Have recently noticed burning smell different than pzev. After a 60 mile trip on interstate noted puffs of smoke on passenger front side. Burnt oil visible on heat shield below. Oil visible along passenger side head gasket and also a little on driver side. Oil down about 8 oz, coolant slightly less.

 

This has the FB25 WITHOUT the head gasket issues, but I can't figure out what else could be the cause. 39,000 miles with no prior mechanical issues.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks, Chuck

Could be grease leaking out of a split rubber boot on the passenger-side inner front CV-Joint.

The burnt grease smells something like fried grasshoppers.

Post a pic?

File ending in 142 is driver side, 554 is passenger side. Boots are more or less level with exhaust and smell is burnt engine oil to my nose.

If those are the only wet spots, those are your valve covers.

They are the only spots of leakage. Both pics from below, but minor oil visible above. Upper pic is driver side, lower is passenger, noob mostake in assuming filenames would be shown. Any idea of cost to replace the gaskets at a shop?

Edited August 9, 20169 yr by The Burning Sensation

Anybody know a link to decent cutaway images or a service manual of the FB25? Somehow working on a 53 IH cattle truck and lawn boys hasn't prepped me well for this one.

Don't have a link, but probably a few hundred, like 200-300$ (at least in my area) hour or two for labor and the gasket is probably 30$ (30$ through the shop after mark-up).

$300 - $450

 

the pictures you took do not look capable of producing 8 ounces of oil loss that is dripping and burning off, but maybe it's leaking/dripping elsewhere too?

 

you should absolutely verify it's not a cam carrier leak - that's a $2,000 - $3,000 repair which as much as you'd hate, you would hate it even more if you did the valve cover gaskets first to no avail.