Hello there, 2005 x type se estate 4x4 3.0ltr
I have a burning oil smell in the car after a 20 or so mile journey or after giving it some wellie. No oil leaks, no blue smoke and doesn't appear to be using any oil. What is it?
Thanks Bob

 

Probably a small valve cover gasket or oil pan gasket leak dipping onto the exhaust manifold.


I have a very small leak from my oil pan gasket, literally not enough to measure, but once a drop build up, it will drip and you'll smell it for a moment.


I figure it's English, if there aren't fluids under it, there aren't fluids in it!


No, actually, it is tiny, and I'm going to let it go until I need to go under the engine and do all of my preventative maintenance and repairs at one time...the pan is pretty much a pain to get at.

 

Possibly oil pan gasket leaking just enough to drip hot oil onto exhaust but not enough for cold oil to leak on the ground.

 

Bob, 2 questions:

1) did you (or have someone) change the oil recently? If so, odds are, there is a little bit of oil on the exhaust header and after a few days, this will go away as it will burn off. Nothing to fear. I would call this "normal".

2) did you recently have your transfer case serviced? If so, the person filling the transfer case added too much fluid (the case only holds 600 ml of fluid) and if you simply drain the case, it will have about 150 ml of fluid left in it. So, if you put 600 ml back in, the case is actually filled with roughly 750 ml which will cause the t-case to churn the fluid and cause it to froth and spit some of the fluid out the breather hose and down on to the exhaust pipes, leading to the smell that you are getting.

If neither of these have recently occurred, then you are most likely looking at a valve cover gasket. Do some looking in the engine bay and you hopefully will find the small leak that is leading to the smell you are getting. Another option may be that you were driving and ran over a plastic bag and it happen to stick to the hot exhaust pipes. That can result in some pretty interesting smells coming from the car. The last idea is if you recently had the O2 sensors removed/replaced, if they used some penetrating fluid to help get the sensor out, that can burn off and result in some smells.

 

My oil pan leaks and it smells like it in the car when the AC is on and I'm stopped. Otherwise you really can't smell it.

Sidenote -- When I did an oil change last week from Motorcraft 5/30 Synthetic Blend to Mobil 1 5/30 Extended Performance Synthetic w/ Mobil 1 Filter - I immediately noticed the oil pan seals were leaking much much more and see the pan pretty much drenched. I drained the oil the following day and used Castrol GTX 5/30 High Mileage with a Motorcraft filer. After wiping it , it looked much drier and not drenched. It's been raining the past few days , so haven't had a chance to look, but from my little experiment - the Mobil1 seems to go through the seals much more - especially if you already have some leaky ones.

As for the smell, I just use one of these hanging from the glove compartment

 

I had that burning oil smell too from time to time after I bought the car and it was clear that it had to be oil pan gasket. After I did first oil change and put some proper Liqui Moly 10W-60 in it the smell was gone. I never use 5W-30 in my car, it's garbage and only place that I would maybe use it is in soccer mom's car.

 

I wonder if you wrap the exhaust area under the pan that usually gets dripped on from a slow leak with some Exhaust Wrap - would that help with the burning oil smell ? Was thinking of giving it a try and see if it does or not myself.

 

Thanks for the useful info on the type of oil. I was told they changed the oil recently when I purchased the car, so I figured they must have spilled a little.

 

I've got this oil smell as well. I know what you mean about the oil change I do these myself and the first time I spilt it all over the exhaust just because where the oil filter is... It was really stinking then... After it burned off I still get a oil smell coming through the vents only when I'm at a light or in slow traffic after I'm on the highway I can't smell it. I put the recirculate air on when I'm stopped... My 2nd oil change I took care to not spill any on the exhaust and put a bag over it. However I still am having this oil smell come through when at a stoplight or in slow traffic.


I put a cardboard box under the car in the garage to see if I can find any leaks not a single drop of fluid. The oil isn't going down (at least not quick enough for me to notice it on the dip stick)


Perhaps it is a small leak in the valve cover is this reasonable labor to get this fixed? Can I take it to a ford dealer and they can work on it? Is it something I can do myself? I know my older car (79 olds) replacing that gasket was ridiculously easy, I think these cars you have to unbolt a million things.


~Jeff