have had burning oil/rubber smell coming from the engine for a while, I finally changed the valve cover gaskets (I am sooo tired of being a guinea pig for bad instructions in the haynes manuals- you DO have to remove the top of the intake manifold to do the rear valve cover) being quite sure that oil was coming from there onto the exhaust manifold. still smokes just as badly when hot, a problem when stopped at a light, etc. Any ideas where to look? I don't have internet at my house so I may not be able to check immediately for responses. thanks....

have had burning oil/rubber smell coming from the engine for a while, I finally changed the valve cover gaskets (I am sooo tired of being a guinea pig for bad instructions in the haynes manuals- you DO have to remove the top of the intake manifold to do the rear valve cover) being quite sure that oil was coming from there onto the exhaust manifold. still smokes just as badly when hot, a problem when stopped at a light, etc. Any ideas where to look? I don't have internet at my house so I may not be able to check immediately for responses. thanks....

Which engine do you have in your Taurus? 12V, 24V, SHO?

Did you clean the old oil that previously leaked on the exhaust when you did the valve cover? If not, your car may still be burning the oil that leaked previously onto the manifold.

-Rod

it's the plain jane 3.0 V6, it's been run to the phx airport a number of times and still smells so I would figure the old stuff should be burned off by now. thanks for the response though.

Based on your most recent post, you probably still have an oil leak. It may be time to get the engine nice and clean and start checking periodically for new leaks. You will probably want to steam clean the engine and let it dry thoroughly as opposed to power washing or using a chemical degreaser though if you decide to go this route.

Another option would be to add some oil leak detection dye to the lubrication system, drive it a bit, then check for leaks with the UV light in the dark. If you catch a leak quickly enough, this method is quite effective (before the leak gets all over the engine).

-Rod