Here is the response from Blackstone Labs regarding their method of calculating percent fuel dilution:

'I'll take the flashpoint test any day over reading a peak on an infrared scope."

I did find my oil dipstick level a tad higher yesterday, so I will watch that as time passes. Also, I called the local Ford place here to buy a new dipstick so I can read it better, around $45 including tax. Thought that was pretty high, I can get it a bit cheaper from Sanderson Ford but have to pay shipping so it ends up about the same.

 

Once you get the new dipstick it will be a light grey in color, then at that point let oil out of the pan until it registers if you are reading too full ,the oil level mark on mine is within the hash marks, then you will be able to tell what is going on.

 

My fuel dilution bounces up and down between 0% and 1%. After a while I noticed that the oil changes after the winter were higher, and those after the summer were lower. And we certainly don't have cold winters here. So I agree, don't worry about it, and continue to monitor. Likely it will go down now that warm weather is here.

 

Not saying 2% is bad . Like I said he probably has nothing to worry about. But I have never had my oil laboratory tested. Cause I wouldn't do anything as a result of their analysis, so I don't even want to go there. But I think it is better money spent on a new dipstick and you would know right away if you have an issue.

 

What would you expect them to say ????? lol. I work w/ labs on a regular basis and the flash point estimation does not have the degree of accuracy for you to worry about 1 or even 2 %.

 

Mark, I have no idea what to expect them to say...i know diddly squat about "fuel dilution testing", so I asked them. You seem a little touchy about this issue, I am just trying to learn as I go here. I am totally open to sending off a sample to a different lab if I show continuing signs of a problem.

 

I am just making a point and passing on information ............ just as you did.
No need to try to read any emotion into it. I still think that their statement is funny btw! If you want to be thorough, call up another lab and see what they have to say (and please post it).

When a lab can eliminate a test, they save money. Any business likes to save money when they can. I like Blackstone and have said so. Still use them - again, don't read too much into the posts or the numbers.

 

I too just got my lab report back from Blackstone indicating a 2.5 % dilution. Other samples were less than .5, so obviously my interest is peaked. Not too worried at the moment based on this post, just going to observe and see what happens monitoring dipstick and at next oil change sample.

If it turns out/ends up getting worse, is there a specific way to find out which injector needs new o rings? Or is this a get a whole kit and replace all injector o rings? Any specific part number for the o rings?

No drivability issues, runs great, I did have some stiction beginning in December 10/January 11, cleared that up with REV X. 04 with 122,000 miles thus far. Injectors have never been replaced.

Thanks for the pointers.

 

Here are my fuel dilution numbers. All analyses were done by Blackstone unless otherwise noted.:

Fuel Dilution, %:
Trace
<0.5
<0.5
1
0.672 (from the same oil change as above, but analyzed by Dyson)
<0.5
0.422 (from the same oil change as above, but analyzed by Dyson)
0.672
<.5
<0.5
2
<0.5 (from the same oil change as above, but analyzed by Polaris)
<0.5
0.5
<0.5
<0.5
0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
<0.5
0.5
0.5
2.5 (from Blackstone -did not get a duplicate analysis)
0.5
<0.5
0.5

As you can see it can bounce around some. How you sample can make a difference. You definitely need to have not been idling before sampling. In fact, the proper way is to get the engine oil up to operating temps (around 195*F) and drive at highway speeds for 15-20 minutes before sampling.

Personally I wouldn't begin to worry until about 4% (Ford says 5%) or if I got repeat samples above 2% (assuming the sampling was done correctly).

 

Dan I see you are also in Tucson, as to where are labs, I cant remember the name right now but there is a good one up in Pheonix. We used to run fuel oil samples through it after air vehicles crashed or just to ensure quality of product. They would have results in about 24 hours. Also mobil has labs and does the oil tests as well.

I will post the name of the place if I can remember it. If all else fails use yellowpages.com

 

This may be it used to be called Cleveland:

Lab One
(602) 340-7522

101 W Mohave St, Phoenix, AZ 85003

 

On the day I did the change I did get it up to temp, but did not drive for a long time. Stop and go traffic running errands. Idled for a little bit (I wouldn't say for a long time maybe 3 minutes tops) while I got wife's car out of the garage. This may have contributed to the numbers increase, who knows. I'll take a look at next change and monitor oil level.

Just preparing in case, what is the procedure to determine the bad o rings? Is it take out the glow plugs one bank at a time and turn her over to see if fuel spits out?

I found that Riff Raff has the alliant and ford sets available.......