Has anyone ever had a smell from the engine that smells like oil vapor similar to like when you have oil fill open on a hot engine? Since the last oil change,and at the same time I did thermostat housing, I smell oil vapor while ideling (inside car). Not so much outside. It is better if I have heater on recirculation. Is it possible it might be PCV? The car uses more oil between changes than I like. Way back when I started in mechanics, a wrong/bad pcv would sometimes make the engine use oil. Also there is oil in air intake on turbo, so I assume that is where some oil is going. I use Mobil one full synthetic and OEM filter.I change oil at 3-3500 miles. It uses probably 4-5 its oil in between changes so oil is being changed a lot! lol

Walt

 

Hello Walt, did you maybe step on a little oil in the chnage and maybe got it on the inside. The only other thing that happens is when you change the oil on these engines, its easy to get the oil right on the transmission and engine joint under the oil filter housing and it might be just burning off.

 

No it's not like that, I hardly smell it outside, mostly in the car. I was a diesel mechanic for forty some years and did lots of oil changes. Almost all when brought to temp after smelled like that. A "vapor" smell, I.E. hot crankcase oil. That is why I thought of a bad PCV, like maybe it is letting out some crankcase pressure.

Walt

 

Is your turbo oil feed line leaking? Or the oil filter housing gasket, or vacuum pump oil leak?

A leak bad enough to produce a smell should be evident from beneath the car.

 

Ive got the same concern on our R60. I could go out to the garage an hour after getting home from work and smell some oil...It is apparent inside as well while driving. Strange thing is there are NO drips or apparent leaks anywhere. Im perplexed.

I just figure I need to really get in and look around better. Get it up in the air.

 

If it's not oil from the engine it could be gear lube from the transfer case, had an All4 in about a year ago for a leaking seal in the transfer case that was leaking onto the exhaust causing a smell only after the car had warmed up.

 

That would actually make a lot of sense as it smells a lot 'sweeter' than plain old engine oil....like older engine oil does sometimes. I'm very used to gear oil with my FJ, but even that slightly differs in smell from type to type.

Ill keep crawling around. Need to pin it down as warranty end is coming up!

 

it is not a leak, it is not diff, it is a vapor smell. Someday when you get in after work or back from the store, remove fill cap from oil fill. Take a big whiff, that is basically what it smells like only not quite that strong. It is when the car is at operating temperature, sitting ideling, I can smell it. It's not quite as noticeable when heat is in recirculation mode. There are no drips on engine,transmission or ground. I understand that the PCV is part of the valve cover and do not want to just go and change it unless I am reasonably sure it will cure the problem.

 

Glad I am not the only one with this problem. And yes it does smell exactly as if you opened the oil cap and take a whiff. There are NO leaks and my engine is bone dry. Have NO idea where it is coming from. This is on my 2014 Paceman All4.

 

Thank you KJ!! you get the prize. Lol. So now I'm wondering, is it the PCV? Crankcase pressure comes up and out through there so if PCV is bad, it can let more ventilation through carrying oil with it. I saw a different thread on here that showed the inside of cover that the valve came off and it sounds like similar issues.

 

Small update, I just read a thread about oil burning at idle, turns out he had a crack in the driver side vent (pcv) hose to intake. I did the thermostat housing just before this started and that hose I left hooked to vc and just put in on top, Hmmm, maybe I cracked it?

 

Also check the top of your valve cover, the PVC system is in there. If it's cracked and leaking, you will definitely get that smell.

 

If the PCV was venting to atmosphere you'd almost definitely have a CEL due to unmetered air, which may also be accompanied by lean codes and misfires.

These cars are so electronically metered and observed that I'd be amazed if you didn't have a CEL due to a PCV leak.