Overheated smell

[Dorkinheimer]

Since a few weeks, my 2010 Corolla smells overheated. When I stop the enigne and get out of the car, or even at a red light, I can smell a kind of overheated oil odor.

There are no oil spots underneith the car, and the temperature needle is normal about at half way.

I'll go for an oil change in 2 weeks, and talk to the mechanic about this.

Does anyone know what can give out such an odor and why?

I don't drive fast and don't accelerate too fast, but I notice that that odor started happening when it became hot outside. Then the next few days, even if it was not hot out anymore, the smell came back even when driving only a mile or two.

Then it went away for a few days, and yesterday I was driving a bit faster than usual, and I noticed this odor once more when I got out of the car.

There seems to be nothing leaking, and when I lift the hood all looks normal, except for that overheated oily smell.

Two months ago, I got the belt tightened a Toyota because of a squeal at start up. Could the belt be too tight, which could create some problem causing this smell.

[MiniPacou]

Do a quick check: Remove your engine cover and do a visual check around the valve cover, the oil cap, and underneath around the oil filter and the oil pan. Check for any signs of oil leakage or any fluid. Try to find the source.


At or MT?

[BLiT]

Do you have drum brakes, or an Xrs model? Check and see if the smell is coming from the rear brakes, I know I'll often have a smoldering smell coming from them.

[Dorkinheimer]

This is my mom's CE 2010 Corolla with 18,000 km. It's automatic.

Although the car has little mileage, I changed the oil about 5 times up to now....lol

That's because I do an oil change every 5 months because she doesn't do much mileage. Now it's been about 4,000 km since my last oil change. I never went this high without changing the oil. Maybe I changed the oil too often at first, and now the car isn't used to dirty oil ???

If there was an oil leak, there would be spots on the pavement where it's parked.

For a moment I thought that maybe I drove over some new asphalt, and some of it stuck to the car and gave that smell when the car was hot.

But a few day later that odor didn't occur anymore, but like I said above it came back when I accelerated slightly faster than normal for and drove slightly faster than normal for a few km's.


Could it be the rear drum brakes at only 18,000 km? The brakes don't squeal, but I notice that my Corolla S 2010 brakes a little better and faster than this CE. With this CE, I have to press a little further on the pedal to get it to stop.

[BLiT]

My car's only got 27,000 miles on it at the moment, and this has been going on for a while. (Though I actually haven't noticed it lately.)

But yes, my smell went from a burning oil smell in the back to a smoldering toast smell. I had the dealership look at the drums and the brake lines and they said they didn't find anything. Still, I never really got that smell in the car. I'm not saying my car never smells hot when I'm on a backroad (obeying the speed limit, of course) I'm just saying don't rule it out.

The next time you have to brake hard or brake downhill, roll down your windows or get out and smell the brakes after you do. If the smell is coming from the rear it may be your drums, if it's coming from the front pop the hood and see if you can tell where in the engine bay it's coming from.

Best of luck bro. =P

[CorollaS2011]

There could be a leak and not create a puddle on the ground. If there is a valve cover leak and it flows down around the exhaust manifold where it's really hot, it could burn it off before the oil ever runs down the engine to hit the ground. As noted by Minipaco, check around the valve cover and check around the exhaust manifold. It could be vaporizing on the exhaust manifold before it ever hits the ground. Good luck!

[cabur]

Originally Posted by CorollaS2011

There could be a leak and not create a puddle on the ground. If there is a valve cover leak and it flows down around the exhaust manifold where it's really hot, it could burn it off before the oil ever runs down the engine to hit the ground. As noted by Minipaco, check around the valve cover and check around the exhaust manifold. It could be vaporizing on the exhaust manifold before it ever hits the ground. Good luck!

+1
Very possible.

[Dorkinheimer]

I went to Toyota yesterday for an oil change and I told them about this smell, and they found the problem.

It was a plastic bag that was melted on the exhaust pipe. And each time the exhaust was hot, that bag gave out that smell.

Gee, I never expected something as stupid as that. They charged my the usual 45$ or so to change the oil and an additional 30$ to scrape off that plastic bag melted on the exhaust pipe...

[dwujcik]

I wish i saw this sooner i would have suggested that. But 30 dollars to take it off thats cheap. Ive seen them so bad on some cars that I have taken my whiz wheel and grinded the plastic off. Hope they did a good job and no more smell!