external oil burning smell help.

[a.graham52]

99 3400. no mods
history:
400 miles ago did head gaskets
100 miles ago added seafoam and changed oil
75 miles ago, WOT from 35-70mph and smell started.

i drove the car home after doing the oil change no problem. took a friend for a ride to show him the car and did the whole WOT deal. about 2 miles after doing WOT we stopped to look at some free tires, i could smell oil burning coming in from the sunroof it was that bad. dismissed it as a car that could have gone by. drive about 15 miles to go play pool and could still smell it just not as bad. cleaned all oil on base pan and cross-member of oil that was left from oil change. made no difference. found PCV intake hose popped out of valve cover. installed it and at first i thought it made a difference but not totally fixing it. small always seems to be coming from drivers side. inspected the other PCV lines and found the PCV valve/evap purge line disconnected at the purge valve. reconnected that and i can still smell it. if i come to a stop with the HVAC blower going it takes about 5 seconds and i can smell it coming into the car. i want to dismiss it as built up oil fumes after those lines have been disconnected but im worried just the same. also checked valve covers and those apear dry. no oil stains on the manifolds. no signs of any leaks. also have about maybe half quart extra oil in the pan on accident.

[Gr1m]

how the eff did u manage to disconnect all of those lines in your engine bay without realizing it?

[a.graham52]

i did head gaskets on it. i figured those lines came off after doing taking my friend for a ride. i know the pcv/evap purge line was hooked up a week 4 days ago when i inspected for a stalling after adding fuel to the tank. how the pcv line that goes to the intake came apart i have no idea. there on now and i still have that smell. smells as if you spilled oil on the manifold while doing an oil change, and i made usre that was spotless.

[a.graham52]

ideas asap would be greatly appreciated.

[Gr1m]

you did your own head gaskets or were they professionally done? did you resurface the area where it makes contact with the gasket with some emery paper?

[a.graham52]

i did my own headgaskets, valve seals, lapped valves, and cleaned everything with our parts cleaner. cleaned all mating surfaces with a razor blade untill they were smooth.

[Gr1m]

hopefully the head isnt cracked or damaged. are you burning oil or any fluids at all?

[a.graham52]

nope. everything looks dry, no smoke out the tail pipe, i have a leaky water pump gasket i know of but its not bad enough to lower the coolant yet. if no one one here has any ideas ill end up putting dye in the oil and see if i cant find it then. is it possible if the rtv on the head valley seeped a little that it could cause that oder?

[TxAlero]

my guess is the lower intake manfold isnt sealed properly. I did my heads last year and found that problem and it was the LIM that butts up against the engine block where I didnt put anough sealent. Hopefully that helps.

[a.graham52]

ill have to add some dye tomorrow and that should tell me if its leaking at the intake.there is no POOLING of fluid anywhere though.

[sleepyalero]

Not sure on this but I heard aawhile ago if you put to much oil in the car it just burns it off.

[a.graham52]

Originally Posted by sleepyalero

Not sure on this but I heard aawhile ago if you put to much oil in the car it just burns it off.

that would make sence but i would think id smell it out of the pipe and not the engine compartment without any signs of leaking.

[a.graham52]

something else noted. my pcv intake hose (goes from intake snorkle to rear valve cover) is really loose in the valve cover. i dont see a rubber gromet on the cover its self and doesnt apear to be much if any seal on the hose. am i missing some sort of seal? like said its really lose.

[sleepyalero]

Don't think that's a problem.. when I was changing my egr gasket I accidently barely pulled/hit it and it popped out. So no I think your fine there.. and mine has never fallen out while driving so I think its okay.

[a.graham52]

alright, well iv added dye to the oil and ill drive it around a few days and see where it comes up. iv degreased and washed the engine bay and then test drove. still get the smell. boy this is really pissing me off.

[sleepyalero]

Let us know

[a.graham52]

well up dating to hopefully bring this thread to a closure and anyone else that might need the info.

sence then i found no traces of dye and said screw it... i redid intake gaskets. smell went away after a day.

awsome!

3k miles later with some interstate 90mph and wot trips and still no smell!

F!Ck yeah!

changed my oil yesterday and smells back just like previously described...

WTF?!?!

hmmm what have have i changed... oil and filter... hmmmm why is this diffent from yesterday?
checked oil and i have about an extra .5 or more qt of oil in the base.



just so everyone knows i change my oil with a 5qt container that i use to save up mobile one after i change a customers car and i also added some additive.

noted... i can fill oil to fill mark and 10 minutes later its over full... oil takes a lot longer to drain out of the heads compared to everything else iv driven.

tomorrow take out some oil and drive it for a week and see if it helps. its the ONLY thing iv changed in the bast 3k miles.

[Redog]

I can't seem to wrap my mind around this problem.

I was going to say valve cover gaskets, but it seems like you fixed that, then you smelled it again. Could the oil filter not be seating correctly?

[Goodman]

Are you sure it is oil smell?

Had a problem of bad smell like oil leaking or burning/overheat from time to time on my car , turn out it was my brake pad that would stick a little on the disk because of the bottom guide pin on the caliper (right front disk) that was rusted out & not moving at all...

Was able to take it out after a while (~30min) using heat (propane torch) , WD40 & finally chainsaw oil (red) that last one did it
Anyhow clean out good the pin with sand paper & WD40 put back some grease on it & back in to place it is now moving freely as it should...

No more bad smell , brakes better & slightly better gas mileage...

[a.graham52]

deffinitly not the brakes. the smell comes from the drivers side back quarter of the engine compartment. thats the only place i can smell it. i just drained about a qt of oil out and ill see if it goes away within the next couple days.