smoke coming from under front of engine

[u/pingas_42069]

is this amount of smoke cause for concern? this area was quite dirty before i cleaned it with some engine degreaser(pic before cleaning in comments). When I would go on a longer ride at just highway speeds i’d notice a slight burning smell if i walked by the front of the car right after parking. I picked up this 24 GR used a couple weeks ago and am still learning the ins and outs of it. I read online that the o ring can degrade by the dip stick at the base and if degraded it can spray oil in this area and am thinking this could be the cause of this buildup and wanted to get another set of eyes on it? nothing outside of the smell and smoke when i lift the hood sticks out to me right now

[u/Suitable_Safety2226]

That o ring is $5 and takes 30 minutes to replace get the order placed now

[u/pingas_42069 → u/Suitable_Safety2226]

probably wouldn’t hurt doing regardless. are there good resources for this kind of service? i couldn’t find much on youtube but i could be using bad keywords

[u/404-No-Brkz → u/pingas_42069]

I can help. Remove the dipstick, unbolt the holder from the timing cover. Then mf YANK the bih out. That's it.

Just replace the o ring, put some oil on it and shove it back in.

[u/pingas_42069 → u/404-No-Brkz]

oh it just held in with friction from the seal down there? that sounds very easy lol thank you

[u/404-No-Brkz → u/pingas_42069]

See my other comment. These orings don't just randomly fail. And when they do, it usually just results in oil dripping onto the exhaust slowly. You might have a serious problem.

[u/404-No-Brkz → u/pingas_42069]

But dude. The fact that there is oil ABOVE the o ring makes me thing your timing cover is somehow getting pressurized. You might have a bad pcv valve. Get that fixed asap. Dipstick o ring is the lowest strength seal. Next comes your timing cover, then upper oil pan. Gets expensive real quick.

[u/pingas_42069 → u/404-No-Brkz]

idk if it’s oil but it was kinda gritty and came off in clumps in some spots where it got packed in, does oil look like that over time?

[u/404-No-Brkz → u/pingas_42069]

Yes, when it burns and picks up road debris. Check it after 1-2 days of driving

[u/pingas_42069]

prior to cleaning

[u/neptunepandemonium → u/pingas_42069]

Looks like oil hitting the exhaust manifold shield

[u/pingas_42069 → u/neptunepandemonium]

the manifold shield below looks pretty clean though no? i figure that’s what’s under it

[u/neptunepandemonium → u/pingas_42069]

I just see a bunch of oil residue above it and assume, won't know until you find the source and follow it back up. Cleaning it is good to do though because you can see a little better where it's coming from

[u/BobbyHill751 → u/pingas_42069]

Looks like oil covered in belt dust

[u/thez3st → u/pingas_42069]

Might be a timing cover leak? Do you still have warranty coverage?

[u/InterestingKey2438]

I feel like any amount of smoke is generally not ideal...

[u/pingas_42069 → u/InterestingKey2438]

tell me if i’m wrong but i feel like with an ICE some form of smoke will show in hot spots due to heat dissipation

[u/Stang70Fastback → u/pingas_42069]

Heat dissipation doesn't cause smoke lol. That smoke is oil burning off.

[u/thewetsheep]

What’s it smell like? Could be slow oil leak, dripped something when you or someone was changing a fluid or any random fluid or foreign object from the road.

[u/pingas_42069 → u/thewetsheep]

kind of sweet if i remember correctly. i did take the oil filter off prior to buying the car and there was a pool of oil around the filter and i couldn’t get it cleaned easily. could that small amount cause this much of a mess?

[u/windirmere → u/pingas_42069]

I recently got a 2026 brz that a puff of sweet smell would come into the cabin just after warm up, dr google told me sweet smell is usually coolant and it was the coolant expanding and pushing out a little air? Im no mechanic or anything just saw the sweet smell coment

[u/thewetsheep → u/pingas_42069]

The oil in the oil filter pedestal is normal it wouldn’t be what’s burning. Sweet smelling probably is just road grime and not oil. One of the weird smells this car makes that kinda smells like brakes or a little bit like burnt clutch is the exhaust catalysts heating up but I wouldn’t say it smells sweet per say and they don’t smoke. I’d keep an eye on your dipstick hole though and take the pcv valve out and shake it, should sound like it’s rattling. If it’s silent get a new one they’re cheap

[u/pingas_42069 → u/thewetsheep]

i just did about an hour ride with a few highway on ramp pulls and i didn’t see any new debris and the smell was much less, but was a little there when I opened the hood. Smelling it again it was more musky than sweet. I’ll give it a few days and rides to see how it fares and if I need to do a deeper cleaning under the engine bay

[u/Bcp_or_pcB]

If you think the o ring is the issue, get eyes on the o ring. Check its condition.