I was driving around the other day and smelled a faint burning scent. I thought it was cuz I was driving, um, semi-legally but when I took the car out again later, the smell persisted under normal conditions. This was at night, and I also noticed that a bit of smoke would come from under the hood when I was stopped. I tried to look around, but couldn't see anything in the dark. I noticed the smoke was coming from between the motor and firewall.

Anyway, today I looked again found this:







It's hard to tell from the pics (sorry I tried to get a good shot amids a battalion of thirsty mosquitos) but there's a little metal plate above the exhaust flex pipe. There's a small puddle of oil on the plate, so I assume that's what the burning is. In the last pic you can see that the plate is directly above the flex pipe and next to the motor mount. I can try to get better pics if it would help.
Any ideas? Thanx.

 

its in the filter area...check yo filtah

 

Yeah, check your oil filter, probably isn't one there tight enough...see the fresh oil on the flex section? Also you might check out the valve cover gaskets as well.

S

 

Mine does that from time to time... try tightening the valve
cover bolt/screws... works for me.

Scott

 

I had a vehicle catch on fire one time... leaking valve cover gaskets left grease buildup on the manifold. luckily I was prepared, and my damages were merely a $20 set of plug wires, $10 for materials to rewire the charging system, and $5 to have my 2.5 lb fire extinguisher recharged.

lots of people aren't prepared, and their losses are in the thousands. but I guess that's why I'm taking the fire science program at my local college...

anyway, I'd check the filter and valve cover gaskets like everyone suggests. there's really nothing else back there that can leak oil, except maybe your oil pressure sending unit. valve cover gaskets shouldn't be too expensive, and looked like an easy job on my 88.

Dan

 

OK, thanx guys.....

It's hard to get a good look from up top, but there doesn't seem to be any oil on the header/heat shield. But I'll check both things, thanx for the advice.

 

I checked the filter and it's on tight. Also it does not appear that anything is leaking from the valve cover; there is no oil on the manifold or surrounding areas. Also, nothing noticably leaks when the engine is running or revved (always a good sign). The oil level was right up where it should be on the dipstick as well. I just tried to clean up the little plate a bit and noticed that what came off on the rag was orangey and smelled like ATF. Maybe a power steering leak? I'll keep my eye on the fluid level.

 

yeah it could be a power steering leak, or maybe your transmission was overfilled? I'd check the screw that holds in the speedometer cable too. at least in my M/T there was gear oil that would leak if that wasn't tight. but you'd know gear oil when you smelled it.

one other thing to try is get a few cans of engine degreaser, cover up your distributor, and soak everything else with it. wait about 10-15 minutes, fire up the engine and hose everything back down so that no old residual grease or oil is left. then it will be easier to trace a leak.

Dan

 

how does ATF get from the transmisson all the way back behind the engine?

 

the dipstick if it was overfilled, but since mine wasn't an automatic, I don't know where the dipstick would be. on every car I had that was an automatic, the dipstick was at the back of the engine near the firewall.

 

On these cars it's on the driver side in the front, next to where the battery is. It's handle is coated with red rubber, unlike the plain metal oil dipstick.

So I have some new symptoms:

I'm still getting the burning scent despite having cleaned off the small plate. It's raining VERY heavily today, so I couldn't tell by looking what was on it, but the plate had a new puddle on it. I don't seem to get the smell when the car is sitting just idling, like when I warm it up.

Also my steering makes a noise when i turn the wheel, say, more than 20-30 degrees. It's like the sound that wet tires sometimes make, or even wet rubber on rubber. My motor makes a wining sound, which just developed tonight on my way home from class. It's like the sound that the PS makes when turned the wheel quickly when stopped like when parking. But the sound comes consistently whether the wheel is turned or not, and is most notable between 1.5K and 2K rpm.

But like I said, I haven't been able to get under the hood since this morning because of the weather. When I do, I'll be able to check the fluid levels. Man I love this car, but a Pathfinder is sure looking good right about now.....

 

I had that problem the oil filter was on tight so I thought. I changed my oil filter and refilled the oil and made sure it had a good seal nothing happened after that.

 

Maybe I'll try that just to be sure....

 

Any chance the fluid smells like antifreeze???

Scott

 

if thats antifreze in the picture he needs a coolant flush bad

 

Nah there's no way it's antifreeze....I had the system flushed, hoses and thermostat replaced the winter before last (approx 19 months ago). The coolant is still green.

But again, once the weather clears enough to go outside without drowning I'll double check all fluids, and replace the oil filter.

 

Reason I asked is because my car had the little coolant hose
(the one that connects the back side of the throttle body)
get a small pin leak in it.

Antifreeze would fill up one of the spark plug wells, overflow
and run along the lip of the valve cover and drip right at the
area that you pictured...

Just a thought...

Scott

 

I sugest that you check your powersteering lines. I believe that there are P/S tubes in that section of the engine compartment. With the symptoms your car is making, it sounds like a power steering problem. ( I need to replace almost the whole power steering system in my car) My car has the same problems with the steering. Make sure you are using ATF fluid in the steering system, NOT power steering fluid. (im almost sure thats the reason why my p/s system is dead) The power steering fluid is a lot thinner, and will leak out of the system alot easier than ATF will. When there is actually a decent level of ATF fluid in my steering system, my car will make the same noises that your's is making.
-Nathan

 

The moaning means your ps fluid is low I. Like some of the others that would be something to consider looking at as well while you are back there.

 

An update:

OK I took the car in and they replaced a hose. They cleaned it up underneath and thought it was just that hose that was the problem. They noted that the rubber "boots" on the rack were split, but did not observe any fluid leaking from it.

I just got it back and drove it back home. All the noises are gone except the usual sounds. All other symptons are gone, too. The feedback through the wheel is smoother than ever. BUT: The car was still smoking. In the light tomorrow I'll see what I can see. Maybe it's just old fluid from before the repair (or even leakage from the repair itself, for that matter). The mechanics said the pump was good, so I guess all that's left would be the rack.

 

its hard to get all of it off, it might smoke for a few days, i know when i change my oil and it never fails but oil get all over that woden flex pipe and its a pain to get it all off so i just leave it and run it a long time up and down the freeway a few times to burn it off

 

I spill oil on my all the time. Just drive it about 90 miles or so, most of it should burn off.

S

 

Aiight, I have renewed faith. ::
BTW, I remember when I worked at Valvoline we always told people that the car may drip a bit after the oil change so they wouldn't think it was leaking. Sometime's they'd come back anyway and we'd double check. Anyway, thanx I'll keep an eye on it.

 

you worked at valvoline or a lube shop?

 

Haha, no I didn't work for Valvoline the oil company; it was jsut a Valvoine Instant Oil Change lube shop.

 

Another update, quick Q:

I just drove about 50 miles today. There was smoke at first, but it seems to have subsided. Looks like the hose fixed it.

Now, many people complain that when cold the transmission will not engage overdrive. I've never had this problem, but my AAV needs replacing/repair. Will replacing the AAV cause my tranny to start delaying activation of O/D?