I had my oil changed Friday at 5450 miles. The oil monitor never indicated it, just wanted to get the first one done early. Anyways, I was talking with the tech and he stated that it was not uncommon to see 2-3 quarts of additional oil registering on the dipstick due to oil dilution. I was sorta playing dumb and asked him if this was a problem only with the Fords and he stated, it was common to all post 08 models in any brand due to the addition of fuel to the exhaust stroke to combat lower emission requirements. He also stated that he recommended I get the oil changed about every 5,000 miles and the dilution really shouldn't matter since I was replacing with new oil every 5,000. I plan on getting my next batch checked by Blackstone Labs. Just wanted to see what others thought about these statements. This is my first diesel, so maintenance is still kinda a new thing.

 

I would be interested to hear others experience with this. I changed on my first change at around 7,300 miles when my OLM advised to do so. The oil level on my dipstick at change time, and every time prior that I checked it, seemed to be fairly consistent and no visual change in the level. I just changed mine again 7,200 miles later when the OLM advised to do so. Again no noticeable change in the dipstick any time from the first fill of oil to the change. This time I sent a sample in to Blackstone and waiting to get the results back.

 

Ya I never saw a change on the level myself and checked weekly.

 

I keep wondering from some of the comments that have been posted here and a few from my dealership if they really don't know what they are talking about, are just slow at accepting better technology or just trying to get you in more often for more $$?

 

Sounds pretty hokey to me. The fuel is injected in the exhaust stroke so it goes into the exhaust and burns. Oil dilution in the oil is caused by excessive idling and is called wetstacking. He is full of something for sure. I would be changing by the oil monitor and using synthetic oil.

 

Do you think they might have over filled as the 6.4 & 6.0 took 15 qts. and the 6.7 takes 13 qts..

 

Biggest problems on being 2 qts overfill, Is the dealer techs still ain't caught on these only take 13 qts. And they continue to put 15 in them.when will they learn.

 

Carpbob we sent about same post at same time. Lmbo.

 

The fuel can either get past the rings or be forced past the valve stems. Not all of the fuel that is injected during the exhaust stroke burns.
The tech is somewhat correct. All brands suffered from this from 2008 until 2011. Dodge still hasn't done anything to address it. Ford cut the number of regening cylinders in half. And using UREA now doesn't have to regen as often. The thinking is that these steps will reduce oil dilution to acceptable levels. That seems to be a moving target. When I first read of the acceptable limit, it was 6%, then it went to 7%, and lately I am hearing 10%!.
GM went with a 9th injector in the exhaust, so it is impossible for it to have fuel entering the oil from regening.

So the tech is not quite up to speed on the latest developments, of Ford and GM.

 

What amazes me is Volkswagon TDI's can tolerate up to 50% fuel dilution with the post injection diesels and using biodiesel. Their tests show 45% dilution after a 10,000 mile oil change and burning B5 diesel.

 

That is amazing. First I've heard of that.
Are the owners draining off the excess? I bet Fumoto valves are really popular with them.

 

If you do a search on diesel fuel dilution you can find the article on VW's. They never mentioned anything about draining and adding between oil changes, but I would think 45% after 10,000 miles would be way too many miles between changes for any diesel engine.

 

Using Urea has Nothing to do with the Diesel Particulate Filter ( DPF) The DPF and the SCR are two seperate pollution devices that attack two different pollutants. The DPF addresses the Soot that diesel engine produce. The particulate filter collects the soot and the regen process burns off the soot into ash that can exit the exhaust system and not leave a cloud.

The SCR is located aft of the DPF and injects Urea to reduce the amount of NOx that is produced at high combustion temps in the combustion chamber. This was previously addressed by the EGR valve that fed exhaust gases into the combustion chamber to influence the combustion and lower the temp of the combustion. Dodge still uses this and Ford and GM elected to go with smaller EGR valves and install the SCR which is basically a scrubber that removes the NOx.

The 6.4L engine has had a common problem of making oil with the excess fuel. It used all 8 injectors on the exhaust stroke during regen. The 6.7L engine only uses 4 injectors from one bank. In addition Ford built the 6.7L engine from CGI block, which has tighter tolerance and hence less chance for oil dilution. The 6.7L engine is basically running Regen II or a second generation of the regen process. More of the soot is burned off during Passive Regens, so the engine does not need to do an Active Regen as often as previous generations of engines. If you ride in a 6.4L you can tell when the truck does a regen. With the 6.7L most folks never know that a regen is in process unless they see the dash light flash on.

 

I have read several theories on just how the urea affects emissions. Yours is one of them. Another is that with less EGR being used, soot production goes down, and thus less regening.

Regardless of which theory one subscribes to,,,,Both Ford and GM use urea, and both Ford and GM have cut down on the regen frequency.

I am not a believer in the tighter sealing of this new block being a substantial improvement, (good marketing though) as I also believe that a lot of the fuel if not all of it is being forced past the valve stems/seals..I never really believed in the popular thinking of it getting past the rings...Think about a minute. If it's getting past the rings,,,,then why does it only do it during regens. It should be doing it all the time.

 

Do a search and find the post that pburke did last fall ( Sept-Oct 2010) He was an engineer at Ford involved in the engine design. He came on here and answered questions several times last fall about why certain parts of the engine were designed the way they were. He discussed this very point. Its good information from a engineers standpoint.