Burning oil smell about 5000rpm?

[Rystar]

Hi All,

My car has a burning oil smell above 5000rpm, I've noticed this in 3rd or 4th gear. Mates following me reckon there's no blue smoke from the exhaust behind me, although they can smell it also? I know the VVT system kicks in around these revs. Dephaser and both belts and all tensioners/water pump changed earlier in the year. First things to check? Any suggestions? Please don't tell me its valve stem seals, that's what I'm afraid of!!😢

Cheers!

 

[imprezaworks]

Probably coincidental tbh. Check the top inlet for oil. But may be a leak that you notice when the cars hot

 

[oVerboost.]

Also check your breathers aren't blocked or have come off anywhere...

 

[Chris_Beer]

Rocker cover / top breather to air filter area leaking down the back of the engine?

Get it in the air and have a look around

 

[realnumber 1]

Hi All,

My car has a burning oil smell above 5000rpm, I've noticed this in 3rd or 4th gear. Mates following me reckon there's no blue smoke from the exhaust behind me, although they can smell it also? I know the VVT system kicks in around these revs. Dephaser and both belts and all tensioners/water pump changed earlier in the year. First things to check? Any suggestions? Please don't tell me its valve stem seals, that's what I'm afraid of!!😢

Cheers!

That isn't the vvt kicking in, just the car "on cam". VVT starts a lot lower down the revs, something to do with keeping emissions down iirc.

 

[JamesBryan]

Yeah VVT is from 1800rpm to around 6000ish.

Probably oil on the exhaust manifold.

 

[Rystar]

Fair enough about the VVT! Learn something new every day! Replaced the hose clamp on the breather rocker end a couple of months back in an attempt to sort this. I hadn't checked if the pipe was blocked, I'll do that. Is it anything to worry about or quite a common thing?

 

[oVerboost.]

Depends if it's excessive breathing, which is doubtful if it's driving normal tbh. Hopefully it's something simple

 

[Rystar]

Yeah VVT is from 1800rpm to around 6000ish.

Probably oil on the exhaust manifold.

Common problem? Something to worry about?

 

[JamesBryan]

Common problem? Something to worry about?

All these engines seem to leak a bit haha.

Just have a look around to make sure it's nothing serious.

 

[bloke]

Compression test then leak down test and take it from there. Could be cracked piston or just breathing bit heavy.

 

[Rystar]

Still got this problem just to resurrect this thread from the dead! I Did a compression test middle of last year with one of the halfords gauges, read 210PSI but more importantly it was equal across all four.
Im still pretty stumped about this one, although my oil consumption has gone through the roof. Can clear a dipstick from Max to Min in about 3-5 days worth of driving (FYI Max to Min is about 1l so i've discovered) so im starting to think something more serious maybe?

 

[JamesBryan]

That's not good penmouth:

 

[Rystar]

That's not good penmouth:

Yeah tell me about it. More annoyingly its just had its second rebuilt box so financially im in it for the long haul. I need to do a followup compression test really but if the figures havent really changed im guessing its maybe valve stem seals?

 

[bloke]

Leakdown test.

 

[Rystar]

Leakdown test.

Yeah i'd always intended to do one but I could never find a kit local in a store when I looked, I'll eventually commit and order one online

 

[Mr Plums]

Any oil on your driveway?

 

[Rystar]

Any oil on your driveway?

Nahh nothing visible mate, have got the plastic undertray on but even that looks generally quite dry when removed, no huge puddles or anything

 

[Mr Plums]

Nahh nothing visible mate, have got the plastic undertray on but even that looks generally quite dry when removed, no huge puddles or anything

Its got to be burning it then, as already stated get a leakdown test done mate.

 

[Coops Mk1]

have you checked for leaks down the back of the head to the exhaust manifold?

 

[JamesBryan]

If it's leaking somewhere externally, it should be quite noticeable.

1 litre in 3-5 days is a huge amount.

 

[Rystar]

If it's leaking somewhere externally, it should be quite noticeable.

1 litre in 3-5 days is a huge amount.

I'd say that would roughly be about 4-500 miles in that time

 

[JamesBryan]

I'd say that would roughly be about 4-500 miles in that time

Bloody hell 😂

 

[Rystar]

Bloody hell 😂

Tell me about it! The boot currently looks like I've robbed up halfords with the amout of oil bottles in there:tearsofjoy:

 

[Mr Plums]

Tell me about it! The boot currently looks like I've robbed up halfords with the amout of oil bottles in there:tearsofjoy:

At least it will constantly have fresh oil in there lol.

 

[Rystar]

At least it will constantly have fresh oil in there lol.

Oil Changes have got a lot easier recently I have to say

 

[MicKPM]

The fact you can smell it suggests it's an external leak rather than an internal issue (eg. Rings). Most common causes on these are:

• Top cover sealant has failed (Common with age) - Check rear joint for signs & Timing belt change *IF* required. ***DON'T USE SILICONE***
• Upper breather plate gasket failed (Age again) - Check rear joint for signs
• Camshaft oil seal (timing case side) leaking - Not an easy fix & will require a timing belt change
• Dephaser solenoid seal leaking (Age) - Check around the solenoid for signs of oil leak... an easy/cheap fix
• Some idiot missed the fill point - Slap whoever serviced the car last

Most of them do it now and you should also check that it's engine oil causing the smell as PAS fluid and CV grease can also cause this issue if you've got a leak at the rack/damaged pipes/split CV boot to the OS Inner joint.

Mick

 

[Rystar]

The fact you can smell it suggests it's an external leak rather than an internal issue (eg. Rings). Most common causes on these are:

• Top cover sealant has failed (Common with age) - Check rear joint for signs & Timing belt change *IF* required. ***DON'T USE SILICONE***
• Upper breather plate gasket failed (Age again) - Check rear joint for signs
• Camshaft oil seal (timing case side) leaking - Not an easy fix & will require a timing belt change
• Dephaser solenoid seal leaking (Age) - Check around the solenoid for signs of oil leak... an easy/cheap fix
• Some idiot missed the fill point - Slap whoever serviced the car last

Most of them do it now and you should also check that it's engine oil causing the smell as PAS fluid and CV grease can also cause this issue if you've got a leak at the rack/damaged pipes/split CV boot to the OS Inner joint.

Mick

Cheers Mick, I'll give these things an eyeball once the weather stops playing up!

 

[Rystar]

Thread resurrection! Okay so finally got round to doing a leakdown test, granted it was a cheapy kit from eBay, but no cylinder leaked above 5% (within the green section) with a slight noise of air from the dipstick tube, however this was done on a cold engine as taking an inlet of a hot engine on a sunny day didn't appeal to me much ?

I've also replaced the VVT Solenoid seal and the camshaft end caps and still getting the smell.

My mate wanted to show me how bad it was following my car the other day. He turned it on, stuck is hand behind the exhaust on idle and got covered in oily/watery/sooty mess, gave it a blip up to 5k and his hand was black! Still consuming the same amount of oil hasn't got progressively worse or anything!

Cleaned up the block a tad to try check rocker seals etc but 5th gear died and it's locking in gears ATM so off the road!

 

[Rystar]

Okay so once again more investigation while the car is off the road! I took the intake manifold off along with throttle body etc. it seems there's a lovely coating of black oil deposit on everything past where the breather comes back into the intake. Looking down into the lower inlet there's a slight pool of oil in each cylinder port where the lower inlet meets the head.
Also, when taking the exhaust manifold off i found quite a lot of oil there on the bottom side of the manifold, almost like it was trapped between the gasket and the manifold? Picture attached shows the manifold.

Also a couple of mates of mine have been screaming 'valve stems' at me, so i purchased a cheapy 'borescope' camera that plugs in your phone, and i've noticed some smudges around the valve stem area on some of them? Granted the camera is sh*te quality, but would this indicate anything? The car has been sat up now for around 2 months not started. I've attached the pictures from that borescope too!

I know i'm probably going to get moaned at for not seeing a specialist yet, but they're few and far between in Norfolk and with the gearbox issues its been hard getting it anywhere

 

[erikm182]

Hi,
did you find out what the problem was?

 

[Coops Mk1]

Hi,
did you find out what the problem was?

Yes, it was oil burning....

 

[erikm182]

Yes, it was oil burning....

How did you solve the problem? I have a similar situation in my car.