Fuel in Engine Oil

[quintrex]

Yesterday my wife's Astra 2000 Olympic CD car was taken to Barry Smith Motors at Pennant Hills ,Sydney for an Air Conditioning Service and to replace the fuel filter since the car had become extremely sluggish when accelerating and climbing hills. They phoned us to say that the a/c system needed regassing but also said there was fuel in the engine oil. I have yet to learn how they discovered this fact since at this stage they had not commenced fuel filter replacement and oil replacement had not been requested since I replaced the oil late last November. The car does short trips only and probably less than 2000 km per annum. I have always replaced the oil every 12 months and have always used Castrol Magnetic synthetic, and have never smelt petrol in the drained old oil. The car has always started first turn of the ignition key and idles/runs very smoothly and quietly, even when starting after 5-6 weeks vacations. Has anyone had fuel in oil problems? What length of run is needed to "boil off" accumulated petrol from piston blowby? If excessive fuel is injected by malfunction wouldn't this be noticed by rough running? Considering the short runs and annual mileage should I replace the oil every 3 months but use a cheaper mineral oil to minimise costs since Magnetic is expensive? Is so what cheap oil would you recommend?

Many thanks for any advice.

[guy 27]

Firstly you should be changing oil and oil filter every 6 months regardless of km.
secondly stay away from castrol oils, They are cheap and they cause damage. (just do a google search on it. I won't go into any details)

What they are probably seeing as fuel in the oil is just a breakdown of the oil you are using. Use a decent semi synthetic oil in the car and change it every 6 months. Also try get the car out on some long drives. Doing that many km's every year is not going to do it any good.

[rwy16r]

definitely 6 monthly oil and filter change does wonders to the engine. The engine will simply feel alive. The amount of load it carries is crazy.

[Wraith]

Yesterday my wife's Astra 2000 Olympic CD car was taken to Barry Smith Motors at Pennant Hills ,Sydney for an Air Conditioning Service and to replace the fuel filter since the car had become extremely sluggish when accelerating and climbing hills. They phoned us to say that the a/c system needed regassing but also said there was fuel in the engine oil. I have yet to learn how they discovered this fact since at this stage they had not commenced fuel filter replacement and oil replacement had not been requested since I replaced the oil late last November. The car does short trips only and probably less than 2000 km per annum. I have always replaced the oil every 12 months and have always used Castrol Magnetic synthetic, and have never smelt petrol in the drained old oil. The car has always started first turn of the ignition key and idles/runs very smoothly and quietly, even when starting after 5-6 weeks vacations. Has anyone had fuel in oil problems? What length of run is needed to "boil off" accumulated petrol from piston blowby? If excessive fuel is injected by malfunction wouldn't this be noticed by rough running? Considering the short runs and annual mileage should I replace the oil every 3 months but use a cheaper mineral oil to minimise costs since Magnetic is expensive? Is so what cheap oil would you recommend?

Many thanks for any advice.

Interesting, my turbo vert also has similar low km's usage as yours but have never observed petrol in the oil...

However when I do drive it, it's nearly always very long trips which does help keep contaminants out of the oil...

Other differences in my case are similar as noted above, ie. I only use full synthetic Mobil 1 oil in my vert and always make sure the oil filter is also changed when changing oil...

I'd pop the same question back at the dealer and see how they came up with their diagnosis ??

[quintrex]

Thanks guys for your valuable advice