Hello all,

I have an issue that I am trying to track down and I am curious if anyone else has had a similar issue. I have 113000 miles and the car runs incredibly well. Over the last few days when I slow to a stop at a traffic light, I get a smell. It smells slightly like exhaust. Almost like fuel, but not as strong as fuel. The exhaust tone has not changed, I am getting a solid 34.2 mpg with a range of 470-480 miles. The only leaks I see, is slight seepage of the valve cover gasket which I am going to replace, and it is only reaching the heat shield on the exhaust manifold. The smell does not smell like burning oil. I also see some wetness on the wiring harnesses under the air box, where the oil from my K&N filter seeped out the weep holes at the bottom of the box. I smell nothing really from under the hood when I check. It is very odd. Has anyone else experienced something like this?

Ivan

 

Have you had a look at your reservoir, is it low? That would explain your wetness on wires if your cooling system is leaking, any pictures you could provide as I'm not familiar with a Base model engine bay or coolant reservoir/thermostat housing location? If your valve cover gasket is leaking you might be smelling the little bit of oil vapors burning (or other contaminates) at slow speeds since there's little air flowing through engine bay. Is it sweat smelling odor?

 

Thanks for responding. No sweet smell. Does not smell like oil either. I have been watching that thermostat housing like a hawk for years. No sign of leak there. It is so odd. I can't smell it from under the hood, even after driving a long distance. It no doubt is coming through the cabin air filter. I have no wetness except for the perimeter of the valve cover gasket as seepage. I am planning to replace the gasket. I have it, I just haven't done it yet. I also have to do the serpentine belt and spark plugs. I guess I will give a thorough cleaning after. Maybe there is a coating from the road that splashed on the car and is burning off. It's very weird. I put it on the lift a couple days ago and there is nothing of significance nor any detectable odor.

 

I'd get the valve cover gasket installed and see if you still notice that smell. If you are leaking crankcase gasses some of it is un-burned gas, moisture and all sorts stuff. Problem is if you were leaking crankcase gasses your engine wouldn't run very well, idling would be erratic. Strange indeed. I hope someone can chime in here.

 

I am going to do that. I am also going to look close at the o-rings for the fuel injectors. Maybe one is seeping. I'll report back.

 

Hello all. Here is an update. The valve cover gasket must have been the cause. When I say it as a very slight leak from the perimeter of the cover, it was so slight, but I suppose it was just enough to get warm on the heat shield and emit an odor. No smoke or even any discerning odor from under the hood. There however was pooling in the #1 and #3 spark plug tubes and maybe that oil getting hot was the source. After replacing the gasket, I have not had a return of the odor...yet

 

This is good news, blad you got it all sorted out.

 

You're lucky if it is still running well after oil leaking into the spark plug wells. From my personal experience, that resulted in failure of the spark plug coils and a very intermittent ignition miss, which gradually got worse. Even though only 1 or 2 were likely the problem, I replaced all 4 and the car runs better than new.
My advice is to not ignore valve cover gasket leaks on these cars as it can produce more problems than a dirty engine.

Diagnosing smells over the internet has to be orders of magnitude tougher than diagnosing sounds over the internet, haha. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

That was on my mind from the first moment I realized it was leaking into the tubes. Thankfully no issue materialized. I do feel better that it is flawless again!