2003 smell burnt oil

[Thunderbird 2003]

Smell burning oil when Hot. Don't see any leaks.

 

[gregl32]

Possibly oil getting into the spark plug/ign. coil wells as a result of failed valve cover gasket(s)

 

[TwoTires]

Smell burning oil when Hot. Don't see any leaks.

I don't know if you've resolved this issue, but that smell could be oil lying in the area where the ignition coils reside. It's out of sight, and usually is the culprit that causes the coils to fail.

 

[10drum]

Greetings,

I just picked up a 2003 with 63K miles on it. It's in good shape.
There are no visible leaks under the car but there is a smell as if there is some seepage onto the exhaust manifold(s).

Could the plastic valve covers be suspect?

I've read the spark plug coils can be a problem on these. I do not see them mounted anywhere.

Would the coils be under the inspection cover that are on the valve covers.

That's it for now, Thank in advance for all replies.

 

[TNtbird]

I could smell something burning but was not sure what. I thought maybe I had a coolant leak but ruled that out since I was not losing coolant. Time passed and I noticed smoke from under the hood. I finally identified the leak as power steering fluid from a leaking power steering fluid pressure switch. It was spraying over various parts of the engine, some of which were causing it to smoke and burn. Replaced the pressure switch this morning.

 

[doug7740]

Greetings,

I just picked up a 2003 with 63K miles on it. It's in good shape.
There are no visible leaks under the car but there is a smell as if there is some seepage onto the exhaust manifold(s).

Could the plastic valve covers be suspect?

I've read the spark plug coils can be a problem on these. I do not see them mounted anywhere.

Would the coils be under the inspection cover that are on the valve covers.

That's it for now, Thank in advance for all replies.

Since you have an oil burning smell with no visible leaks under the car or any seepage on the exhaust manifolds, I would definitely remove the ignition coils and inspect for oil in the spark plug wells.

To remove the ignition coils make sure you have all the right tools handy. A deep well 7 mm socket, a regular 7 mm socket, an extension, a 7 mm open/closed-end wrench, a screwdriver, and a small flashlight.

Remove the engine cover, unscrew the two black plastic slotted screws at the front of the cover and remove them. Pop the front of the cover up and gently push the rear of the cover upwards to remove it from the mounting stems.

Identify the coil covers on the right and left sides of the engine. They are secured by six screws.

• Using a 7mm socket and driver break loose the four screws on the cover. There are two at the front and two in the center.
• Using a 7 mm wrench, break loose the two screws at the rear of the cover closest to the windshield. The upper one can probably be taken out with a regular socket, but I used a wrench and once it was loose I turned it out by hand. The lower one is a pain, but it will come loose once you take a few turns on it with the wrench.
• Take out the six screws and put them in a safe place and gently remove the cover taking care not to scrape the gasket material.
• Unclip the connector to the coil pack by squeezing the right rear of the connector and pull it loose. Using your 7 mm socket, unscrew the bolt holding the coil pack in place. Then just pull the coil pack off of the spark plug and remove with the bolt unthreaded it will pull up very easily.

Since the car has 65,000 miles and you are removing all the ignition coils to check for oil or water contamination, if it were my car, I would replace all of the coils and the spark plugs too.

There are two main reasons the ignition coils fail early; water/moisture/condensation or oil are the two reasons. The extreme high energy being produced for the spark plugs doesn't like oil, water, moisture, or condensation as it causes an arc to the grounded motor and kills the coil over time.

If you have oil on your ignition coils, a defective valve cover gasket is the reason why. This was a bigger issue with 2002 T-Birds, but just the same if you find oil on the boots it is a leaking valve cover gasket.

If you find water or moisture in the spark plug/ignition coil wells, the water is getting in from under the cowl seal or getting past the wiper seal. Replace the cowl seal and the wiper motor seal.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue