Air Conditioning and smell of oil
#1
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Glendale, AZ
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Air Conditioning and smell of oil
I changed my oil last month and ever since I get a slight oil smell when I have the air-conditioned set to recirculate. Has anyone else experienced anything remotely similar to this?
The smell goes away and comes back - sometimes when I accelerate hard the oil smell starts and lingers for some time. When I can stop, I check for leaks but see none. My oil level isn't falling like there is a major leak and there is never any smoke. So I'm a bit clueless as to what causes the smell. At one point, I did notice that my dip stick wasn't completely pushed in which I thought *might* be the issue but it wasn't unfortunately.
If I set the air-conditioning to use the outside air I can remove the smell (which is strange). I also changed the MT oil at this same time (using sythetic oil which makes a big difference BTW). Could it possibly be the tranny? Again, I don't see any leaks - could it come through the shifter?
The car only has 3750 miles on it so I may just take it into the dealer. Of course, I don't want to have them repair something that may have been my fault.
The smell goes away and comes back - sometimes when I accelerate hard the oil smell starts and lingers for some time. When I can stop, I check for leaks but see none. My oil level isn't falling like there is a major leak and there is never any smoke. So I'm a bit clueless as to what causes the smell. At one point, I did notice that my dip stick wasn't completely pushed in which I thought *might* be the issue but it wasn't unfortunately.
If I set the air-conditioning to use the outside air I can remove the smell (which is strange). I also changed the MT oil at this same time (using sythetic oil which makes a big difference BTW). Could it possibly be the tranny? Again, I don't see any leaks - could it come through the shifter?
The car only has 3750 miles on it so I may just take it into the dealer. Of course, I don't want to have them repair something that may have been my fault.
#2
Registered
Did you clean up the oil that spilled when you took the filter off?
Last month my wife had an oil smell in her Camry (which also has an upside-down filter) after I changed the oil and did not clean up properly. A couple of minutes with a shop towel and a can of brake clean fixed it.
Ken
Last month my wife had an oil smell in her Camry (which also has an upside-down filter) after I changed the oil and did not clean up properly. A couple of minutes with a shop towel and a can of brake clean fixed it.
Ken
#4
I'm not sure if it applies to the RX8, but at a recent RallyCross, the owner of the Nissan Altima I was driving filled the oil but forgot to put the cap back on, causing the entire interior to smell of oil. Did you forget? Is the dip stick stuck all the way back in?
#6
Another thing to check is the gear shift ****. I was getting an oil smell mainly in fifth and sixth gear. The oil smell was not as bad in the lower gears. Using the outside air did help. I found that with an aftermarket gear shift ****, it was not screwing down far enough to seal the shift boot to the shift lever. The stock **** will seal the boot. If this is not sealed, air comes from underneath and will come out the top of the shifter boot. Small hole, but enough to let in smells. Since putting stock shifter on, no smell of oil at any speed. Hope this helps!!!!
#7
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Glendale, AZ
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Did you clean up the oil that spilled when you took the filter off?
Last month my wife had an oil smell in her Camry (which also has an upside-down filter) after I changed the oil and did not clean up properly. A couple of minutes with a shop towel and a can of brake clean fixed it.
Ken
Last month my wife had an oil smell in her Camry (which also has an upside-down filter) after I changed the oil and did not clean up properly. A couple of minutes with a shop towel and a can of brake clean fixed it.
Ken
Originally Posted by nycgps;
Buy a can of Electical Safe Cleaner, Spray the crap out of the Oil Filter area
#8
Registered
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Glendale, AZ
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another thing to check is the gear shift ****. I was getting an oil smell mainly in fifth and sixth gear. The oil smell was not as bad in the lower gears. Using the outside air did help. I found that with an aftermarket gear shift ****, it was not screwing down far enough to seal the shift boot to the shift lever. The stock **** will seal the boot. If this is not sealed, air comes from underneath and will come out the top of the shifter boot. Small hole, but enough to let in smells. Since putting stock shifter on, no smell of oil at any speed. Hope this helps!!!!
I'll post back to this thread of anything that seems to have worked. Thanks yo everyone that have responded so far - all great ideas.
Cheers
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
8is>enuff
NE For Sale/Wanted
4
09-03-2015 07:57 PM
akagc
RX-8's For Sale/Wanted
7
08-11-2015 07:07 PM