Smoke and smell

[Tomsdad]

Hi everyone. Need some quick help as we are driving this car to Black Forest in Germany on Sunday.
2007. 3.0 Si with N 52 engine.
Did an oil and filter change 7 days ago. A few days later the wife complained of a burning smell. Although I was very careful filling the new oil, my first thought was that I may have spelled a little and it was this spillage that was burning off of the exhaust. Told her it would be ok in a few days. But it isn't.
Under the bonnet, took the engin top cover off. No obvious oil spillage. So started the engine. Smoke comes from driver side mid to rear of engine where the heat shield is.
Not sure if it's oil burning on exhaust or a manifold leak. I can see a small amount of oily dirt on base of cam box cover but I keep engine and engine bay very clean and I'm being vey picky to mention this dirt. Can't see any issues and car runs fine and sounds fine. It's just this smell.
Too late to cancel holiday so have to risk it. Just wanted to have some ideas from you guys in case problem needs fixing while away.
Best regards
David

[gregl342]

Hi everyone. Need some quick help as we are driving this car to Black Forest in Germany on Sunday.
2007. 3.0 Si with N 52 engine.
Did an oil and filter change 7 days ago. A few days later the wife complained of a burning smell. Although I was very careful filling the new oil, my first thought was that I may have spelled a little and it was this spillage that was burning off of the exhaust. Told her it would be ok in a few days. But it isn't.
Under the bonnet, took the engin top cover off. No obvious oil spillage. So started the engine. Smoke comes from driver side mid to rear of engine where the heat shield is.
Not sure if it's oil burning on exhaust or a manifold leak. I can see a small amount of oily dirt on base of cam box cover but I keep engine and engine bay very clean and I'm being vey picky to mention this dirt. Can't see any issues and car runs fine and sounds fine. It's just this smell.
Too late to cancel holiday so have to risk it. Just wanted to have some ideas from you guys in case problem needs fixing while away.
Best regards
David

Could well be the valve cover gasket, they have a tendency to start leaking on the tilted side of the engine. Can you see any oil seepage along the seal between the cylinder head and valve cover? Also check for any oil pooling in the spark plug holes.

[Tomsdad]

What I have just done is to clean all along that gasket seal with engine cleaner/degreaser and washed it thoroughly.
This will allow me to see any escaping oil.
But since doing that the smell and smoke have gone. This of course is only running it in the garage. Will give it a good blast later. But at least at the moment it's pointing to the gasket. Which is not so serious.

[tomrdy]

+1 on the gasket. I had smoke exactly the same place as you - tho mine was visibly dirty.

Hopefully that's your issue - as you say it's not a huge deal but can be distressing initially!

Maybe you can give the bolts a once over if you don't have time to change before your trip (only about 8nm don't over do it!).

[wonkydonkey]

Maybe you can give the bolts a once over if you don't have time to change before your trip (only about 8nm don't over do it!).

Although this is a good idea in principle, I would advise against it. The gaskets become hard and brittle over time, resembling hard plastic rather than rubber. If you nip up the valve cover bolts, there's a good chance you'll crack the gasket and have a much bigger leakage issue on your hands.

I agree with what people are saying. Typical valve cover gasket weeping at that back corner nearest the bulkhead. Replacing it before your trip would be the ideal solution but if you're only just starting to notice it now, you might get away with a quick wipe of the area every couple of days while you're away.

[tomrdy]

The gaskets become hard and brittle over time, resembling hard plastic rather than rubber. If you nip up the valve cover bolts, there's a good chance you'll crack the gasket and have a much bigger leakage issue on your hands

I acknowledge this is a good point to consider.

My old outer gasket was a bit hardened (not yet brittle) but my inner ones around the sparks completely shattered when trying to remove.

My suggestion was not to take off the bolts/lift the cover though - simply to torque up the bolts still in place to see if any are particularly loose.

[Z4Sparky]

Mine had the dreaded valve cover gasket leak and was only really noticeable when sat pointing uphill.....typically, to get out of my road you have to sit pointing uphill at so traffic lights, so it would drop oil every time I drove out of the road.

If you've wiped the area, chances are you've temporarily solved the issue by removing the oil that is about to drip on the exhaust, but it will probably return.

Go for more of a drive, and then if you don't smell anything, wipe the area again....should give you a better idea if oil is really leaking, but as others have said, the gasket is almost certainly your problem.

[Tomsdad]

When for a full monty road test about 12 miles. Still clean and good.
Will leave things alone till we return from holiday.
Thanks for your help.

[wonkydonkey]

When for a full monty road test about 12 miles. Still clean and good.
Will leave things alone till we return from holiday.
Thanks for your help.

That's promising. You shouldn't get any catastrophic developments with a leak like this. Let's hope I didn't just curse you

[Tomsdad]

Just to close off this thread. Got home from Black Forest region yesterday. No smoke or smell for 1000 miles. Then had to wipe it clean twice in the next 8 days. So nearly 2000 miles covered without much problem. But will now change the gasket.
BTW. Roads in that part of Germany just a drivers dream. Hairpin after hairpin, up and down the mountains on smooth quiet roads. Spectacular scenery.

Tomsdad

[wonkydonkey]

I was wondering how you'd got on, so thanks for the update Sounds like a good trip! I always warn people to take care when changing the valve cover gasket, as it will be brittle and will shatter like glass, so be sure to retrieve any broken fragments from the cylinder head. I filled all the crevices I could with towel, to reduce the number of bits that could shatter into any hard-to-reach spots.

[Tomsdad]

So just to get organised for the gasket change. Looks straight forward??? Is it just a one piece gasket I need to buy or do I need to order other bits?

Tomsdad

[Lance]

The kit should include all you need. One main gasket and some circular gaskets. ( mine was an 03 car, but presumably they’re very similar), IIRC the circular ones are for the plug wells. Very obvious once the cover is off anyway. You will need some gasket paste (in a tube) for the half moons.

As said above, extra care removing the old gasket, it can shatter and fires bits about.

Don’t stress though, it’s a really easy job. If I can find the YouTube video, I’ll link below.

[Lance]

https://youtu.be/IlBby98Kg-w

Might help.

[ph001]

It is considerably more complex on the N52 though - the video is for the M54. I would set aside a good 3hrs or so for this.