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I have a 1996 MX-3 RS with 110K on it. When the engine really heats up (after about 1/2 hour) I start to get this 'oil smell' from under the hood . It also comes into the vents so it's annoying. I've washed the engine off but I can still smell it.

There's no visible leaks, no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant. Emissions testing passed with flying colours. PCV valve looks clean. Car runs fine.

Any suggestions?

Hey man welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the board. Might want to check again for (slight) oil leak? Especially from under the car/behind the motor. Use a flashlight and look for any sign of a possible slow drip of oil that could be landing on the hot exhaust pipe, where it vaporizes and the odor gets drawn into your air ventilation intake vents, which are right above that area. Could be a small leak from around the oil filter itself or rear side of the valve cover gasket.

I willing to bet it's the valve cover gasker leaking in the rear.

Mazda_Power wrote:I willing to bet it's the valve cover gasker leaking in the rear.

he has a 4 banger, but i think the reason i get the smell is cause of rvcg but i have a v6. but yeah check your plug wires and see if your vcg is leaking.

Was your RS serviced recently?
Did you have an oil change done?

Recently, had my car serviced, oil was changed, and the next day as I arrived at work was alarmed to discover oil fumes gushing from under the hood.

Turned out the oil change guy forgot to thoroughly clean residue oil drained from the engine.

It liquified in the heat of the engine and dribbled on to the exhaust.
Took it back, cleaned up, all OK.

Stink stopped within 24 hours.

Hope this helped.


Thunderstorm

Thanks for the advice - Valve cover gasket is clean and everything else looks ok from the top ... so I'm going to crawl under the car when the weather dries out a bit. I'm thinking it's coming from quite low in the engine because it only starts after about 30-40 minutes. It's not from the oil change, I do it myself because I'm tired of the mechanics spilling oil on the exhaust when they remove the filter.

I have a 93 MX3 RS with the 1.6L SOHC and I notice a similar problem. The car has high milage but doesn't seem to go through any oil. After the car is warm and I am stopped at a set of lights, I smell burning oil but only when I'm stoping and starting, not when I'm on the highway. There is no leaks on my valve cover and haven't done an oil change so it's not the filter. Not sure where the smell of burning oil is coming from?

Mine does the same thing. I find if I Gunk the engine (clean) it well in a pressure washer that alleviates some of the smell.

Are you sure it's oil? Do you have an exhaust leak?

Mazda_Power wrote:Are you sure it's oil? Do you have an exhaust leak?

he could be righ there. I have my cat removed so that could be causing the smell. Do u have a full exhaust?

I have a full custom exhaust that is new so there is no leaks and it definetly is oil burning (not exhaust)

its proably coming from your oil sending unit, get under your car and look at your oil filter. directly to your right there should be a black canister looking thing with one wire going into it I bet thats where the leak is.

Is that so I am so lucky that I am a member in this forum I got the information that I want.,


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Aprilaire Humidifier

vtmx3 wrote:its proably coming from your oil sending unit, get under your car and look at your oil filter. directly to your right there should be a black canister looking thing with one wire going into it I bet thats where the leak is.

Not sure what this guy is talking about. Stock B6 doesn't even run an oil cooler, oil stays entirely within the engine. The oil pressure switch is to the left of the oil filter, if looking at the back of the engine.

It could be oil pan gasket, oil filter gasket, head gasket, VC gasket. The higher up, the more likely you'd notice. Your firewall would be all covered too. If you just crouch down and look beneath the car can you see oil on the suspension and frame behind the motor?

Does your car leave a little puddle when you park it?

Does it smell when stopped or when driving? If when driving is highly unlikely its any of these things because the intake for the HVAC system is up near the cowl, and there's generally pretty fresh air in the bay, from moving....


Mine smells like coolant, but thats because I did a messy flush job using the heater core hoses as my point of flush

Super old thread, btw.