Why oh Why?---> Oil Smells Like Gas
 

a month ago i got my fuel regulator changed at a shop for $350 (part+labor).
I had told the mechanic i belive my injectors leak or the rail and I told him that its what i belive the problem was. He said it was the regulator. The car would not start before i took it to him, so it was always extremely flooded.

I got the car back, changed the oil (had a lot of gas in it) and now it starts up fine every time. I have only been driving it about 1K miles and the oil smells like gas again. Just pulling the dipstick out and rubbing the oil on my fingers there is a really strong scent of gas.

Also, everytime i start the car when cold, i smell gas for the first 30 seconds inside the car and through the exhaust.

Finally, the car revs really laggy (not smooth all, very troublesome) after 5K rpms.

So do you guys think its my injectors? If it is, I'm taking the car back to the mechanic and i'm going to tell him he shouldn't charge me for labor when i told him to fix my fuel leak. Am i not right?
I mean when he didn't completely fix something its his fault right?
I

gas smell in the oil is fairly normal in a rotary engine for one, and for 2 it could be the secondary port sleeves sticking, try wiring them open and see if that helps your lag in the upper RPM range. search the forums for tips on doing this.

oh shit, acutally the mechanic said when he was changing the fuel regualtor he saw that my ports had been made so they were stuck open 1/4 up just so it would idle is what he said and thought.....maybe when he put it back to normal he just fucked it up, because i dont think the lag was there before i took it to him....

what should i do? Tell him to put it back like it was?

I don't think you should drive the car if the oil smells like gas, you may end up with a blown engine from lack of lubrication. I also don't think it is neccesarily normal for the oil to smell like gas, none of the five RX-7's I got around hear have oil that smells like gas....except when I first got the turbo II the oil smelled like gas and the car would flood everytime I shut it off so I installed a fuel pump cut-out switch that would turn off the fuel pump therefore emptying the last bit of fuel out of the line and into the engine where it is combusted as opposed to draining down into the oil pan. Are there any other problems with your car? Hard starting?

No, the only thing that is funny with the car is that when the engine is cold i smell gas when i start it for the first 30 seconds or minute, and a little white smoke comes out the exhaust but it doesnt smell like coolant, it smells like gas. As soon as the engine warms up a little (1 minute) the smoke goes away so does the gas smell...

Also the laggy rev's over 5K rpm...

Any more ideas? Maybe I should attempt a fuel cut off switch which is ghetto but better than blowing my engine because i was worried about lubrication.....i rubbed the oil from the dipstick on my fingers and it didn't feel slippery like oil should, i guess the gas f'ed it up.
There goes my mobil 1 damit!

Rubbing the oil between your fingers, that's very scientific. I wish I known earlier so I could save myself 20-30 bucks each time I sent in an oil sample to a lab for anlysis.

It didn't pass the smell test either (gas smell), did it pass the taste test?

i dont know, i'll try it tomorrow and see if it tastes more like oil or gas..

j/k, but seriously, if its so common, what weight oil should i put in it? And what is up with mixing gas with oil? What is a good ratio? Do you mix 2-cycle oil with the gas? Someone please clarify this!

First, send a sample off to have it analysed at Blackstone Labs or comarable to confirm that the level of fuel in your oil is a problem. That's really the only way to be sure. I had the same thought with my RX-8 and sent the oil off for analysis. Here's the Blackstone report FYI:

so how do i send a sample out? how much does it cost? I will defenately do it just to save the headache of always worrying

Go to the Blackstone Labs web site (www.blackstone-labs.com) and request free sample bottles. Instructions come with the bottles, but basically you remove the drain plug on the oil pan, let a little oil drain out, and then collect a sample in one of the bottles. Seal up the bottle and mail it along with a check for $20 USD (or a credit card number) to Blackstone and you will get the report in a week or so. When you submit the sample mention that you are concerned with fuel in the oil and they will take a close look at that.

you know man, my oil has a gas smell to it as well, and everyone ive talked to cant explain why that is. my compression is strong, so i changed the oil, and not 200 miles later the gas smell was back. my sec ports are stuck shut, and im going to remove the intake manifold and just remove the sleeves this weekend, but i know what your going through, but my motor runs strong as hell. 172 thousand miles, still using the omp and also premixing, using 2 cycle engine oil, half an ounce for every gallon is what i do. complaints from the peanut gallery?

what does premixing 2 cycle oil with the gas do for me?

IT provides additional lubrication for the engine. Whether or not that is necessary depends on whether or not your Meetering Oil Pump (MOP) is working properly or whether or not you believe the engine needs more lubrication than the MOP provides. Lots of opinions on both sides of that topic.

Please explane how it is possible for a rotary engine to DRAIN fuel from the ports or combustion chamber down into the oil pan? They all do this if you have poor oil seal seating/quality/integrity/spring tension/what ever. Side seal gaps probably agrivate this problem also, but I think it occurs in the compression part of the cycle, NOT while the engine is shut off. I think all rotaries do it, just sink that anchor and get a real engine like the LS2.

after reading many of the posts here i wanted to know if maybe this is the cause of my problem...basically i am getting low oil pressure according to the gauge in the car (already ordered another gauge waiting for it to come...rita slowed it down) and i did notice that my oil smells strongly of gas...ok now for the question:
Can so much gas get mixed up with the oil that it thins it out to the point where it gives me a low oil pressure reading?

apreludem, thats a good question......i would like to know as well. I guess I'm going to be on the safe side and start mixing lol. How do yall do it at the gas station? Put it in the trunk and pop a funnel out, pour a little bit it, then pump gas into the tank to mix it?

:werd: how is it done?

for every one gallon of gas, put in .5 - 1 ounce of premix. as for the gas smell, mine varies still, sometimes strong, sometimes not noticable, but i have great oil pressure and the amount of gas in the oil isnt enough to cause a fire hazard, so i dont worry, my seals are great and compression is good, so i dont know what my/your problem is....btw im still using the omp, but i premix anyways :D

That is because your catalytic converter has warmed up and is now eating all your hydrocarbons (the unburned fuel)

RX-7 oil normally smells like gas because the manufacturer thought it would be a smart idea to vent the charcoal canister into the "crankcase"

PS: If your car is running way too rich (IE: your fuel pressure is too high, perhaps the mechanic installed the wrong fuel pressure regulator, or put the wrong vaccum line back on it? (The vac line drops the fuel pressure during idle)) gas will slip past the oil seals and into the crankcase.

This actually makes some sense. Especially since my other cars sometimes had gas smell in the oil, and they were never flooded, worn down, etc. Actually one was brand new. Up until now, I never thought anything of it, of course those weren't rotary engines either. Is the rotary different in this regard, that one should be concerned with gas smelling oil? (assuming flooding is not the cause)

Personally, I dont like the idea of gas in my oil, being that gas (a solvent) breaks down oil (a polymer?). So I have been looking to alternitives to having the charcoal canister venting into the crankcase.

i'm not sure that's a fact. i could be wrong but i dont think gasoline actually alters oil chemically, it just dilutes it... but that's bad too, anyways...



i'd say you have an injector and auxillary port problem, here's what i'd do as i just got done chasing down a similar problem:

1. make sure your 5th and 6th ports are working correctly through the entire rpm range (i found out mine which i was running off the air pump mod were cutting out above 5k, so i ran them back to the cat tube)

2. make sure you are running the proper injectors ( http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/ro.../injector.html ) and that they flow properly and are cleaned

your smelly oil is likely from the injectors leaking and and from my experience your 5k and up revving problem could be a combination of faulty injectors and/or intake ports (throwing off your A/F mixture) and it makes sense that both problems should show up together

sorry to bring this back from the dead but did anyone ever solve this problem?
i have a 93 fd w/hks t04 and microtech standalone, i have gas in the oil pan and my car bogs/lags really bad from start of 1k-3k rpm and pulls like a raped ape when full boost comes on after 3k rpm and up. i also have problems starting, it takes about 4-5 secs. to get the car to start and some times a bit longer.... any help or inputs are more than welcome and thanks in advance!

If the Car floods alot,then the oil will tend to smell like gas.Think about it,there is so much Gas in the Housing,that some will tend to go by the seal,as it isn't as thick as oil.