Gas smell on dipstick

2020 limited
57K miles

I change oil every 5K-6K or 6 months whichever comes first.
I do mostly short trips... 5 miles or so each....

is this normal? could it be a bad injector?

how to diagnose further..

no codes.. engine idles great.....

now that I am thinking back, it could have started happening after I used a 20oz techron fuel treatment on like 5 Gallon tank.. I changed the oil after that though...

I am not really sure if it started before that event or after it...

 

It is normal when only driving short trips, especially as it gets cold out, but it’s bad for the engine. Fuel is a solvent that washes away oil, this is why short trip driving is bad for internal combustion engines.

 

Only short trips is considered severe use, and oil dilution is exactly the reason. You should consider a) warm up engine prior to driving, b) periodically drive longer distances to get everything up to temp, c) change oil more often.

 

Understand that short trips are not good.... But sometimes it is what it is..

If it was a leaky injector or fuel pressure regulator I would have symptoms and or codes, correct?

Thanks

 

And I think fuel treatments are a waste of money and only contaminate the gasoline. At worst, I would only try an additive if I was having problems. 1.5 million miles on Toyotas, without using fuel additives, is enough for me.

 

normal. not to worry.

 

Bad Injector is not guaranteed to produce a code. Your short trips are the likely explanation for fuel contamination of the oil, but it does not guarantee you do not have a faulty injector. If you want to use fuel additive, use one with PEA (https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/what-is-good-pea-based-cleaner-for-2023.365702/). Personally, I use BG 44K in a tank of premium and then go for a long highway ride. Oil change and BG 44K is what I would do in your place.

 

If you do suspect the additive, run that tank nearly empty and refill with gasoline. That should dilute whatever remaining additive there is enough to make any smell eventually go away.

 

Thanks... I have done refills at least 5 times since..
I was just afraid that any seal, o-ring or fuel component failed due to that. I used a higher concentration of techron than recommended...
But probably this has nothing to do with it.
I will change the oil again and start driving on the highway more and see what happens....

 

If you are really that concerned you could do oil analysis. Blackstone labs are great. One of the test they do is gasoline in oil (oil dilution). Still gas in the oil is normal, it always happens when you start the engine cold, then as the oil temps climb the gas evaporates and so the water (condensation). That is why long trips are great for engines.
You could try an oil analysis driving like you normally drive and see how "bad" it is. If the results are not good you could take a longer route at least once a week and re-test the oil. Just an idea....

 

4Runner75 - I agree.

My wife used to work at an oil analysis lab, not blackstone. The commercial additives are kind of snake oil for passenger vehicles unless you really want to extend that oil life. Filters is another part of the equation but most people do the oil/filter at the same time so won’t go down that rabbit hole…

 

Sounds like you're a good candidate for shorter oil change intervals.

3,000k might work better for your situation.

But like mentioned above, an oil analysis will be able to tell you this definitively.

 

Overly excessive idle time is another bad thing. It could be responsible for the gas smell.

 

How long is " overly excessive"?
I idle my car often and for long times. 2 days ago, I turned it on in the morning to warm it and forgot about it. Remembered after 2 hours :/

 

Ya, 2 hrs. is excessive.

 

My guess it all depends what you are doing. For example, if you did a coolant flush I´ve seen videos that suggest idling for about 30 min or until coolant is hot to discard air pockets, that´s ok.
If you use your truck to pick up your kid at school and you stay at the line for 10-15 min is not excessive. 30 Minutes is kind of excessive. So I would have to say for a daily basis more than 15 minutes I would say it´s excessive.
Another point would be to ask yourself is it excessive but necessary? You forgot for 2 hours, of course is overly excessive. Stuck in traffic for 1 hour maybe excessive but there´s no way around it.
Bottom line, try to idle the less you can. Even when you start the engine cold is recommended to idle 30 seconds or so to get the oil lubricating and then you drive slow or non aggressive until the coolant is hot. On freezing climate you may want to idle a bit more 1 or 2 minutes at the most, then drive with low throttle input and get to the necessary speed that way until the oil warms up, I just an idea, I live in a tropical climate so I can´t be certain how much to idle in the snow or if you don´t have a garage and the car is outside covered in snow, in that case I don´t know.

Hope this helps.

 

A leaky injector won't necessarily generate a code, but you'll certainly see a strong bias in your long term fuel trim on the leaky side.

 

If your trips are really 5 miles or less, change your oil more frequently. A little gas smell is ok, but you may be getting oil dilution from the short trips. I would got to 3K if it were mine.

 

Very good explanation.

 

Do these numbers look ok?
no missfire on any of the 6 cylinders..

 

Yeah that's nothing. Leaky injectors will typically have you over 25% or more.

 

This are mine after a normal 15 minute drive in the city.
The fuel trims tend to be a bit high at idle and close to 0 when you drive. At least that´s what I´ve seen in the last 3 vehicles I´ve owned.
In this case there is a bank that stays a little rich at -3.1, still very well inside the expected numbers.

 

Yes and I believe anything grater than +/-15% or 20% will trigger a lean or rich condition.

 

Check and make sure this hose is connected

 

Normal. But drive the poor thing at 70 mph once in a while. Fuel is enemy to oil, change your oil sooner than 5k, at least in the winter.

 

Top Tier gas(Shell, Chevron, Arco, Costco etc) come with plenty of additives. I agree, fuel treatments are un necessary and possibly harmful, just like oil additives

 

Its fine. Just drive the thing.

 

Totally normal smell. You may also have weird smell on your fingers from time to time, that is normal too.

 

Upon cold start up computer commands “rich fuel delivery”. I let it idle for about 20 seconds and then start the drive slowly to get oil fully circulating and warm. Once the temperature gauge moves up off bottom I just drive normally. The oil gets diluted primarily due to cold rich start up but it cannot be avoided since it’s in the program.
Do use top tier fuel to keep engine running clean. Not much else you can do with all the computers. Some vehicles now don’t even have an oil dipstick. Only a sensor reading which is what results in a dealership visit.

 

I have a 10 min commute to work and though i didn't buy my remote start/alarm specifically for this potential issue the idea was always to add warm up time. Beside being cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

I really think this has helped with the longevity of all my old cars with 300k+ on them.