Bah, burnt oil!

Purchasing classics there
The smell of racing oil is great

I love the smell of oil. Of course race oil. Especially when that scent mixes with the air of a well-prepared hot meal and the view of beautiful classic racing cars.

But as soon as my nostrils are irritated by the smell of burnt oil, the situation changes. You should not normally smell engine oil. And it certainly shouldn't stink. After all, it is a lubricant and it is not part of the fuel. But if oil drips from the engine and gets on the hot exhaust parts, the oil will burn and give off a pungent odor. You can also smell the same nasty smell when a new exhaust is fitted. This has often been given a protective oil film to prevent the exhaust from rusting before it is sold and mounted. This, in combination with a protective layer of lacquer that will also burn, gives a nasty smell and also a nice smoke screen.

In 1982 I had forgotten in the winter to provide the cars from the trading stock with antifreeze. They stood outside and in the freezing cold they were all frozen. One by one they were pushed in to defrost and get a portion of antifreeze. Just starting to check and nothing seemed to have gone wrong. But the poor one Citroen CX appeared to have sustained permanent injury during the sale. The engine block was torn by the frost and the oil, when it became a little thinner due to the heat, hit the hot exhaust. You can imagine that this caused a lot of smoke and a lot of stench.

A few months ago a new exhaust was mounted under my wife's car. It did not surprise her, therefore, that the car smelled of burnt oil if it had reached the right operating temperature. That would be the new exhaust. And that would naturally pass. But it didn't pass. It even seemed that things were getting worse. But there were no signs of leakage anywhere. Did I forget to turn something on? Was the valve cover gasket torn? Was oil spilled when changing? Was there a crack somewhere in the engine block and did oil end up on the exhaust? No, it wasn't all that. There was a rubber sealing ring in the oil filler cap. It had not been replaced for years and had become rock hard. As a result, tiny oil spatters could get onto the exhaust manifold and you could smell that. The ring was replaced by a new one and the stench had disappeared. Total costs: 2,92 and two minutes of work.

photo and text Jacques van den Bergh

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