBronco]

I don’t think those fuel dilution numbers are abnormal for an ecoboost. I wouldn’t go on any maintenance/repair expeditions based on your UOAs. I’ve been looking more at 2.7L UOAs but 2-4% is common in Polaris/OA ecoboost analyses. My two 2.7’s are usually about 2% in summer and 3% in winter; that’s with DI and MPI fuel delivery which I thought was supposed to somewhat reduce fuel dilution.

Cold weather does result in higher fuel dilution on my samples, usually. I will refrain from speculating on the exact reasons why but I’m sure the possible reasons can be easily searched for on this site.

I usually get ~50% lower fuel dilution number on UOAs through labs other than Polaris (wearcheck, Speediagnostix). Those other labs claims to use gas chromatography as well. I have no way of knowing which one is more accurate. Most members of this forum seem to say Polaris is the most accurate.

 

[KEVINK0000]

Redline injector cleaner caused a couple of my NA engines to ping pretty badly ( no knock sensors) . Be careful using it in your application.RL makes great stuff generally, but I stopped using Water Wetter and the cleaner because they weren’t great.