Butcher

I have a 1994 Toyota Ext. Cab Auto w/OD and A/C. Just got the truck with 108K. Love it, runs great, A/C works great, engine temp is always 1/4 - to low. However, I get what I HOPE is just a bad smell form the engine. Sometimes I notice it in the cab, other times I notice it after exiting the vehicle and sniffing the engine (for investigative purposes only :-)
The truck seems solid, but the old paranoia reminds me somewhat of my 1993 Mercury Sable right before the head gasket went. The only difference is that the engine temp on the Sable was all over the place. The truck is rock solid. Any ideas? Does your truck smell like mine?

natenelsen

Man, okay can you describe the smell, is it sort of "sweet" or does it smell like burnt oil (assuming you know what that smells like) or like plastic burning or....

a smell might give you a direction to look for the problem, but it sure is hard to post a smell to the forums lol


Nate

Butcher

True. It's certainly not a sweet smell. I would put it more in the oil category. My main concern was that it was the smell I remember from my other car when the head gasket went bad. The only difference is that the truck's engine temp never gets hot.

natenelsen

Well, you shouldnt get a hot oil smell unless you have a leak somewhere, look around the exhaust manifold, esp the valve cover you will probably find some burnt oil on the exhaust some place. A little oil will make a lot of smoke, and if you dont see it and only smell it you are probably looking for a small dark spot on the hot pipes someplace, a flashlight would help. Then just figure out where it drips/seeps/gets blown from.

Good luck and let us know what you find

Nate