Oil smell inside.
 

So Ive had the car for about 2-3 months now and ive notice when I got it that it smell a little like oil inside the car. Didn't really bother me, I just thought they spilled a little oil when they changes it, the owner had said they just changed the oil. Me and wify went for a trip and she said wow it smells like oil in here, I guess I got used to the smell and didn't notice it anymore. Can this be my cat? Or spilled oil, I did a surface check on the motor and I don't see any oil. Any ideas?

It could be. Whenever you change oil on RX-8, the oil filter will spill some oil all around the area. thats why everytime I change my oil I have to spray around with cleaner so it wont smell.

another possible reason is from your transmission, if the the transmission oil has been changed, and they pour oil back into the box by the shifter, it is possible that they did not put the gasket correctly, which result in a strong smell inside the cabin.

I dont see any oil around the oil filter.

I assumed that poking a small hole in the oil filter and allowing it to sit might push the oil back into the pan...seems to have worked mostly as I got very little spill removing it...and I certainly didn't smell any.

I can remove my oil filter with a wrench, I use K&N so u know why :)

and I dont think spray cost that much ... consider I use it to clean other mess too.

then try to find out where the smell comes from.

i had this problem and the dealership replaced my oil cap.. and it did the job. it sounds strange. but it worked

Engine oil smell or gear oil smell?

hmmm, thats a good question. I do have a short shifter, I didn't install it. It was already in the car when I got it. Ill check and see if the smell is coming from the shifter...

They smell distinctly different. Gear oil is "saltier" and really changes around. Engine oil by comparison smells quite a bit better.

Just to be sure, you haven't been eating a lot of Olestra lately, have you?

didnt I told u to check the transmission ? ...

Ressurecting this thread
 

Nycgps:

I recently had my tranny oil changed at the dealership, and I have a strong smell coming from my shifter (manual). How common is it for them to change the oil through the shifter? Any other advice for when I go back and talk to them so I don't sound like a crazy person ("I read on the internet that you didn't put the transmission oil gasket on correctly")

!!! Stinky Stinky

Update: Dealer told me it was related to the cleaning solution they used to clean up the tranny in the first place. Ookay. Driving with my windows down for now..