Yes it will be THAT obvious if you check it properly.

That line is the oil level point where I left it, after I changed the oil last time 4K miles ago.
I never fill up the oil to the top mark in any of my cars, there is no reason to do that if your engine is not burning the oil.

You mentioned taking out 20-25 oz more than what you put in. That’s a helluva lot more than 5.8% of what you put in. Just sayin’

As I mentioned before BITOG regulars question Blackstone’s methods of measuring fuel dilution. They have an equation using the flash point, I believe, not a direct measurement.

One thing I also find interesting is I haven’t seen a bad UOA from a 1.5T (or 2.0T) with “high” fuel dilution. Bad meaning high iron or aluminum indicating extra wear beyond break-in metals being detected. I think that’s part of the reason for Honda dragging their feet. I’m envisioning corporate engineer types arguing with sales types “but there’s not enough to cause an issue [within warranty]” — sales type: “we have a reputation of engines going to 300k, 500k, or even a million miles — if we want to be GM in 1960, then you’re right, no problems here”

20-25 oz was total guess, I did not measure it exactly, it just seemed much more than 5q what I put in.
You’re right, 5.8% would be around 10 oz, and also I’m not sure how accurate Blackstone’s method to determine % of fuel in the oil is.

can you describe your typical drive? Short drive, long commute, regularly get up to operating temps, often not fully warmed?

Those 4K miles (that oil sample was taken from), where mostly Summer miles which includes vacation trip of 1,5K miles of interstate driving and some other 100-200 miles trips.
My commute is driving approximately 2 times 2-3 mi, and 2 times 5-6 mi a day, and almost every weekend driving on interstate for about 20-30 miles.
I was using remote start almost every time before driving, but not more than 5 min on average.
My engine runs great, I don’t see or hear anything unusual whatsoever, an I tried my best to brake it in properly. Since this is my sixth new car in my lifetime, I have some experience with it. There is a lot of short trips in those 4K mi, which is probably the main contributor to this issue.

Always premium 93 octane, I don’t see benefits of using lower octane fuel since this engine is designed to use premium for optimum performance.
Unles you’re in an emergency situation, of course.

Its not about miles in short trips, its how long engine runs.

Could you explain your point please, because I’m not getting it.
Miles driven will determine how long engine will run, unless you choose to drive in first gear using manual mode, that would make engine run MUCH longer. I can not have engine run for an hour, if my commute is 4 miles, unless I’m stuck in traffic. Just saying

You can drive 3 miles without trafic in 5min without fully warming up, or you can be stuck in traffic for 30 min driving 3 miles. Engine has to warm up to full operating temerature and stay warm for some time.
I think you can let you car idle for 15min, and that will be enough to make sure there is no gas in oil. But thats not practical, Acura better fix it.

Very interesting as I have never in my 40 years of driving ever heard of someone changing their oil and not filling it to the recommended level. If the vehicle says "5" then why not put in "5"? Are you trying to save money on a quart of oil?

While its not common to fill oil only between max and min marks, this is perfectly fine and really has nothing to do with his oil gas dilution issue, does it?

Very interesting comment, but that’s okay!
First of all, vehicle doesn’t tell you anything, vehicle manual says 5q including oil filter change.
So, if you changed the oil in 2019 RDX, you would know that when put in 5q of oil including filter change, your oil level is going to be at least a 1/4” below MAX mark, and that’s exactly how much I put in. Also, in your 40y of driving if you think that MAX mark is recommended oil level, you where wrong for 40y.
And that’s all about me trying to save money!!

Any update from dealer/Acura about 5% gas in oil?

yeah, but the guy has oil analysis report, what are they going to tell him? “Ignore the report, its ok”

I dont think many people will do UOA, this is not for your typical car owner.... I wonder if they say 5% is OK (typically should never be more than 2%), or they will question blackstone UOA validity.

No, I didn’t even have time to do anything with the dealer yet, and since in the past I had some horrible experiences with dealer service in general (my current dealer is one of them), I don’t want them to touch my car unless I really have to.
The same day I found out about the issue, I changed the oil and filter right away, and I know they wouldn’t do anything else about it since the engine is running perfectly. MPG is on par with what most of us are posting here, and in general performance is just as it should be.
The main reason I did an oil analysis is to find out what’s going on, and based on that, will I keep the car after lease is up or not. So, after all this mess with these new Honda turbo-direct injection engines and how many customers are effected, I’m almost positive that I’ll be done with this car in 2.5 years.
I will definitely bring the car to the dealer, if they come up with some kind of solution for this issue in general, and if it turns out to be similar to 1.5t problem, but even that will not change my decision not keeping the car after the lease is done. Until then, I will keep checking my oil weekly and change it every 3-4K miles to keep it fresh using good high quality full synthetic oil. On my next oil change, I probably do another test to see if anything changed. For those of you guys, especially who purchased the car and planing to keep it for many years, and who find the oil level on dipstick to be somewhat over the MAX mark, I would recommend to do an oil analysis somewhere, just to make sure and know what is lubricating your engine. I just hope that I’m the only one who found fuel in oil, and I would be okay with that.

The dealer and Acura need to hear the complaints and see evidence before they do anything. You guys need to speak up, they really dont do anything unless people complain or engine problems happen. It will be too long before engine problems begin to happen, so let them know early enough

Not only rude but riddled with irony. At first (before the Chinese government stopped sales of the 1.5T), it was “normal” operation without adverse effects. Now it’s considered neglect if it’s not taken care of immediately. Deny, deny, and counter-accuse (“drive your car for longer trips”), then when the pressure builds fall on the sword and take months to come up with a fix and beat customers down for not coming in sooner to get it fixed. I love human behavior.

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my girlfriend has a 2018 CRV that had this issue really bad, we just had the updates done and oil change last week, and before the car could be driven for 20-30 minutes before it would heat up, and that was in fall weather, it was rediculous, now in 20 degree weather after sitting outside it starts to register on the engine temp within a few minutes of driving and is up to temp in about 5-10 minutes, blows hot air very quickly now, the update they did made a huge difference. We also had a very high oil level and fuel smell in the oil pretty strong. I did check my RDX and the level is slightly high with the smell of fuel in the oil, but I honestly don’t think it’s more then what it’s designed for. Also being on its first quarts of oil and the engine rings seating and breaking in I think it’s best to check on the 2nd and 3rd oil changes before it’s really an issue. I live in Minnesota where it can get to 30-40 below in the winter, so far it’s been mild tho with 20-30s, and I park in a heated garage so I don’t have any problems with it warming up, even after parking outside it heats up fairly quickly, or average I would say.

I just ordered an oil analysis kit and plan to change the oil this up coming weekend. I’ve also noticed my oil smells like gas but haven’t seen any noticeable rise in oil level. Of the 3400 miles I’d say 1500 of them have been shorter trips of 5-10 miles if that sometimes so I’m curious to see the oil analysis results. I have also noticed how long it takes for the car to warm up and mentioned it to my wife a few weeks ago. Funny others have said the same. I will post the results when I get them back.

Takes my car about 3 or 4 miles to even show some heat on the temp gauge.

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