Eww that smell...

[DmanWho]

Was out sniffin' the SX4's oil, (I know, bad habit - hard to break), and I detected the fragrance of fuel with just a hint of toasted corn.

I have right around 5,000 miles on this current RLI mix, with my driving conditions falling under the heading of "Severe Service." Almost all the miles during this OCI are from very short-trips.

My previous OCI of 6,500 miles, included a week-long road trip, totalling more than 2,000 miles.

What to do?

I do want very much to avoid the dreaded, "You should have run that synthetic longer" comment.

 

[Ls_Dx]

its a gasoline engine. the smell of fuel is normal

 

[DmanWho]

Mix a little paranoia with some oil OCD... It might all just be me.

I have the previous fill (although tainted) and the FF to compare it against.

Should I just be satisfied with going 2,000 miles over what Suzuki deems, "Severe Driving Conditions?"

 

[Gary Allan]

Must be all the corn based ethanol blow-by, mixed with the veggie based oil constituents, that produces the roasted aroma

 

[Quattro Pete]

The oil in my engine always smells of fuel, yet when I have it UOA'd, there is very little fuel there (0.5% or less).

 

[Ls_Dx]

Originally Posted By: DmanWho
Mix a little paranoia with some oil OCD... It might all just be me.

I have the previous fill (although tainted) and the FF to compare it against.

Should I just be satisfied with going 2,000 miles over what Suzuki deems, "Severe Driving Conditions?"

I think as long as you go on a couple evaporation runs, it should be fine

 

[DmanWho]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Must be all the corn based ethanol blow-by, mixed with the veggie based oil constituents, that produces the roasted aroma

So True!

-And thanks Quattro Pete. That helped to put my mind at ease, at least momentarily.

Originally Posted By: Ls_Dx
...I think as long as you go on a couple evaporation runs, it should be fine

That's probably the problem right there... I just need to get out more often!

I do want that coveted 7,000+ mile OCI for my upcoming UOA thread.

 

[Yary]

I get the same smell with my wife's acura rl 2002. She makes no more than 3 miles trips most of the time.

 

[crinkles]

no jokes, I put two tankfuls of E10 into my car recently and the oil smells a bit like fuel with some alcohol to it.. corn isn't far off (but E10 isn't made from corn here, would be sugarcane biomass)

 

[Pesca]

Why don't you sample your oil to know how it does?

With the results in hand, you will know if you can extend your OCI or change your oil now.

For sure, some long drive some time to time will help.

My .02$ (more in Canada now)

 

[oilyriser]

If you want a different aroma, you can get
http://inpcars.com/fuel-additives/6.html

 

[PT1]

If you can smell fuel in your oil I would not go past 5000 miles on it.

 

[toocrazy2yoo]

Could be fuel, or could it also be the more volatile elements, the aromatic elements, gassing off from the oil as well? I've used dino and synthetic in both these Hyundais that I've owned from brand new the last couple of years. The dino-based Clean5000 I could swear has a more aromatic/fuel-ish scent to it on the dipstick when the engine was hot. The Mobil1 EP that's in the car now smells of oil only, no gassy odors after 2000 miles, and that was checked last night after some pretty hard running coming up I-95 outta Norfolk to No. Va. It only smelled of oil. Just oil. Which I would expect as the syn isn't SUPPOSED to be so volatile to begin with.

I wonder if, in a tight engine, dino gasses off it's volatiles faster and in a more fragrant fashion, especially under high demand running, creating the illusion of fuel dilution?

 

[DmanWho]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
no jokes, I put two tankfuls of E10 into my car recently and the oil smells a bit like fuel with some alcohol to it.. corn isn't far off (but E10 isn't made from corn here, would be sugarcane biomass)

10% ethanol was just recently mandated for our County. (A few months ago. During this current OCI...) I do believe it to be a contributing factor of the change in smell.

Driving during this interval has been very similar to Yary's situation. 5 or 6 miles (city), followed by a few hours of downtime, and repeat...

Sampling it now would be the only way to know for sure, but with only 2,000 miles remaining on my projected OCI, I would just rather change it out and then test.

It could be the "aromatic elements gassing off"... This is my first time using RLI. I really don't know what the normal aroma is supposed to be like.

Pina Colada scented gas?! lol
I never knew that stuff existed... Very funny!