Ah yea.. just checking to see if the fuel dilution guys are getting similar stuff

 

how would one blow out their cooler and lines?

 

OK, this is what everyone has been waiting for: The results are in, and they are bad. At just under 2k miles on this oil, I had 4.1% fuel dilution . This means I'm averaging about 2% per 1000 miles, which would make for 6% at 3k (the recommended change interval). Crap. I am not sure if the stock tune is the issue anymore, because overly rich A/F ratios alone aren't enough to cause this substantial of an amount of fuel dilution. I have leaking injectors or faulty rings or something. Guess it's time to go to the dealer.... My only real concern is that mitsu won't do anything about this, and they'll just tell me that unless my engine fails, that nothing is wrong. Ugh...

 

You should edit your name & address out....

 

^Why I removed the attachment. I only have adobe reader, so I can't edit the PDF to delete my personal info. So, unfortunately, I can't show the report for privacy reasons. Either way, the fuel dilution is what everyone wanted to know, and I gave that.

 

Damn, 4.1%? That's crazy.

I was wondering about it possibly being rings. If it *is* rings, wouldn't we be using oil? Also, wouldn't the smoke be more of a grey color? Just wondering, mostly because I don't know any better

My oil never seems to drop, and I've had people ride behind me when I get on it, and they say the smoke is definitely very black (and very stinky).

 

^Good point. If the rings were bad, then I'd be getting bad oil consumption and I'm not. I can probably throw that out the window, so I'm back to leaking injectors. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

Why leaking injectors? Rings bad......eventually, but now the stupid rich AFR is washing the cylinder walls past the rings. That does not mean you will be having oil blow by the rings causing consumption.

You are right about Mitsu not doing anything. They will say that unless there is a failure you are out of luck. They will take care of us just like they took care of us on our notchy grinding transmission. I see engines failures in the near future.

 

Correct about the oil consumption, Temporarily.. You have an oil control ring along with a compression ring and a scraper ring. But, as the fuel dilution will have an effect on wear, it is only a matter of time before that oil ring wears..

All Mits is worried about is getting you out of the warranty period and all these vehicles, with a little maintenance, are capable of going well beyond that.

I am the type of person where I drive the wheels off before I get rid of it.

Doc

 

Well, if the rings were bad then you would see oil consumption along with the fuel dilution, as bad rings will allow liquids to pass both ways. In any case, rich A/F ratios alone are not enough to cause 4.1% fuel dilution after 1950 miles of driving. Granted, the rich A/F ratios are certainly contributing to the problem, there has to be something else going on here, and leaking injectors would be a likely culprit.

 

Nah... fuel is like adding solvent... you have something caused most likely by a chemical reaction either between the cam lube used or Anti-Freeze

Doc

 

Disconnect and a little air pressure..

Doc

 

STI, how did you get your results? Online or did you have to call? The lab site still says "some test results being confirmed" for me.

 

Somehow I managed to miss this thread. My maintenance indicator just came on (3k miles), I saw this thread, so decided to investigate a bit. My oil is black and smells significantly of fuel. I compared it to my spare bottle of clean unused Mobil 1 to make sure my nose was properly "calibrated." Still, it wasn't really necessary. The smell is unmistakable.

I had planned to keep this car indefinitely, so I baby it pretty badly. I've certainly never run the car hard when cold, and I painfully limped it through the break-in period. I had the reflashes done. It's completely stock, so they can't deny me like the guy earlier in the thread with the MBC, though I wouldn't be surprised to have them make a reason up.

I am not happy. I'm going to try to get it in to the dealership on Friday so I can complain. I'll try to get them to save some of the used oil so I can have an analysis done since it sounds like you guys are looking for someone who went the recommended change interval. Unfortunately, that is me. I usually prefer to do the changes myself, but I want Mitsubishi made aware of this one.

 

He did call but please don't.... As soon as your test is completed you will have the results..

Calling could lead to misinformation when tests are not completed..

Doc