For a couple of weeks now I have been aware of a smell of fresh unburnt oil in the cabin, which is getting stronger, it is intermittent and happenswhen the engine is coldor hot. When you turn the recirc on it disappears. There is no smell of oil under the hoodand no sign of leakage. Oil and coolant levels are fine. Hoses look ok. My mechanic has had a look at the car for me and says it is nothing sinister, but I'm worried about it. The car startsand runs very well, no smoke and plenty of acceleration, averages around 32mpg. I had an oil change and new filter last month, plus a new air cleaner. I wonder if anyone has any ideas, many thanks, James

 

Wow 32 mpg??? I do all highway driving, go 55 mph at most, accellerate extremely slowly, and get only 24 mpg with the same car. I'm jealous.

Can't help with your issue though...sorry.

 

24 mpg is low mpg for 55 mph highway driving.

I can easily get 28 driving at 60 mph. I guess I could reach 32, but I'd probably fall asleep first

 

Any thoughts as to what are some things to do about it? I haven't had any real tune ups since getting the car 5 years ago. I'm thinking the engine might be slightly damaged though, I drove (unknowingly) across the country with a very little amount of oil when the shop cross-threaded the drain plug, allowing it to flow out before my 2400 mile trek.

 

The car has recently had new plugs, wires, distributer, rotar - all OEM parts, new BFGoodrich tires all around, I do a round-trip of 60 miles a day to work and back, 75% highway (70-75mph (occasionally 80))and 25% town, I accelerate/decelerate slowly.

 

Could be a slow leak that is dropping onto the engine block or exhaust. Not large enough to drip onto the ground and burns off so you cant see it. I would start looking around the head gasket, etc. to see if I could find anything. Possibly the exhaust as it is nearer the firewall and you state that you are smelling oil in the cabin. Turning to recirc would stop the smell as you are closing off the outside air and recirculating the air already in the cabin.

 

Maybe vent system clogged?

 

I'vedone another thorough inspection under the hood, andaround thehead gasket, all looks clean. I found something interesting yesterday though, when I started the car up, there was no smell at all, I went down the road very slowly (nothing more than 2000 rpm)and still no smell, I then went up a slight hill and exceeded 2750 rpm, then the smell of fresh oil came through (but only for a few seconds). Part of my commute to work means that I go down a steep hill into a valley for about 2 miles, with the throttle shut down completely, when I put my foot on the gas to go up the other side, there is now a horriblemixed smell ofoil and rubber/plastic coming into the cabin. I'm at a loss!

 

Is the top if the dipstick tube oily?
Any of the vent system hoses cracked?

 

Hi tech, dipstick tube is clean, and no smoke coming out of it when running. Hoses look in good condition with no cracks. All hose connections are fine. The weird thing is, it's not given off any smell for a couple of days now. I suppose it would be a minimal cost to replace the hoses anyway.

 

Wouldn't be that bad.