1999 Protege Gasoline smell in oil

[MamuSpral]

Hallo
I bought a 99 Protege for CA$1K as a spare car with 213kms on it. I am noticing a strong gasoline odour when I pulled the dipstick and drained the oil. If anyone has an idea what could be causing this please reply to my post. I can also smell this odour in the air around the car when it is running so it is probably coming from the exhaust also. The car starts fine and everything though. Only thing I have noticed is that it idles a bit high when in neutral or park but not sure if this is normal.
Thanks

[Flash75]

Sounds like the fuel system is running too rich. Check the air cleaner, it may be clogged. Remove a spark plug and look for sooty or wet electrodes. Is the check engine light on? Check for vacuum leaks in the intake system, a vacuum leak could cause the engine to run too rich.

Clifton

[Doug Tatham]

Either check or have your compression checked. Bad rings could allow exhaust to blow past the pistons into the oil pan. It would then go throughout engine. Follow the advise above by Flash75 as well.

[MamuSpral]

Thanks . I have found a leak in that big hose (forgive my terminology) that goes from the air box to the throttle body. I will try to seal it and see what happens. My check engine light is currently on but I will try disconnecting the battery for a ½ hour after I seal the hose and see if comes back on. I do not currently have and OBD2 scanner but might get one if the problem persists. I will post an update once I have done this.
Thanks again.

[Doug Tatham]

I don't think disconnecting the battery will clear the OBDII. Most autoparts stores will read and clear a CEL for you.

[MamuSpral]

Thanks Dough and Flash for your help.. Sealing that leak and disconnecting the battery seems to have resolved the check engine light issue... I will have to watch it over time to see if the gas smell in the oil goes away or look into plugs/compression as suggested

[MamuSpral]

Sorry Doug I got your name wrong