Burning Oil Smell
 

Lately I have been smelling burning oil when I come to a stop. It doesn't smell when I pop the hood, It looks clean under the hood, I don't see any smoke I just smell the burning oil coming through the vents. I changed the oil and checked the oil filter for leaks and it was fine. I waited until the next change was due and pulled the oil pan / changed oil pan gasket. Same problem continues. Any ideas? It is a 2001 Escape 2wd with the 3.0L v6.

You just recently started smelling this?? My '01 XLT 4WD 3.0L V6 has had this for a few years now. Within the last year I've seen a couple of drops on the garage floor under the car, but its very infrequent, and I have not been able to locate any leaking nor has anyone commented on leaking oil during oil changes.

A likely suspect would be a cam cover gasket allowing oil seepage on the exhaust manifold.

Thanks, ove1! I don't recall seeing this in any of the threads within the Escape forum; any idea if this is a rare problem? And how about if its an easy DIY repair?

I haven't seen it as an issue on the Escape either. It's just something that can happen as a vehicle gets older. The gaskets harden and shrink and allow a small amount of oil to seep out. I've seen it happen on higher mileage trucks and cars. Sometimes even the spark plug access holes fill with oil.

The front cover is accessible. The back cover is buried under the upper intake manifold, which would require removing it first. Maybe you can check back there with a mirror for evidence of oil leakage.

its it a problem shortly after you have the oil changed? when the oil filter is taken off, some of the oil in the filter drops onto the exaust. when the engine gets hot the oil starts to burn off the pipe. mine only does it for 2 or 3 days after the oil is changed.

The burning oil smell drove us crazy. Took it to the dealer and they changed the pan gasket. The smell came right back so the dealer replaced it again for free and it came back again. Went to a different dealer and they did a dye test. They said it was coming from somewhere around the cam belt covers ? and wanted a bundle to fix it. I asked if the amount of leakage was dramatic and he said it was barely a drop every now and then, it just hits the exhaust manifold perfect. I also noticed that the oil level never seems to go down between changes so we said screw it and roll down the windows. When and if it gets worse we'll deal with it.

Were started getting oil smell also, so I washed the pan/engine down real good & let my wife drive it a few days (I left the plastic cover off the passenger side) & Im not sure but its maybe coming from the front engine seal. The seal part is less than 20 bucks so Im up here looking to see if anyone has changed this & how much trouble it was to replace. It doesnt look to hard to replace. (2001 3.0 Mazda Tribute 73,000 miles, different but the same)

finally replaced the front seal & so far so good for a mth

Exactly which front engine seal are you talking about?

behind the crank/balancer/pulley.