I have a friend with a 2012 F250. The truck has 100K miles and it does idle for extended periods. The other day his check engine light comes on so he took it the shop. They had not told him anything yet, but they did tell him that he had about a gallon to much oil. They said it was fuel.

I hope someone on the forum might have some information that might help. Thanks

 

It's normal for these engines to have a little fuel in the oil. This is due to the emissions system regen process. However, it's really not much at all normally, and nothing to worry about for the typical owner.

The issue here is the excessive idling. Modern emissions-controlled diesels do not respond well to frequent extended idle periods, and it's more common for trucks with high idle hours to have problems with excessive fuel in oil, DPF failures, etc.

Basically the truck needs to be driven. And if it's not being driven it needs to be off.

Any specific reason why he idles it so much?

 

Has his previous oil changes have excessive oil when draining the crankcase? Based on your description of excessive oil it sounds to me like this is a new problem for him and I don't think it's due to excessive idling per say. There's probably a bad injector or a leaking HPFP that leaking diesel into the crankcase.


Let us know the outcome of the diagnosis.

 

the reason the truck idles so much is because he is the supervisor of a field mechanical crew. He is also old, so when it's hot he needs the AC and when it's cold he needs the heat.

The fuel in the oil is a new issue. He has had some EGR issues due to do the high idle times. He did not know what code came up yet. he just knows it is running poorly.

 

I get my oil tested with every change at Blackstone. In the past I've never had more than 0.5% fuel in the oil, but after a 3,000 mile drive in mild weather, I checked in with 5.5% fuel. Ford doesn't tell you to test the oil, so they don't have an answer for when you get a lot of fuel in the oil, and certainly don't consider it a problem simply because they don't check it. Stupid logic, but that's how they treat it. I got all their comments in writing and continue to check my oil. I spoke with Cummins and Caterpillar, and both said that at 3% fuel in the oil it was a significant issue, and at 5% to pull over and not drive the truck. I went back to Ford with these comments and they just said they didn't believe it wasn't a problem because they didn't see a need to test the oil.

I find this ludicrous. My shop went to bat for me, but got nowhere. The senior diesel mechanic sat down with me and the best they could suggest was to keep testing the fuel on subsequent oil changes.

When you get 5% oil in the fuel, the change in viscosity is equivalent to a full grade in the oil. This isn't trivial. Plus there are other side effects of having diesel in the lubricating system instead of oil. When I asked Ford if being off a grade of oil was significant, their answer was "hell, yeah." When I explained and showed them the math that said this is what the fuel did to the oil, they said they didn't think it would cause a problem.

Am I impressed? No. Ford seems to be the only diesel manufacturer who doesn't have a spec for fuel in the oil. The argument that they don't test for it so it can't be a problem is pretty laughable from a manufacturer who will deny warranty coverage if you didn't adhere precisely to a process spelled out on page 424 of the diesel supplemental manual. After a death wobble, a couple bad sensors that pulled me over to the side of the road, the ongoing issue of Ford not honoring its warranty when the HPFP implodes even with no evidence of water in the fuel, and now this ... Ford is in the process of losing a customer. It's my fourth personal Superduty and eighth fleet Superduty.

 

Someone like that would be better off with a gas motor. It can take the extended idling with the emissions.

 

I noticed the OP said that the driver was an older person. Most of us older people were raised and practiced idling a diesel forever because we could and it caused no harm to the motor. Now the Emission Controls of today has reversed what we were accustom 30-40 years ago. We still see and hear the 18 wheelers sitting and idling overnight, farmers running their equipment 24 hours a day but emission controls are not as prevalent yet! I completely understand why some people still think you can idle without even thinking about it.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post9494561

Completing the high idle mod should help with excess idling.