oil burning smell

docbrown · Post by **docbrown** » 05 Apr 2005, 23:41

I have a problem with my car xantia 19.TD 98, every time I give it a bit of welly between 30-70mph when I come to a standstill I get this horrible smell of oil being burnt/cooked. I've looked under the bonnet and cannot physically see any smoke however I have localised the smell to the back of the engine bay. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why it's doing this?
There are no signs of smoke coming from the exhaust which make me think it cannot be the turbo but I'm no expert, in addition performance is still the same.
Any help is appreciated.
Cheers

James.UK · Post by **James.UK** » 05 Apr 2005, 23:52

Sounds like you have an oil leak when under pressure and its getting onto something very hot, prob your exhaust manifold or downpipe.. You need to check your oil levels and find the leak..

docbrown · Post by **docbrown** » 05 Apr 2005, 23:57

do you think it could be the rocker cover gasket?
It this an expensive job as it looks like it would involve stripping inlet pipes etc?

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 06 Apr 2005, 00:30

The rocker cover gasket is about a fiver, theres no too much dismantling to get at it, make sure you tighten all of the air trunking clips securely when refitting them or they will pop off, I changed mine recently but the car still smells of hot oil after a thrashing.
Stewart

docbrown · Post by **docbrown** » 12 Apr 2005, 17:34

I've had the rocker cover gasket changed and I still get the horrible oily smell after a thrashing, It's fine under around 2000 revs but over that it does seem to be cooking oil.
Could the turbo be going? I cannot physically see any smoke at all just the smell.
Any suggestions?

docbrown · Post by **docbrown** » 12 Apr 2005, 17:57

I've had the rocker cover gasket changed and I still get the horrible oily smell after a thrashing, It's fine under around 2000 revs but over that it does seem to be cooking oil.
Could the turbo be going? I cannot physically see any smoke at all just the smell.
Any suggestions?

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 12 Apr 2005, 18:04

If the turbo were failing you would very likely be followed everywhere by a cloud of oily smoke and probably be using nearly as much oil as fuel, have you cleaned the back of the engine since the gasket was replaced?
Stewart

AlWilliams · Post by **AlWilliams** » 12 Apr 2005, 21:47

For oil to be getting onto hot places around the back of the engine (causing your nasty odours) it's possible that the seal on one or both ends of the cam shaft need replacing or as I found on my engine the two orings on the vacume pump (driven directly off the RH end of the cam) need replacing. Not sure about the cam seals but the vacume pump oil seals are pence from a citroen dealer and 15 min to replace.
You could also check the turbo oil feed and return pipes, if your turbo gets starved of oil, it'll cook.
Hope this helps.

docbrown · Post by **docbrown** » 17 Apr 2005, 01:34

Finally solved the oil burning smell.
This morning i finally solved the problem, it had transpired that while the rocker cover gasket had been leaking oil had settled on the inlet manifold branches as well as the turbo charger, although I had the engine steam cleaned he had not managed to remove the oil on the turbo, possibly as he couldn't reach there.
Today I bought 2 tins on engine de-greasers / carb cleaner and sprayed the back of my engine and hey presto after a 30 min drive the smell has completely vanished.
I was surprised but the turbo charger is shiny metal almost brand new.
Thanks for your help.

np · Post by np » 17 Apr 2005, 02:18

I have a slight oil leak from the intercooler tubing at the rear of the engine(see post).It too collects on the manifold branches,then drops onto the turbo.Just need to seal the mating surfaces to stop it.
Sounds like the cars had a recent ish turbo.I wish mine was shiny,its very rusty.But the car still pulls like a train so its still good.

JohnT · Post by **JohnT** » 17 Apr 2005, 13:29

Check your oil vent breather pipes at the rear of the engine (blow through them). For easy access remove the crossover inlet casing. However do not assume the oil is being lost from the back of the engine as oil may travel around the block with air pressure. Have you checked to see if it is engine oil or hydralic oil? Any oil drips? Oily areas in the air filter housing? Hope this helps.
John.