Oil Level Increasing

[younglefthander]

I bought a used 2013 1500 with a 5.7 Hemi in March. It had around 18,000 miles when I bought it.

To make a long story short my oil level keeps increasing and none of my other fluid levels (ie coolant) are decreasing. I've sent a sample to an oil analysis lab and they reported no presence of water, glycol, or fuel. The oil looks and smells normal. I've changed it a couple of times and ensured that the techs added the proper amount and type of oil and that is definitely not the problem.

2000 miles after my first oil change I drained about a quart to bring it down to full. Roughly 500 miles later it was half a quart over full again. I changed the oil at that point (last week). I had to go on a 800 mile business trip last week and now it is about 1 quart overfull again.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

 

[NYCruiser]

Someone adding oil to mess with you? Anything else that I know of would show up on the analysis.


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[LB3711]

Are you reading the stick right? Also you gave to wait at least 5 mins for the oil to settle too

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[Statcher1]

Not to sound like I'm calling you crazy. But are you letting the truck set long enough after you shut it off. Before checking the oil?


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[jlb]

I mean if he had time to drain a quart, then check it again, and it read full it should be long enough to be pretty damn close...

Fuel is the only thing that makes sense... I know you said they checked it, but c'mon, the only other thing that makes sense normally is coolant, and that **** doesn't LOOK NORMAL when mixed with oil?

 

[lonewolf2873]

I call bunk man. Your motor takes 7 quarts. If you drained 7 out at time you changed, and added 7 fresh quarts, it makes no sense. After you check it and it's overfull, let sit over night on level ground, and see what cold motor shows on stick.

 

[younglefthander]

Thanks for the replies and I think I may have a lead.

I contacted the oil lab and asked them to recheck the sample. It turns out that it does have gasoline in the oil but they missed it on the first evaluation. I've worked with this lab a good bit and they have always been very reliable. Not sure what happened here but I'm glad I asked them to check again.

Next up, find the source of the gasoline! I HOPE it is just a bad fuel injector.

 

[younglefthander]

BTW, No worries about suggesting I might be crazy, stupid, or a liar.

I was at a complete loss for a reasonable explanation which is why I joined the forum this morning to get input! I was also beginning to question myself!

 

[Statcher1]

Gas in the oil. Sounds like your local dealers problem. Good luck getting it lined out and fixed


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[lonewolf2873]

BTW, No worries about suggesting I might be crazy, stupid, or a liar.

I was at a complete loss for a reasonable explanation which is why I joined the forum this morning to get input! I was also beginning to question myself!

I wasn't trying to imply your lying, maybe a little crazy...lol
There has to be a reason though. Glad the lab found something. Good luck on the repair.

 

[younglefthander]

I wasn't trying to imply your lying, maybe a little crazy...lol
There has to be a reason though. Glad the lab found something. Good luck on the repair.

I was really starting to think that I was losing my mind! I didn't mention it but I spent the better part of my career as an industrial oil specialist. I've literally forgotten more about lubrication than most people will ever know! I'm not an engine guy though so I thought that maybe I was missing something and hoped that someone here had experienced the same issue.

I dropped the truck off at the dealership last night and I'll post an update once I find out what's causing the problem. Maybe it will help someone else in the future. The service adviser stated that he had never seen a Hemi with gas in the oil so maybe this is a really isolated issue.

 

[younglefthander]

I seem to have my problem resolved but thought I would post an update in hopes that it may help someone else down the line.

I ended up running 4 different oil analysis over the past month or so. I also drove about 2000 miles in that month. With every analysis the fuel percentage kept getting lower. My first trip to the dealer was a nightmare (No error codes so obviously there was nothing wrong with the truck) so I started working with another dealer.

The second dealer contacted Chrysler's tech hotline and was told that there were two likely causes. A faulty/broken piston ring or I had diesel fuel in my gasoline. Their theory was that the diesel wouldn't burn in the cylinder and would get pushed past the rings into the oil.

I contacted my oil analysis lab and they were able to recheck the raw data and sure enough the fuel appeared to be diesel rather than gasoline. This is probably why they missed it on the first analysis. Because it is a gasoline engine they weren't looking for diesel fuel and apparently they show up differently on the test. I'm going to continue to do oil analysis on a regular basis and probably change the oil a little more frequently than normal until I'm sure that this has solved the issue.

The only thing that I can't reconcile is how there could be enough diesel in the gasoline to get past the piston rings & raise the oil level yet not cause any performance issues in the truck.

 

[2711]

What's you oil pressure reading on your EVIC?


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[ExpressRules]

The bigger question I would have is how did diesel get into the system to begin with?? Plus, if it was showing up in your oil and the explanation was it was in the fuel stream and forced past the rings into the crankcase how did it not clog the injection system?

A quart of additional fluid showing up in the oil is quite a bit. The explanation they gave you doesn't pass the smell test.

I can tell you I have noticed that on my truck the dipstick will show a quart too much if I insert it turned one way verses the other.