I have a 2000 Dodge Durango 4X4 SLT with a 4.7L V8 and 121,000 miles on the odometer. On Friday I changed my TPS thanks to the help from this forum, I changed my oil with Mobile 1 Full synthetic for High Milage vehicles and my oil dipstick smelled like gasoline when I put it close to my nose & It did not ignite when put to a lighter. My old oil was thick enough to stay on the dipstick and was at a normal level and nothing else with the oil caught my eye. My Durango does not burn oil and I had a tune-up about 6,000 miles ago with copper plugs and my gas mileage has slightly improved since changing the TPS, I get about 15 MPG. My truck runs strong and I have no other issues. Does anyone have a reccomendation on where I sould start to solve this issue?

 

Welcome to DF
I will move your post to the 1st Gen Durango section.

 

Viscosity?

 

I use Mobile 1 5W30 Full Synthetic for High Milage Vehicles.

 

Firefox

The only way for fuel to get into the oil if from your injectors, past your rings...

You could have an injector that is hanging open, or one cylinder is letting fuel leak past the rings on compression stroke.

Or your rings could just be getting weak an during combustion you are getting blow by and un-burned fuel is getting past the rings...

Do a cylinder leak down test for determining the health of your rings.

Injectors are hard to test if they are just hanging every now and then... They usually fail in the closed position as they are a Normally closed device. maybe someone can toss in their knowledge...

 

I don't know much about Dodge vehicles or the 4.7L, as I have always had Ford Rangers until I had kids. my wife bought this Durango from her parents @ 31,000 miles and I serviced all the fluids and a tune- up and have kept the Durango up to date on all services from a reliable mechanic since then changing my oil every 3,000 miles. This Durango became my daily driver 2 1/2 years ago when I traded my Ranger in for the wife's Honda minivan so I we had 2 vehicles that could the 2 car seats. I hope it's not the rings since I know the service history of this vehicle and have tried to care for this vehicle? I was hoping that maybe the throttle position sensor I just replaced maybe had the vehicle running rich but I am not sure?
thanks for your suggestions.

 

Also my truck idles smooth at 500 rpm's and accelerates nice and smooth, are there any other indications that would appear if rings are worn?

 

nothing very easily identified, the best check is the compression test, do each cylinder wet and dry and let us know what the numbers are

if you need more direction let us know, we can proceed once we know what the compression numbers are

 

Thank you for the information, how do I perform a compression test.

 

I can't answer your question, but I can tell you that my oil smelled real bad like gas. I noticed the smell when I was checking out the nasty condensation sludge on my oil cap. I changed my oil and have had no engine problems yet, 8 months later. Never smelled gas again either.