Oil smell in car occasionally

[Robster68]

Sometimes I’m getting oil smell in the car,as far as I know there’s no oil leaks oil filter housing and valve cover gasket’s were changed recently and the car runs great with 85,000 miles on the clock.Could the crankcase ventilation/oil separator system have anything to do with this?

[patriot66]

Burning oil smell ? Oil can only really get hot enough to smoke on the exhaust manifold and heat shields. With the engine cold feel for oil along the edge of the cam cover gasket over the exhaust manifolds and around the back corner

[Robster68]

Burning oil smell ? Oil can only really get hot enough to smoke on the exhaust manifold and heat shields. With the engine cold feel for oil along the edge of the cam cover gasket over the exhaust manifolds and around the back corner

I wouldn’t say it’s a burning oil smell,there’s definitely no leak on cam cover gasket onto exhaust,there was oily residue on the back of engine and steering rack from leak before i changed gasket,I cleaned all this off with brake cleaner and rechecked after today’s drive and it’s dry as a bone.

[patriot66]

Don't know how you'd smell oil inside the car unless it was burning on the exhausts. I had a badly leaking ofh gasket a few years back and never got a scent of any oil. Check down the block under and behind the oil filter housing. Check the dipstick o-ring. Check oil pan gasket. Feel all ccv components under the inlet manifold for oil/damage etc. Are you certain it's oil smell and not coolant from a leaking heater matrix ? Are your front carpets damp ? Are you losing coolant ? Any stagnant water in the 'buckets' on top of the notorious drain tubes ? The drivers side one is immediately behind your right shoulder...close enough to get a whiff if it were full of dirty water maybe.
All worth a look

[TheDan]

I once smelled oil in the cabin and wondered what was going on as it didn't smell like burning oil and there were no leaks. After doing a full interior clean I found a bottle of oil under the boot by the battery compartment. The oil bottle was weeping very slightly from the cap and I think this mixed with the heat from the exhaust below was creating an oily/mechanic workshop sort of smell in the cabin.

Its worth checking if you have any bottles of oil or other fluids stored anywhere in the car.

[Robster68]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

[patriot66]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

Oh bugger ! Can it be welded ?

[Robster68]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

Oh bugger ! Can it be welded ?

I’ve ordered an engine support bar,when that arrives I’ll take off,weld at work sandblast and repaint,I’ll take a look inside the sump also,rude not to

[patriot66]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

Oh bugger ! Can it be welded ?

I’ve ordered an engine support bar,when that arrives I’ll take off,weld at work sandblast and repaint,I’ll take a look inside the sump also,rude not to

Excellent plan

[kis]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

Sorry OP can’t help with the oil.

That’s the first instance I’ve seen of a crack within the e85 platform. I know they don’t suffer like the e46 - even though many of us use the reinforcement plates available on our cars as a precaution!

Please post pics when off the car, be good to see where it’s failed.

Good luck with sorting!

[Robster68]

Checked everything no leaks,some signs of historic oil weeping which I’ve cleaned up and to monitor in the future,however found a crack in my subframe.

Sorry OP can’t help with the oil.

That’s the first instance I’ve seen of a crack within the e85 platform. I know they don’t suffer like the e46 - even though many of us use the reinforcement plates available on our cars as a precaution!

Please post pics when off the car, be good to see where it’s failed.

Good luck with sorting!

Will do,it’s weird because I’ve a receipt from the old owner who had both engine mounts replaced earlier this year and this crack is right near the r/h side mount so I’m puzzled also when I drove it home here after buying I found this crack under left anti roll bar bush which I’ve already welded up.

[kis]

Just seen this one, you're sure you haven't had a bump on the car? Two cracks makes me very suspicious!

[patriot66]

Just seen this one, you're sure you haven't had a bump on the car? Two cracks makes me very suspicious!

Certainly looks that way. This looks like damage also on the raised edge maybe ?

E8DB4C93-655F-45ED-BFE5-B20DCF3FC3FB.jpeg (147.54 KiB) Viewed 528 times

[Robster68]

Just seen this one, you're sure you haven't had a bump on the car? Two cracks makes me very suspicious!

Certainly looks that way. This looks like damage also on the raised edge maybe ?
E8DB4C93-655F-45ED-BFE5-B20DCF3FC3FB.jpeg

Started subframe removal engine support arrived ,no damage here it’s a cutout in chassis as far as I know car hasn’t been crashed.

[Robster68]

Subframe out