W126 Oily Smell

[Arthur Daley]

When standing in traffic or stopping at lights etc I get oily fumes in the cabin.......seems to be through the heater but can also smell it outside. Any ideas anyone? Could it be something as simple as someone using rubbish oil at the last oil change?
Cheers

 

[Tres Lomas]

What is a heater ?

Sorry just a climate joke......is the smell definitely from your car? You were not clear on that point. It could just be that you are not recirculating your air and are bringing in fumes from the outside.

 

[grober]

You probably have a cam cover gasket leak allowing oil to run on to the exhaust manifold and getting burnt off. The other possibility is that the crankcase/camcover vent pipe has become detached/blocked/leaks---it normally recycles crankcase fumes into the air filter/inlet to be burnt away in the exhaust.

 

[mattc]

You probably have a cam cover gasket leak allowing oil to run on to the exhaust manifold and getting burnt off.

+1 for this. Our 124 estate is doing the same at the moment and its disgusting (quite apart from worrying people who thing the car is about to go up in flames).

Is there a "How to" with pics on how to do this graeme?

Edit- If not the camshaft seal could it be one of the crankshaft seals, front or rear, instead?

 

[grober]

Different engines but principle is the same. You tend not get oily smells with oil leaks further down the engine e.g. crank seals since the oil doesn't get near the really hot surfaces of the engine. The front crank seal behind the crankshaft pulley is a frequent source of oil leaks but doesn't normally give rise to much of a smell. The Camshaft cover gasket isn't difficult on the M104 engine afaik but remember to renew the spark plug recess seals as well. Êàòàëîã

and
PeachPartsWiki: Head Gasket Replacement

 

[Frank O' Phile]

There is a how to for the front seal on a M103 engine

PeachPartsWiki: How to reseal the front top timing cover

 

[Arthur Daley]

Grober I think you are right. What's interesting though is that there is a small hole on the top of the air filter housing which could also be a cause. Not sure of the purpose of this hole at all. It is next to the rubber pipe that goes into the air filter housing at the top.......I am thinking of blanking it off to see if that cures it!!

 

[grober]

There is a small hole often with a rubber grommet in about the centre of the air cleaner. This is to allow adjustment of the mixture using a long allen key with the air cleaner in place.This small passage goes all the way thro the air cleaner so is effectively outside the inlet system.