I just checked my oil and it smells like gasoline. What does this mean?

SOPHISTICATEDLADY 101

MEMBER
1994 TOYOTA COROLLA
29,111 MILES

I have a 1994 Toyota Carolla. I just checked my oil and it smells like gasoline. What does this mean?

Sunday, September 16th, 2012 AT 12:28 AM

6 Replies

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

It could e running rich which means a small amount of fuel gets down in the oil.

Change the oil and filter

Roy

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Sunday, September 16th, 2012 AT 12:33 AM

SOPHISTICATEDLADY 101

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3 POSTS

In response to your answer what caused the small amount of fuel to get mixed into the oil where I will need a new oil filter?

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Sunday, September 16th, 2012 AT 12:43 AM

ASEMASTER6371

MECHANIC
52,797 POSTS

Age of the vehicle and mileage. Do you have a running issue? Is there any other issues with the car?

Roy

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Sunday, September 16th, 2012 AT 12:48 AM

SOPHISTICATEDLADY 101

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Hi Roy thanks for answering my questions. And yes to your question, the car is running kind of hard. I recently had an oil change and new sparkplugs added. I thought this would help the car to run more smoothly but it still runs kind of hard. Mechanically speaking, what caused the gasoline to mix is it a seal problem or something similar?

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Sunday, September 16th, 2012 AT 1:15 AM

ASEMASTER6371