Fuel contamination in a new RAV4 Prime PHEV. Thoughts? Advice?

One idea would be to let the OLM run its course. Keep an eye on the monitor and see how it reacts to your driving routine. I think you can monitor how much the engine has run within a certain number of miles. The key is to find that ratio so if for example 7500 miles total equals 3000 miles on the engine then you will have data to work with.
 
No, I am not a frequent short tripper. Most of the short trips involve the ICE engine entirely off while the electric motor does the work. Sorry if my initial post might have insinuated otherwise. Initially, RAV4 Prime drivers note the ICE kicking in randomly. Then they learn what tends to cause it. I fear Prime drivers that do not learn to avoid the random ICE use, and adhere to 10k OCI are going to lose some engines.................

Yes, the RAV4 Prime has a learning curve in terms of how to keep it from kicking the ICE on randomly. But i mostly mastered that.

Frequent oil changes are NOT without impact. There is cost, hassle and environmental impact. All of which I consider.

I am following the oil discussion, but you guys seem to split hairs and bicker mostly!!!! Using a better oil in terms of avoiding damage from fuel contamination (of the oil, to make Rand happy) would be a good idea indeed. Doubt there is much objective data on that............
I am no phd.

But I do have 220k miles of experience with Dynamic Force. Some Hybrid. Some Non-Hybrid.

I consider your fuel dilution as prima facie evidence that you are severe service.

I hope it all goes well for you.
 
Frequent oil changes are NOT without impact. There is cost, hassle and environmental impact. All of which I consider.
I totally respect that. Used oil gets recycled though, and if you buy something like mobil1 or pennzoil platinum when the rebates are going on, it's not bad price wise. 5qt jug of M1 0w-16 is $24.xx at my local walmart, $8 rebate out for it right now, 2 jugs max I think? Filter $5-$10.

Without a rebate, around $30 oil change, with rebate around $23ish, times 3 or 4 a year, that's really not bad in my opinion. I have a gas '21 rav4, and if your filter/drain plug location is like mine, it's super easy and convenient on these cars. Probably the easiest car I've ever changed the oil on
 
Frequent oil changes are NOT without impact. There is cost, hassle and environmental impact. All of which I consider.

I am following the oil discussion, but you guys seem to split hairs and bicker mostly!!!! Using a better oil in terms of avoiding damage from fuel contamination (of the oil, to make Rand happy) would be a good idea indeed. Doubt there is much objective data on that............

Frequent oil changes is what you need to combat fuel dilution. That’s the reality and that’s the objective data. But you don’t want to accept that, it seems.

There is no “better” oil to deal with it and stay within manufacturers oil viscosity requirements. Most oils are very close in terms of meeting manufacturer and industry standard requirements, hence you have to “split hairs and bicker mostly” because the differences are so small.

If there was an oil that would be so superior to others and its specs reflected that, there would be no need to bicker and split hairs, and this board would likely be very quiet.
 
I would just change the oil more often!
That's all you can do. Many of these engines that experience fuel dilution are not remedied by a long drive, because the engine is dumping fuel into the oil faster than it can get rid of it through evaporation from high oil temperature.

The more they try to build engines that have little rotational resistance, the worse this problem becomes, because of too loose fitting piston rings that allow oil to get past the rings and into the crankcase.

Another thing you can do is go up in viscosity. Thicker oil seems to combat this problem somewhat better than the water thin oils that are being recommended..... Again because of CAFE mileage standards.
 
Not interested in being part of a debacle 11 years from now. Toyota makes mistakes once in a while too.
It really doesn't matter. If you use the plug-in feature as you should, 11 years from now, you'll find that your mileage on the gas engine is probably 1/2 of what you'd expect. Regardless of fuel dilution, if you do at least annual oil changes, it is a non-issue.
 
By smell, my 2.7L ecoboost had a little oil dilution going on for its first 15-20k miles. We also have a 1.5L honda turbo. By smell and dipstick, it also had some oil dilution going on, notably for the first 20k or so. With both engines, the rate of dilution seems to have dropped. I can’t tell if the 2.7 does it at all, and the 1.5 is at the point where the dipstick no longer increases, and the oil smells normal. In both cases, I also went up half a grade.

the ford calls for 5-30; it gets 10-30

the civic calls for 5-20. It gets 2-3 quarts of 5-20 and the rest is 5-30.

i think that toyota would be an excellent car to keep. If I were seeing some dilution concerns, I’d do this above and maybe change it on time or slightly early, using a name brand synthetic oil.

m
 
My Mazda fuel dilutes the oil. My choice is not for everyone. But I run 0w-40 winter with a short oci not over 2k( right now not putting that much mileage on it), and a 0w , or 5w-30 oil in summer for a 3 k change.

I'm considering running HPL's Sae 30, as it has little to no VI.
 
My Mazda fuel dilutes the oil. My choice is not for everyone. But I run 0w-40 winter with a short oci not over 2k( right now not putting that much mileage on it), and a 0w , or 5w-30 oil in summer for a 3 k change.

I'm considering running HPL's Sae 30, as it has little to no VI.
Thinking about your system, it makes good sense. Took me a moment to get it. 👍👍
 
My Mazda fuel dilutes the oil. My choice is not for everyone. But I run 0w-40 winter with a short oci not over 2k( right now not putting that much mileage on it), and a 0w , or 5w-30 oil in summer for a 3 k change.

I'm considering running HPL's Sae 30, as it has little to no VI.
You are on top of the situation. When you have a fuel dilution issue contaminating your oil, you cannot have too frequent of a OCI.
 
I'm considering running HPL's Sae 30, as it has little to no VI.
Did you see this thread, including some additional tests Dave ran on the oil?
 
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