shwndh

I sick of this burning oil smell in my car all the damn time! I almost stopped at a dealership to trade this POS - before I came to my senses.

I've had this burning oil smell for some time and have fixed other problems that I thought was the problem. Obviously there's more than one leak.

What's the best way to find leaks at home? Anyone. Help!

RedBlackYellow

might help if you jacked the car up to look underneat h it. otherwise leave a piece of cardboard or paper on the ground under it to see exactly where (and what color/type of fluid..), if you know it's an oil leak you should probably already know where its leaking from --eh???

check around the filter, and also dont forget to check the drainplug if incase you recently had the oil changed out maybe they left the plug loose.

birdsong

Erm. Look? I know what you mean though. At home it's tough. It's MUCH easier on a lift, and even then its difficult. One thing to try is to find the furthest place forward you see the oil, as the oil will creep towards the rear as you move. Check the obvious places though and identify for sure what fluid it is. With the exception of the block being cracked, there's only so many places that can be the problem.

MLOSU

Clean off everything really well, then take a look at it after driving around for a while

B5Davem

at some auto parts stores.Buy a common black light bulb like your parents had in the 60's and 70's .Clean the engine with engine degreaser 1st.Then add the dye to the oil system and drive it for a day.Use a lamp to hold the bulb that has some sort of reflector,then go to work in your garage,drive,etc. looking for the glowing trail of oil.It works better to try this at dusk or in the dark or shade.

matt13

2nd that, and when I replaced my valve cover gasket it stopped a lot of leakage

shwndh

are they to change?

matt13

Nine nuts actually hold the valve cover on, but the steel PCV (I think) line was mounted/screwed on to it as well and there were a few wires zip-tied to it. Just take them off and pull the valve cover off. You'll need a torque wrench (7 ft-lbs) to put it back on and the Bentley manual recommends RTV sealant in the back "corners" where the gasket goes over the cam chain area. ECStuning sells the gasket. I had oil leaking into the spark plug area and leaking down the back of the engine near the cat; it was pretty obvious to me where the leak was. The burning oil smell is pretty much gone now. I'll be checking the cam tensioner seals, because I've read they leak, when I do my timing belt.

Cleaning the engine while it's cold and driving it under conditions where you smell the oil buring like morgans13 suggested is a good idea as well in case it's somewhere else.