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Burnt oil smell under hood

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Old 10-14-2001, 01:52 PM
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Burnt oil smell under hood

I have a burnt oil smell coming from under the hood. I'm not losing any oil..I check it regularly. Could this be the head gaskets or something like that? I just need some info to take into the shop with me. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

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Old 10-14-2001, 03:39 PM
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Engine: 6
Transmission: 5
There's only one way to get teh smell of burnt oil, and that is ... {expectant drum roll please} ... to burn some oil.

You probably have a valve cover gasket that is leaking. It only takes a small amount of oil to make a noticeable smell; so it's entirely possible that you're not losing enough to be noticeable between changes but yet it could be enough to smell. VCs leak directly onto the top of the exhaust manifold where it bolts to the head, so even a very small leak will create the smell.

Another source of mystery oil smell is the timing cover seal, where the balancer goes through it. A leak there will come out onto the balancer which will then sling a fine mist of oil throughout the engine compartment, including the exhaust.

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Old 10-14-2001, 04:43 PM
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Yup, sounds like a valve cover leaking on to the exhaust manifolds.

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