so i opened up my hood this morning when i went to get my morning coffee at eistein bagels because the passenger side of the engine bay was smoking. i looke underneath the car and saw some oil residue around the underside of the fender and it looked like the smoke was coming from an area around the oil pan/filter area. i took it back to the shop that i had my last oil change, which was about 3 weeks ago. they just called me and told me that there is some preservative on my y-pipe that is just burning off? i installed my y about 2 weeks ago and ive had no trouble with it. ive checked the bolts off of the header and at the cat and everything seems to be alright. is the guy just blowing this preservative smoke up my @$$, literally, or is there some validity to this.

 

No preservative, but most metals come from factories with a light coating on them, and yes, after the first couple days, this coating usually burns off. However, after 2 weeks, it should not still be burning (I'm assuming you drive the car everyday).

 

yeah, thats what i thought too, im going to go pick it up now,

another thing, yesterday, i was checking my fuses and found that the dipstick wasnt really all the way in, which i hadnt noticed since i had it changed, could some of the oil have vibrated out onto some engine parts and now its burning off?

 

definitely a possibility. Was there a distinct smell?

 

well i know smells of an engine from 3rd gen

it definately was not trans or coolant, it was more of an oil burning smell. i want to check it out myself, put it up on jacks and take a little peek under there.

i just have to wait for a ride over to the shop

 

it could be the oil pan is leaking oil, which is then dripping on the hot parts of your car (Y pipe being one of them), and burning up.

 

im going to wipe down the pipe when i get it back, see what kind of dirt or oil is on it and the drive it around for a little to see if any more accumulates on it

 

excellent thinking!

 

ok, i just picked it up and i didnt have any smoke, im goin out to the garage now to jack it up and take a look see

 

its clean, for now, but ill check it again tommorrow, im goin to the steelers/jets game tonite, so i dont have enough time to check it again.

 

I think its the dipstick. I had that happen to me once where smoke was coming from the engine. I looked under the hood and noticed the dipstick wasn't completely in (damn Nissan dealership) I put it back in, wiped off the excess oil and never saw any more smoke.

 

yeah, i think that was it

thanks everyone