When I changed my oil 1500 miles ago I noticed gas smell in the old oil.

I decided to check my oil level recently at 1500 on the new(er) oil and a strong smell of gas was noticed, and the oil was darker than expected.

I am a very conservative driver, no heavy foot at all unless trying to avoid accidents of any kind.

I have an 04 AT RWD sedan 189k miles. everything is stock.

been using mobil 1 full synthetic high milage, sometimes i'll put a bottle of lucas fuel injector cleaner in the tank maybe 2 times a year.

Anyone have any ideas of what is going on?

I was recently experimenting with lower octane gas and I didn't get any pinging but I did lose power/acceleration. I recently went back to 91 pure gas (no ethanol)

I was planning on using some fuel injector cleaner like Redline, lucas, or Techron as well as switching to Pennzoil Platinum (has a $25 rebate for 2 - 5 quart purchase) to see if I can remedy this "oil dilution".

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I kind of suspect the Coil plugs and spark plugs may be the problem?

I'm not getting any misfires or codes, but I think the previous owner (brother and his mother in-law) never changed the coil plugs.

Maybe I'm not getting a good enough spark for a complete burn/combustion.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Our cars aren't direct injection, so we don't suffer from fuel dilution unless there's a problem.

Short trips and not allowing the car to warm properly before driving can cause a fuel smell in the oil. Taking it out on the highway, or for a long drive, will help to burn off the fuel vapor/smell.

If you're really concerned, drain the oil and check for fuel and do a compression test to see if you have a problem that needs addressing.

 

Thank you for the insight.

I take a lot of short trips regularly on street roads never really going further than 10 miles both ways and usually 50mph or slower.

I'll occasionally get on the highway maybe 2 times a month going 60-65 on average and sometimes up to 70 for short periods of time.

So your assessment is correct. I'll take it on a spirited highway drives on weekends and run errands across town to get the rpm's and mph up every couple of weeks and see if the fuel smell is still present on my next oil change.
Thanks again!