mysterious burning smell

[Emily]

my car smells like it is buring oil. it is a mystery because i am not losing any oil (or it is an undetectable amount). the odor is so strong that other people have noticed. i have had it looked over a few times, but we are still unable to determine the caues of the 'leak'. this has been going on for over a year. any ideas?

i thought i lost my head gasket a few month ago, but it turned out to be a hose. (Whew!) so i still have my orginial gasket (120k + miles). if it were the gasket, what other symtopms should i be looking out for? could there be another culprit?

i am a car-ochondriac...

[chuckthefuk]

If your H/G is blown a few things might happen.
a) oil in your coolant.
b) your car is overheating.
c) Your heater doesn't work and only blows cold air
...
Now for the burning smell.

1) Cam seals are leaking and dripping on your exhaust manifold.
2) Rear main seal is leaking and dripping on your exhaust manifold.
3) Crank seal is leaking and dripping on your exhaust manifold.
4) Your car may have been rust proofed poorly. Some shops just spray oil everywhere! Including your exhaust system.

Most likley your cam seals are just dripping ever so slowly and your manifold is just burning it away. Check for wet spots on your lower rad hose / cam covers.

Hope this helps.
-Chuck

[Bdubs]

Do you notice it more at an idle, or after you turn off the car?

Those are common signs of a leaking seal. Especially because they are right over the exhaust, and you may never see a puddle or anything because it is burning off before it has a chance to hit the ground.

Could also be a torn CV boot thrashing the grease everywhere. That would be pretty noticeable though.

[1996Battlewagon]

I'm having the same problem and have had the same problem ever since I bought my Outback. I've got a slow leak (among other things), but the exhaust and the subframe are catching most of the oil before it reaches the ground, so I will only leave tiny drops on the ground ever so often. The guy I bought it from said the problem was the rear main seal, but he got it 'fixed'. I still think it could be it or a lower hose; I found the leak once, but I couldn't really get a good look as to what was the culprit. I'm doing the oil change this weekend (I hope) and am finally get this leak fixed. I'll tell you what I find, it might be the same problem. But (like Chuck said) you probably have a leaking seal that is getting on the exhaust.

[ilovemy96]

this is exactly what my 96 leggy is doing. It does it after i drive around for a while and then when i turn off the car, i can smell it. it has 103k, so its prob one of those things that chuck said. anyone know how much would it cost to replace these seals?

[Emily]

I usually notice the smell when I turn the car off. Sometimes I will smell it when stopped at a light. There have been a few occasions when my car has actually made the garage hazy with smoke after it has been turned off.

There are never any puddles of oil under my car, so it would appear it is only happening when the car is running.

How long can this go on before it starts to cause a real problem? Could I use 'stop leak' for awhile?

[chuckthefuk]

I usually notice the smell when I turn the car off. Sometimes I will smell it when stopped at a light. There have been a few occasions when my car has actually made the garage hazy with smoke after it has been turned off.

There are never any puddles of oil under my car, so it would appear it is only happening when the car is running.

How long can this go on before it starts to cause a real problem? Could I use 'stop leak' for awhile?

Like I said before, if you have a small leak its going to just burn off onto your exhaust manifold (headers)

You will never see a puddle of oil under your car.

Bdub maybe correct, when a CV boot is torn grease goes everywhere. Do your front rims look dirty? Is there a build up of grease/oil? If so you most definitely have a torn CV. If you do not repair the CV boot then your going to destroy the axle itself and need a full replacement. Signs of a worn out CV.. clunking sound when turning or rotational grinding.

But again look at your engine. Inspect the cam covers and lower rad hose. It may not be soaking wet but if there's residue from oil then that's the culprit.

A few friends of mine had the burning oil smell and minor white smoke coming from the hood scoop during aggressive driving. Rowing through the gears at 5500K-Redline. Extreme amounts of pressure on the oil system made all the seals piss during heavy load.

-Chuck

-Chuck

[MyogiNightKid]

My P/S pump leaks and because it sits above the motor, it drips onto the block and does the same ish.

[Benfolio]

Also if your car HAD a leak and is now fixed, that smell will stay with you for LIFE it seems. After I fixed all my leaks (vavle covers and rear baffle mainly), no matter how much cleaner I sprayed on the exhaust it still smells like burning oil when it gets hot. That and I smell all the crap sitting on top of the block under the intake that I am too lazy to try and clean out. 162,000 miles of leaks, leaves, twigs, bugs, etc.

[1-3-2-4]

could also be the front diff seals leaking too.. I had that happen on my 03 forester and never could pinpoint the smell until the whole diff blew it's self apart.

[jey]

Could I use 'stop leak' for awhile?

Stop leak in oil sounds like a bad idea. I've seen it work in power steering systems but the oil is what keeps your motor lubricated all the way up to 6000+ rpm.

[Wiscon_Mark]

My rear main seal has a slow leak right over the headers. It probably only drips once or twice a week, but that smell lasts forever. No detectable amount of oil loss at the dipstick, but it still smells like I'm losing tons of oil. Probably not a big issue.

And no to the stop leak idea, I don't think that's good for your engine.

You could try running thicker oil. I'm running 15w-40 synthetic diesel motor oil right now, it works nicely - less engine tick and the oil doesn't leak much anymore.

[ScaryFatKidGT]

almost positive its a valve cover gasket mine does this leaks a tinny amount of oil when reved up the oil runs down onto the frame then to the header and drips on it then burns off due to the temp of the header and makes a really bad smell. I keep checking my oil just incase but it is never low.

[tougemachine]

Heehee my car has a weard burning smell once in a while. When I first smelt it I kinda got worried. I followed it to the trunk where I found it was my subwoofer. She smokes a lil when I turn it up. But relly my car makes that smell and that smoke thing too. Its my power steering. Not sure where its leaking from but its kinda annoying.

[downest]

If your rear main leaks, your clutch will eventually slip really bad. It will smell like the engine is burning oil as well since it will burn off the clutch/PP/flywheel from the friction. I just replaced the clutch and rear main in one of my CRXs today that has been doing this since I got it, much better now.

[Emily]

It hasn't been as bad lately....I think I am going to hold off on any repairs for a while. I priced repair costs to replace some of the seals and it is very expensive. I don't get another tax refund till next year!!! LOL!