smell burning oil when warming car up?

[88rxn/a]

in the mornings or anytime i start my car and let it warm up, i get back in and can smell oil buring coming through my heater vents.

if i dont watm the car up and just go i cant smell it?

114K miles<<<is this the problem?
high mileage and sorta worn motor just burning oil?
no oil leaks AT all.

[Huffer]

You sure it's oil?
On cold mornings subarus do run rich.

I sometimes smell oil burning - as the cars get older, they do leak, maybe not enough to be noticed, but it's there.
You only need a drop of oil burned to smell it.

[Christopher Marks]

Check your valve cover seals for leaking. When they leak, the drips almost always make it to the exhaust.

[LunchBox04V]

I used to have this problem. After about 100k, I started to notice the smell of oil. After checking, I found that I did have a leak at the front of the motor (near the waterpump, and front main seal). Apparently this is a common problem, and was easy to fix when the timing belt was changed.

The leak was dripping oil, and while going down the road, it made its way onto the exhaust, giving the burning oil smell.

[Superu264]

Huffer, I get the same thing and it does smell like oil.

I had a leak near the front main seal too. It was fixed but I still smell oil. I check my oil regularly and never need to add any so I don't worry about it. :: knocks on wood ::

[88rxn/a]

i will double check for leaking oil and reply...i get free time on sunday (this happens when you work 6 days a week!LOL) so i will report backl!

[Legacygt_97]

Check all the PCV and breather lines too. Blowby usually occours most at start-up before the pistons expand completely. So if you had a cracked/ broken PCV/breather hose, you may notice it more at cold idle. If you know someone woth a shop who has a smoke machine, its the best way to test the system. Just fill 'er up and watch for the smoke.

[LunchBox04V]

Yeah, I still get the oil smell even after the fix. I think that the heat sheilds that cover the exhaust still has some in it........ :-? Not really sure but I know that there are NO leaks.

[Bdubs]

Deffinitely the seals. My car does the same, only when idle. I'm not losing any oil though, so I've been living with the smell for a while.

[Navig8r]

Mine does the same.... I have small leaks/seepage from both valve cover gaskets, as well as a couple other tiny drips here and there.. to be expected at 135K really. Not a real concern of mine, because it's controllable/predictable and just normal wear. I'll probably do a timing belt / seals / tune-up, etc... etc... etc... weekend in the spring.

[danci1973]

I know it's an old thread, but my '99 BH 2.5 has a similar problem - only I have to add oil very often (in total I have to add more then 2 litres per oil change). The burned oil smell is only obvious after the car was driven hard(er) and it seems to come from the engine bay.

The strange thing is that there are no oil stains under my car and there is no blue smoke coming from the exhaust. And the exhaust doesn't smell like oil...

So where can all that oil go?! Is it possible that the cat's burn it all so effectively that there is no blue smoke / oil smell in the exhaust?

If not - is it possible that the oil leaks only when the engine is running and stops when it is off (apart from a few drops that cause the smell)?

Any help appreciated, D.

[1-3-2-4]

yeah check for leaks.. I had that issue when I had my 03 Forester XS the front diff seal was dripping and right on the hot exhaust. It later just exploded not too long later.