My engine bay smells like something is burning

[BigKriss]

This happened after I changed the headgasket on the m30. There is no oil dripping anywhere and all I can think of is when I put some sealant paste on the exhaust manifold gaskets. I've driven the car maybe 15-20+ hours now and it's still noticeable. Anyone else here had a similar experience?

[Ferret]

This happened after I changed the headgasket on the m30. There is no oil dripping anywhere and all I can think of is when I put some sealant paste on the exhaust manifold gaskets. I've driven the car maybe 15-20+ hours now and it's still noticeable. Anyone else here had a similar experience?

Yeah after my first M50 rebuild (and yeah I know it's a different engine :P ) I had burning smells for about two months because of a small oil leak that I chased down to the camshaft sensor being loose.

All it takes is a tiny oil leak to cause a big smell - I'd check everything's tight to start with and eliminate the easy to spot things.

[Boone.Msi]

is it buring oil you smell? I smelled burning plastic and it turned out to be a failing water pump (plastic impeller was going)

Other than that, i dunno...

[Zeuk in Oz]

This happened after I changed the headgasket on the m30. There is no oil dripping anywhere and all I can think of is when I put some sealant paste on the exhaust manifold gaskets. I've driven the car maybe 15-20+ hours now and it's still noticeable. Anyone else here had a similar experience?
I had similar smells after doing my headgasket, Kristian, and I presumed they were from the heated or burnt gaskets - especially manifold gaskets. Certainly the smells I had were not those of burnt oil and they disappeared after a few weeks.

[Martin in Bellevue]

Kris, the leatherique has arrived. I have no forwarding address or shipping money. 3 minutes & it goes to craigslist.

[Rus]

It could be as simple as grease stains from where you touched parts. When the parts heat up, the grease begins to produce various aromas. Happens around exhaust manifold very often. HTH

[BigKriss]

Thanks for the comments guys. It smells like burning oil but I can't identify were it's from.

[Alexlind123]

I smell burnt rubber sometimes, usually after liberal application of the gas pedal.

[fujioko]

An easy way to correct the burning rubber smell is to disconnect three spark plug wires. Typically this will reduce the aroma of burnt rubber.

[Jon K]

Kriss one thing to keep in mind is how oily your hands get when removing the head. You had to have installed the exhaust manifolds again, so any residual oil/grease/caca that rubbed on the manifold will be stinky until it burns off. M30 is an easy motor to check for oil leaks on - anything under the intake manifold? Anything on the exhaust manifold?

[Ross]

Having just finished the same job I also had an oil leak. Mine was massive and easy to spot. I forgot to tighten at all the bolt retaining the distributor "thing" that the rotor attatches to. It was walking away from the seal apparently. I'm surprised it didn't tear up the cap and rotor. Horseshoe up the ole arse I suppose.
Just a spot to look at.

[Tiger]

Wash down your engine and see what happens... Use simple detergent like Simple Green or any oil eater stuff.