Hi all, i'm hoping for people's thoughts on an issue: for the past few weeks there's been an unpleasant smell from the air con when recirculate is off. I think it's the smell of hot engine oil, and looking at the engine bay, there seems to be clumpy, dirty oil surrounding the dipstick, and lots of dried soot all over the dipstick handle. There's a bunch of oil on the centre of the right-side radiator fan, and coating the covered wiring i highlighted in purple below...but seemingly nowhere else.

Pic borrowed from a post by Pyts on the forum, as I can't get a good picture.

I can't get a look at where that covered wiring leads, but is there anywhere else that could have more likely sprayed oil besides blowing out of the dipstick tube? The dipstick itself didn't seem moved, and the o-rings on it seem fine. Some searching online says a clogged PCV valve could cause undue pressure leading to blowing oil, and i'll look at giving it a clean once replacement washers and some carb cleaner arrive, but in the mean time, does anyone have tips for ease of access in cleaning up some of that oil? The smell is nauseating. Feels like there's a lot that i'd have to remove to reach the radiator fan.

Thanks.

 

Howdy!
It can be hard to trace oil leaks when there's fans near by. If the leak is pressurized too, oh boy!
Barring those two scenarios, I always recommend looking for the highest (like, vertically) possible sign of leakage, and fix that first!

If you suspect the leak is at the dip, start the engine and let it idle (amount of time idling shouldn't matter, but you can experiment), then pull the dipstick out and see if it wants to spit (or if you hear a clear whoosh of pressure releasing). If not, you may want to keep looking. Right behind the wiring is the pcv valve. I don't know if it could spatter the wires shown, but maybe.

I'll see about uploading the procedure for pulling the fans. It shouldn't be too bad!

Final edit: oh, and have you checked out your cabin air filter? I have to change those at least once a year here in atlanta. Nasty polluting cars and a pollen season that turns waterfalls yellow. You might consider an carbon/activated charcoal air filter too. Just stay away from arm n hammer's baking soda filters.. A million uses for the stuff, each one a mistake.

 

if it's coming from your pcv or dip stick tube, that's a sign of blow by (pressure from combustion getting by your piston rings and into the crank case)

https://www.mishimoto.com/engineerin...at-is-blow-by/