oil smell and leak

[jonnybearback]

Hi,
once my 2002 ZTW gets hot, I can smell oil.. not burning oil.. more like cooking (hot) oil.

I have a pretty grimy forward side of the block. Nothing on the pan, but plenty below the manifold and down to top of pan and around the breather collector.
The bottom of the cat is also wet, but not enough leakage to drip onto the drive/floor

Possibly connected, I also get an irregular engine stutter/hesitation. No specific time.. just random.
EGR was replaced a few months ago.

So, diagnose my condition ;) please

I will replace the valve cover gasket soon, but anything else typical on these zetecs?

Gunna give it a de gunking to help find the source, but be interesting to know if there is a weak spot.

Oh yeah, my oil was overfilled by almost 1l by jiffy lube before I bought the car.. hope its not done any gasket damage..?

Cheers

[BC_ZX3]

Originally Posted by jonnybearback

So, diagnose my condition ;) please

I will replace the valve cover gasket soon, but anything else typical on these zetecs?

Valve cover gasket failure. It lets oil leak onto the exhaust manifold and into the spark plug wells causing burning oil smell and sometimes a misfire. It'll also cause your thermostat housing to fail if left long enough.

[elsolo]

Overfilled crankcase can contribute to gasket and seal failure.
Malfunctioning PCV system can cause oil leaks.

Degrease it good, find where it's getting out. The valve cover is a good first guess, but we're just guessing.