First off, hello everyone, i'm new. Just bought a 99 Ram 1500 5.2 4x4 a few weeks ago, my first Dodge.

I am changing the oil and it smells a bit like gasoline. Any ideas why? Hopefully its nothing too serious.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Zac

 

welcome to df.

how's your mpg? is it normal, like 14-16hwy and 12-13-14 city? or not?

causes of gas in the oil includes weak rings or leaking injectors and missing or malfunctioning pcv valve. check those things, monitor your mpg and see what happens for a tank or two of gas.

 

thanks!

I just took her on an 800 mile round trip. Ran it down to fumes at about 335 miles. I think its a 22 gal tank? (correct me if I am wrong), so that would put me at just above 15 mpg hwy, so i think my gas mileage is just about average.

 

tanks are 26 or 35 gal. 300+ miles is good on the 26 gal tank. i don't think you have a major problem.

 

It's a normal enough condition when the oil is cold. After the engine is up to operating temperature for five minutes or so, the smell of fuel in the oil should be extremely faint or completely gone.

What happens normally: After shutdown, as the engine cools, the crankcase essentially inhales (as the gases above the oil cool and contract) and it's not too particular about which holes it breathes through. There will be greater than atmospheric pressure in any cylinder whose piston is stopped in mid-compression stroke. That pressure is going to escape anywhere it can: past the rings into the crankcase, then into the atmosphere via the crankcase vent, air filter, and intake snorkel. Along the way, the fuel falls out of suspension, into your motor oil. Also, any fuel in any cylinder is going to condense inside the cylinder and be drawn by gravity to the lowest attainable point. Some (very small) quantity of it is going to get past the piston rings.

Once you get the engine up to operating temperature, that fuel should evaporate out of the oil and be drawn into the intake air stream via the PCV valve.