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N51 Smells like burning oil inside the cabin
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09-12-2019, 11:56 PM | #1 |
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N51 Smells like burning oil inside the cabin
Whenever I drive my car for a while, it always smells like burnt oil in the cabin. It seems worse when I run errands and have to make short trips and turn off the car multiple times. I'm not sure if its because of a minor oil pan leak that I'm aware of. The car is at 106k and I've done the OFHG, Valve Cover and VCG in the past 5k miles due to an oil leak. Can the oil pan leak cause burning oil smell in the cabin?
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09-13-2019, 07:12 AM | #2 |
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When you smell the oil, stop car,open hood, and with a good flashlight look around.
Note, you're also going to have to go under car. Maybe you want to arrange with a shop to bring car in when the smell is strong, and they can put up on a lift. |
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09-13-2019, 08:53 AM | #3 |
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Different engine but my pan leaks and doesnt cause any smell because its not hitting the exhaust.
If youre talking about the popcorn burning smell then its likely oil hitting a hot surface, which is usually the valve cover since it sits right above the exhaust. Id start looking there first for more weeping, etc. I know you said you just did it but maybe didnt get the head clean, valve cover damage, etc. Is the valve cover plastic on those as well? |
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09-13-2019, 03:42 PM | #4 | |
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09-13-2019, 03:45 PM | #5 | |
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09-14-2019, 12:58 AM | #6 |
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Any residual oil should burn off in a couple of days, at least that was what happened when I changed out the valve cover (Uro) myself.
You can shine a flashlight on the passenger side of the cylinder head and look for oil there. When my valve cover was still leaking after sealing the valvetronic motor gasket with RTV, leak lessened but oil was pooling around there (near the valvetronic motor on the cylinder head) and getting onto the hot exhaust, creating smoke. That was when I replaced the OEM valve cover with Uro. I also RTV'ed the new valvetronic motor gasket. Problem solved. Besides that, pop the hood and see where smoke might rise up. Another area may be the PCV plastic pipe. Last edited by mainbearing; 09-14-2019 at 01:20 PM.. |
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09-14-2019, 07:10 AM | #7 |
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Yes, a leaking oil pan will cause a burning smell. Especially if it’s leaking bad enough to travel the length of the transmission and onto the exhaust at the tunnel. If you have any external oil leaks it’s pretty self explanatory that those would be the first place to start to fix the smell...
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09-14-2019, 02:00 PM | #8 | |
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09-14-2019, 02:02 PM | #9 | |
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09-14-2019, 02:16 PM | #10 |
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Yes:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1536946 https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1597467 My post #16 in the second link shows my RTV'ed valvetronic gasket. Also, as I mentioned the PCV hose can get brittle and crack. This is another known problem. https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1634259 Not sure if your car is affected by the PCV heater recall. One of the symptoms is burning oil smell IIRC. If the oil pan leak is *very little*, I doubt you will smell the amount of burning oil that you did. How much (quart/miles) is it leaking? |
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09-14-2019, 02:20 PM | #11 | |
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I wonder if the leak is more than the oil pan, maybe elsewhere. I would still take a flashlight and look top side and use a mirror or crawl under to check the PCV plastic hose.
Do you work on your car much? Quote:
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09-14-2019, 02:45 PM | #12 | |
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Will the dealer replace the PCV hose when they do PCV heater? As for actually how much oil is leaking, I've gotten my first oil change about 1k miles ago after replacing the OFHG and VCG, so I'll have to wait and see. |
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09-14-2019, 02:47 PM | #13 | ||
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09-14-2019, 02:58 PM | #15 |
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09-15-2019, 03:02 PM | #16 | |
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I am not sure if the dealer will replace it free if that hose is cracked. That was not mentioned in the recall.
The cracked PCV hose is another known issue. You can shine a flashlight under the intake manifold and see if the heater coupler is leaking oil and heating it. Update us! Quote:
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09-17-2019, 12:07 AM | #18 |
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09-17-2019, 12:10 AM | #19 | ||
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What is the heater coupler exactly? |
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