simm

My heater has a terrible engine odor. I searched...is this something to do with the heater core or leaking radiator? Air filter? Busted exhaust? (It (the exhaust) is kind of loud..)

TLin401

When do you smell it? In the car or out? Both?

simm

In the car, when the fan/defrost is on. It's really bad.

TLin401

Does it smell somewhat like rotten eggs?

simm

Not really, more like oil...or 'engine' odor. A 'mechanical' smell if that makes sense.

TLin401

That does make sense. I have the same smell when I get out of my car. It is because I have a bad catalytic converter and I have a hole in my muffler.

What kind of oil do you use in the car? Do you have any oil leaks?

Also the cabin smell is a common problem for our cars. Most of the time though, it is said to smell like rotten eggs though.

simm

Thanks Mike for all the responses. I will be bringing my car into the shop sometime to fix the muffler (has a hole...might have a bad catalytic converter like you do), so maybe that will fix the problem.

I use this, and yes I have a slow oil leak from I don't know where:

TLin401

If the leak continues to get bigger, then start using 10w-30.

Mandy

Gotta be oil hitting the exhaust and vaporizing...classic oil leak odor...the one you hate smelling when following an OLD car

simm

Nice. Well, I'll let the shop fix my oil leak and exhaust problems sometime in the near future. And I'll probably do the tranny filter clean, seafoam, etc. etc. Hopefully after that the car will be good to go!

Thanks again for the input - I really appreciate it.

TLin401

You will def see an improvement after you do those repairs. It helped me a lot!

simm

I'm figuring $600-800 in repairs.

TLin401

For what?

simm

Exhaust and oil leak..

TLin401

Where is the oil leaking from?

Well I can see why it is that much. It is like $500 for the exhaust system.

simm

This is under the car (obviously) and you can see the brown oil hanging off the metal part (P1R stamped on it) ready to drip on my camera lens. It seems to be coming from up farther...any idea where that is?

TLin401

Are you sure that is oil and not dirty tranny fluid since that is on the tranny screen area?

simm

When I had the mechanics do a pre-sale inspection (before I bought it), they said it was an oil leak...but they might have just said that because they didn't look into it. I don't know. I DO know that the oil is dripping slowly.

TLin401

I would look further into it. Check your tranny fluid level.

96TL_X

The leak could be from your distributor which is not hard to replace.

simm

I'm learning so much about this car since I joined this forum! I will get the flashlight out some time and check into it further. It would be so nice if I could fix it myself (at least the oil problem)!

main70072

Hey I recognize that picture you have there and if I'm not mistaken, that is towards the front of the car near the oil drain plug and differential. I once had oil leaking there on several occasions. The first time was the oil filter base gasket leaking and oil was running down to that location. I have since followed the DIY on this forum and replaced it to fix that problem. Another occasion was when I got my driverside axle changed, the oil would keep leaking from the seal. I was planning to replace the seal when I have some spare time, but seems like oil stopped leaking after a few months. I would recommend you clean up the oil spots and look carefully to see where the oil is coming from. If it is the oil filter base gasket, you should see old leaking upon cold starting your car in the morning. I remember on my car, oil was gushing out beneath the oil filter.

main70072

Oh and for the distributor, if you do have a leak back there try revving the engine while looking towards the firewall where the distributor is located to see if there are any smoke from oil burning. At least that was what mines was doing before I had it replaced.

simm

Nice! main70072, thanks so much for the insight! I don't know when I'll get around to inspecting my car and doing all the other tune-ups I plan, but I certainly will do them!! I need to get some car ramps and car stands and a car jack.. lol Maybe I'll just borrow them again like I did to get that picture

TLin401

Get your own. Then you can just have them for the future.

stevejo

How Do I clean the air ducts?: (This is my first post; welcome to me). Last week I bought a very nice-looking '98 TL with the 2.5L engine. I love it for many reasons though when I bought it I knew it had serious oil leaks coming from the distributor and valve cover; I had to have those leaks fixed. I then had the engine steam cleaned top and bottom. Yet I still smell an oily fume when the engine is on and warmed up, and when I am stopped or at an intersection waiting for the light to change, especially when fan is on. I suspect that during the entire time oil was leaking onto the exhaust system -- and the previous owner chose not to have the leaks fixed -- an oily residue was accumulating inside the internal ducting/fan system. How do I clean it out? And I hate those perfumed car scents. I want NO smell! I can't imagine how to get inside those ducts. I BET if I took apart a vent it would have a light coating of oil. There is no cabin air filter on these models.
Steve in S. Calif.

simm

Fixed! Just did a tranny drain and fill and oil change [thread] (it was the oil filter most likely) - and now the problem is fixed! No more smelly heater for now! Thanks again!

main70072

Hey no problem. So did you change the gasket or the oil filter?

simm

Both - did a complete oil change.

main70072

^ By gasket I meant the gasket that mate to the engine and the filter base, not the gasket on the oil filter.

simm

What's the difference? I understand it as the filter base...but isn't that the same as the gasket on the oil filter?

main70072

No, the gasket on the oil filter is what seals the filter to the base. The gasket that I am talking about looks like '8'. In your case, the filter was probably not on tightly causing oil to leak. You got lucky because if you were to replace the actual base gasket, that would have taken you hours.

Here is a diagram to show you what I am talking about. It is #3 in the diagram:
http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...s=&view=normal

simm

Oh, okay - thanks. Currently, it's not leaking...so I assume it was the oil gasket.