Scotty Kilmer on oil dilution

[Gruber]

Soon the motor oil will be thinner than the gas and the fuel dilution issue will be put to bed for a short time. But then people will start worrying about dilution making the oil thicker and so decreasing their gas mileage.

Sponsored

 

[Lifesabeach]

All this pressure on governments and car makers in different countries could potentially harm the environment. If smaller engines are under more strain and eventually fail they the end up being scrapped and the owner buys another small engine car and the cycle repeats until we are all electrified, god forbid (another subject that one).

Trouble is what will happen to all the scarp cars? Yes they could become parts for other cars and eventually parts that are left are turned into bean cans which again might be recycled but not all. Here in the UK we recycle our home waste, its then collected but a lot of it ends up in land fill as the recycle centres either cannot cope with demand or the profit v processing margin is not large enough.

Cars today are technological marvels and the average head unit has more computing power that it took to get a man on the moon, but that technology could also be the modern cars achilleas heal.

Sorry Rant over

 

[Gotch]

Recycling of vehicles...https://www.thebalancesmb.com/auto-...text=Just about 80% of a,of a car is recycled.

 

[Lifesabeach]

Recycling of vehicles...https://www.thebalancesmb.com/auto-recycling-facts-and-figures-2877933#:~:text=Just about 80% of a,of a car is recycled.

Clearly in the UK that's not what happens, only spoke to the bin guys yesterday collecting our recycle bin. They were was saying that it's going straight to landfill as the recyclers are at full capacity and don't want it. They tossed into the bin wagon including all the metal cans we have recycled, they were probably cars once. Just because a car is recycled once doesn't mean to say that those recycled parts stay that way forever.

 

[Gruber]

Recycling of vehicles...https://www.thebalancesmb.com/auto-recycling-facts-and-figures-2877933#:~:text=Just about 80% of a,of a car is recycled.

That's propaganda BS. First, it says 80% of the car weight CAN be recycled. Not 80% of the manufacturing cost. And even that is just in theory. Never happened and will never happen. Not nearly that fraction IS actually recycled for anything of value. Often, things are "recycled" just to show pretty numbers in advertising, but they produce no value, more often a loss. For example, you can recycle spent oil and show it on the label, but you will recover only a small fraction, spend energy, and it won't be cheap. Same with most plastics.

Second, the energy spent to build a car will never be recovered. It also costs energy to resmelt and machine metal parts, recycle plastic etc. It costs a lot of energy to paint a car. Can paint be recycled? Paint is a small fraction of the weight, but a large chunk of the energy and price.

I recycled glass containers when I was 10 years old, for actual cash value. It was not even the refundable fee, because every glass container was recyclable. I also made money by selling recyclable paper. That was in the last century. Reusable glass bottles are over today. Recycling glass is also dead now. Last year my local recycling companies said glass is no longer recyclable and now finally glass containers go to garbage.

Most stuff people put in recycling bins actually go to garbage dumps. Not all plastics with recycling symbols on them are actually recycled. Only a few things are really recycled. Lead batteries are certainly recycled. Don't kid yourself: if you junk your car and buy a new one, you are doing a substantial irreversible damage.

 

[Allmotor8295]

Question about oil dilution. Why is it that in some cases of oil dilution there is a odor of fuel in the cabin? Is it not a closed system so that even if there is a severe case of fuel being pulled into the crankcase that it should not smell?

If not, then wouldn’t other combustion by products gases/fumes/vapors etc make their way into the cabin also?

 

[bcrichster]

Supposedly sealed, yes. But the fuel tank pump access is under the rear seat..

 

[Gruber]

Question about oil dilution. Why is it that in some cases of oil dilution there is a odor of fuel in the cabin? Is it not a closed system so that even if there is a severe case of fuel being pulled into the crankcase that it should not smell?

If not, then wouldn’t other combustion by products gases/fumes/vapors etc make their way into the cabin also?

In case of a huge excess of oil the pressure in the crankcase will increase and eventually oil will leak somewhere through the seals. This will cause oil/fuel smell in the engine bay and some of it may enter inside the cabin. It’s not likely that any significant amount of combustion gases would be released this way. These oil leaks have also nothing to do with the fuel system or the fuel tank.
Overfilling oil by that much is more likely because of people’s blunders when changing oil and their inability to read the dipstick, than because of oil dilution.
Fuel odor inside the cabin caused by oil dilution in a civicx probably happened about two times ever, if at all, according to my personal estimate. But people keep thinking it’s a common symptom of oil dilution. If you already have an oil leak, then of course it may produce the smell of fuel. Just check your oil level to avoid any excessive excess oil.

 

[julianzh]

This thread was about scotty but now it's about UK politic recycling....

 

[Allmotor8295]

In case of a huge excess of oil the pressure in the crankcase will increase and eventually oil will leak somewhere through the seals. This will cause oil/fuel smell in the engine bay and some of it may enter inside the cabin. It’s not likely that any significant amount of combustion gases would be released this way. These oil leaks have also nothing to do with the fuel system or the fuel tank.
Overfilling oil by that much is more likely because of people’s blunders when changing oil and their inability to read the dipstick, than because of oil dilution.
Fuel odor inside the cabin caused by oil dilution in a civicx probably happened about two times ever, if at all, according to my personal estimate. But people keep thinking it’s a common symptom of oil dilution. If you already have an oil leak, then of course it may produce the smell of fuel. Just check your oil level to avoid any excessive excess oil.

So would you say the numerous reports online, of people with the 1.5t engine be it in the crv or civic , complaining about the smell of gas inside the cabin is from the crankcase being so pressurized due to overfilling that it causes leaks thus leading to odors? If this is the case wouldn’t this cause your typical oil burning on hot components odor as opposed to the distinctively different odor of raw fuel odor that people are reporting? Or is the odor of raw fuel a different issue altogether that the civic hatch does not suffer from?

From what I understood was also that the combustion process is a closed process of course and even oil or be it fuel mixed in oil sitting in the oil pan is also sealed off and should not release vapors in the engine compartment that may make its way into the cabin via the hvac. I’m sure engineers would take this into account and that is why I was confused as to why or how some people were smelling raw fuel in their cabin.

 

[Civics4Ever]

So would you say the numerous reports online, of people with the 1.5t engine be it in the crv or civic , complaining about the smell of gas inside the cabin is from the crankcase being so pressurized due to overfilling that it causes leaks thus leading to odors? If this is the case wouldn’t this cause your typical oil burning on hot components odor as opposed to the distinctively different odor of raw fuel odor that people are reporting? Or is the odor of raw fuel a different issue altogether that the civic hatch does not suffer from?

From what I understood was also that the combustion process is a closed process of course and even oil or be it fuel mixed in oil sitting in the oil pan is also sealed off and should not release vapors in the engine compartment that may make its way into the cabin via the hvac. I’m sure engineers would take this into account and that is why I was confused as to why or how some people were smelling raw fuel in their cabin.

I've got dilution. Never have smelled gas in the cabin.

 

[Gruber]

So would you say the numerous reports online, of people with the 1.5t engine be it in the crv or civic , complaining about the smell of gas inside the cabin is from the crankcase being so pressurized due to overfilling that it causes leaks thus leading to odors? If this is the case wouldn’t this cause your typical oil burning on hot components odor as opposed to the distinctively different odor of raw fuel odor that people are reporting? Or is the odor of raw fuel a different issue altogether that the civic hatch does not suffer from?

From what I understood was also that the combustion process is a closed process of course and even oil or be it fuel mixed in oil sitting in the oil pan is also sealed off and should not release vapors in the engine compartment that may make its way into the cabin via the hvac. I’m sure engineers would take this into account and that is why I was confused as to why or how some people were smelling raw fuel in their cabin.

I definitely don't believe at all that there are numerous cases of fuel smell inside the cabin. I believe even less in numerous cases of fuel smell caused by oil dilution. I've seen some complaints on the internets, and I have absolutely no indication they have been numerous, but they have been echoed and repeated many times over. Some people may smell exhaust occasionally or constantly. Exhaust can smell like fuel. Others may have a small leak not caused by oil dilution, which may not leak any oil but will leak some vapors.

Of course I have oil dilution and I never smelled even a hint of fuel in the cabin. My oil smells of fuel, because it contains some fuel. At times I had at least half a quart excess volume in my oil. But fuel smell in the cabin is potentially a serious safety issue and it's obnoxious. I never had it in any car I drove. I would never allow any passengers in my car if it was smelling of fuel, (becuse of the shame I drive such a smelly car, besides the safety concerns) and I would rather quickly try to fix it.

Yes, of course it is a closed system and therefore it will only smell when it leaks, and it must leak enough that it gets into the cabin. A very large amount of fuel in the oil could produce many times higher vapor pressure than pure oil, or oil containing only a moderate amount of fuel. The seals that would hold liquid oil under normal pressure perfectly well, may release vapors under elevated pressure. But even besides the vapor, with extreme dilution, the oil is much thinner so it can leak faster through the (dynamic) crankshaft seals. Since gasoline is quite pungent, only a little fuel in the air is needed to produce a detectable smell without any obvious oil leak.

 

[rwsmith123]

The only reports of fuel smell in the cabin I’ve seen have been from people after doing the fuel pump recall and usually also followed by a puddle of fuel under the car.

 

[Civics4Ever]

I definitely don't believe at all that there are numerous cases of fuel smell inside the cabin. I believe even less in numerous cases of fuel smell caused by oil dilution. I've seen some complaints on the internets, and I have absolutely no indication they have been numerous, but they have been echoed and repeated many times over. Some people may smell exhaust occasionally or constantly. Exhaust can smell like fuel. Others may have a small leak not caused by oil dilution, which may not leak any oil but will leak some vapors.

Of course I have oil dilution and I never smelled even a hint of fuel in the cabin. My oil smells of fuel, because it contains some fuel. At times I had at least half a quart excess volume in my oil. But fuel smell in the cabin is potentially a serious safety issue and it's obnoxious. I never had it in any car I drove. I would never allow any passengers in my car if it was smelling of fuel, (becuse of the shame I drive such a smelly car, besides the safety concerns) and I would rather quickly try to fix it.

Yes, of course it is a closed system and therefore it will only smell when it leaks, and it must leak enough that it gets into the cabin. A very large amount of fuel in the oil could produce many times higher vapor pressure than pure oil, or oil containing only a moderate amount of fuel. The seals that would hold liquid oil under normal pressure perfectly well, may release vapors under elevated pressure. But even besides the vapor, with extreme dilution, the oil is much thinner so it can leak faster through the (dynamic) crankshaft seals. Since gasoline is quite pungent, only a little fuel in the air is needed to produce a detectable smell without any obvious oil leak.

A half quart of oil over the mark??? Whoever is changing your oil is overfillimg it or you take way too many short trips.

 

[Gruber]

A half quart of oil over the mark??? Whoever is changing your oil is overfillimg it or you take way too many short trips.

Only I myself change my oil at home. And I don't leave any space for error.....I check oil after driving, not just after refilling. I fill it exactly to the top mark or a tad below, and I record it. Then I check the oil level in this car more than once a week, always, with no exceptions.

My middle name is Dipstick.
I am the Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Oil Dilution.

I don't do ANY really short trips at all. I do ZERO trips with oil not getting to the operating temperature. I do shopping in a neighboring county because my stores are too close. I even never start the car if I'm not going to drive. I have never warmed up the car (like for oil change) by idling. Additionally, I often take longer pleasure drives in the hills, and I like to wander around and take a long way home.

Sponsored