Gas in my oil?? WTF??

Fellas, Not a good day... Just barely got home after a 70 mile ride. Put Premium gas in and it smoked when I started it. Didn't want to idle at all. Finally got the RPM's up and the VTEC was acting funny. Thought it was bad gas. Put another 1/4 tank in to top it off. Running better/normal now except it appears I'm "making oil"... Smells like gas, sh__...I talked to somebody here months ago with the same issue. Can't remember the fix. Still under warranty and just turned 1000 miles. This is really messing with my cross country trip in July. Hopefully somebody has an answer...? Please Help!!


Ride Safe!

HercFE

 

Happens often.

Gas gets in the oil because a float needle is sticking and the float does not shut off.
The best cure is to put in four new float needles. Do not re adjust floats. no need. Just 4 new float needles.


Also since the float does not shut off gas can be filing up the charcoal cannister.
Better shut the gas off at night especially if you have the bike in a garage where ther is any open flame from a hot water heater of furnace.

How many years old are the float needles? See.... what I mean. The rubber tips get degraded,crushed down from sitting.

 

Herc:

What model bike are we talking about? If it's a carbureted model, I'm on board w/ Mr. Branscom's explanation; it sounds like a classic case of the float getting stuck.

What scares me is that you say the VTEC is acting funny. If it's a six gen with VTEC, they are fuel injected and don't have floats. Then we are in strange country indeed.

I'm sure others have told you this or you figured it out already, but for heavens sake don't run the engine any more with fuel in oil. It will thin out the viscosity of the oil reducing it's lubricating capacity. In the worst case, you might get enough fuel in it for the the vapor in the crankcase to go KABOOM.

Best of luck!

 

He did say VTEC, and he also said it's still under warranty. That means it doesn't have carbs or a fuel shutoff. I've seen those symptoms a few times before. Sounds like a hole in the fuel pressure regulator diaphragm. It will allow raw fuel to be drawn into the engine through the vacuum line on the FPR. There have been many documented cases of premature FPR failure on Hondas. It's really easy to check, but if it's still under warranty then why not just take it in?

 

Guys, Sorry I didn't mention it-2007 6th generation. Already got the bike at the dealer, babied it the whole way, about 8 -10 miles. It was running OK, started, idled and accelerated (lightly) just fine. I seem to remember reading about the fuel pressure regulator issue. Anyway, I'm down for at least 2 weeks. And I guess the Mobile 1 4T 10W-40 Full Synthetic oil change I did at 600 miles was a waste... At least the dealer said they use Spectro oil. Thanks a bunch for you guys' input. I really appreciate it. I'll probably post the fix for everyone's benefit. Thanks Again!!


Ride Safe!

HercFE

 

Yes, please post the results for the benefit of the group.

 

............................

ANOTHER example that going from carbs to fuel injection was no real improvement and fixed nothing.
just more wires, sensors, pumps, pipes, valves, bits, pieces and computers to fail.

 

IT is better BUT it costs so much $$$$$ for the parts.
Air mass meter alone =$500.

 

Help Fella's!! The dealer is bent on telling me I put diesel fuel in the tank. I even pulled up to the pump to double-check. Can't get a copy of the gas receipt. Could the Fuel Pressure Regulator "momentarily" stick open and then close/re-set after I turned the bike off to top off the fuel tank?? They said they did a fuel rail test and everything is working perfectly. Still doesn't explain the fuel smell/extra oil in the bike. Kinda lost on what to do now...! Thanks!!

HercFE

 

Sounds to me like you might have put diesel fuel in by mistake.

Did you double check your oil level? If you overfilled it when you
changed oil sometimes it can be sucked into the air cleaner and that would
make it run very rich with a little smoke from the exhaust.

 

Change your oil as soon as possible, you don't want gas in your oil!

 

Like you said, diesel in the tank does not explain the gasoline smell or high oil level. And if you had put diesel in the tank you would still be able to smell it.

You said they did a "fuel rail test". I don't know the extent of their testing, but a bad fuel pressure regulator can pass a pressure test. The most common failure is a hole in the internal diaphragm which allows unregulated and un-atomized fuel to enter the intake through the vacuum hose. The correct test is to pressurize the rail and draw a vacuum on the regulator using a pump, like a Mityvac hand pump. If it's faulty it will not hold vacuum and leak fuel into the pump. In severe cases it will leak out the vacuum port without any vacuum applied. A lot of mechanics will just check the rail pressure and call it good.

There are plenty of documented cases of Honda FPRs failing this way. I just dug up some old threads and I've noticed a trend. Most of the failures seem to be bikes that are several years old with low mileage, in other words ones that sat a lot. Mine was an '02 F4i with only 3800 miles in '08.

'03 VFR had 600 miles in '08, FPR failed at 12000 miles

'03 with 359 miles, FPR failure

'02 with 500 miles, FPR failure (see Mainjet post #8)

 

What is the running temperature? A stuck open thermostat can cause these symptoms, albeit I haven't seen it happen all of a sudden like yours did. Reason being is that the ECU tries to richen the A/F ratio in order to get the engine up to optimal operating temperatures, of which it will never reach since the thermostat will not shut and let the engine heat up. The result is a very very rich fuel mixture that will cause poor idling and gas that will get into your oil.

 

Fellas, I can't Thank You! all enough for the help. So listen to this story, and I wouldn't have believed it either. After some investigation I decided to go back to the station and check one more time with the owner. Get this...The fuel truck delivery driver pumped who knows how many gallons of diesal fuel directly into the 91 Octane tank in the ground. I ended up having to apologise to the lead Honda tech for the "choice words" that I used when he said I must have pumped diesal fuel into my bike. "Everone makes a mistake now and again..." Well my mistake was getting gas from the Shell station in Franktown, Colorado. The owner was good enough to have turned it over to his insurance company and I now have a check on the way for the $300 dollar bill from Honda plus $57 dollars for my "Pain and Suffering", (upcoming oil change just for good measure)... I put 400 clicks on my ride last Friday and Saturday and she's running like a top. Love to hear the growl running past 9K on the tach. Anyway, it appears I'm good for my trip to St.Louis next Wednesday. Keep an eye out for a Red 6th Gen heading east on Interstate 70 next week. I'm gonna get out and soak up some miles... Thanks Again Guys!!


Ride Safe!!

HercFE

PS New Sargent Seat on the way to replace the 2X4 I been sitting on, my ass still hurts...! HA!

 

Wow!

One for the books. Glad the gas store owner took care of you brother and way to man up and apologize.

Enjoy the ride.

BZ