How to fix and diagnose the oil burning problem in a Toyota Camry.
Got a car that smells like burning oil? Got oil spots on your driveway? Then you need to read this!
This may not fix all of the oil burning problems you may see in a Toyota Camry, but it certainly will fix most of them. The problem is first uncovered by a burning oil smell. It gets worse as the car is run more. So, for long trips and highway driving it will smell and even smoke in some cases where it is really bad.
Generally what causes this problem is a worn out valve cover gasket. Most of the time this worn out spot where the oil leaks from is on the backside of the engine which makes it harder to see the leak and how it eventually drips down to the headers where the oil is burned off – this is why you smell burning oil from these valve cover leaks.
Rarely does it happen on the front. Usually if that’s the case it’s because the owner doesn’t care for their car and waited and waited and the valve cover gasket eventually failed all the way around. That means you are probably losing serious oil pressure and the components in your engine are subjected to less lubrication and eventually engine and/or component failure.
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Sometimes mechanics at shady service shops like Meineke and Monroe will take a razor blade and cut a small perforation in the backside of the gasket. This will cause the oil to leak enough to cause a smell and maybe even leave some oil drips or stains in your driveway. This is what is commonly referred to as a be back – there was nothing wrong with your car so they introduced something small (and on the surface it looks innocent) so you will come back for a more expensive repair.
If you have been to either Meineke or Monroe and you have never experienced oil leaking from your vehicle and the day after you had your vehicle serviced it starts leaking oil then I would definitely be suspect of a be back. It is horrible and usually only happens from what I hear at these two major repair franchises (but I am sure it happens elsewhere).
Personally it happened to me twice at the Monroe located attached to the BJ’s store in Concord, NC (right by the speedway). I had this be back slit confirmed on the second occurrence on my Volvo S80 and have since written a complaint to Monroe’s headquarters and I have yet to hear back (that was 2 years ago – shows you how great their staff, reliability and customer service is). You can bet that I won’t be going to a Monroe auto service shop any time soon.
Whatever the reason for the leak (be back slit or a true worn out valve cover gasket), the fix is easy and cheap (but it is rather expensive at a car dealership – I was recently quoted around $500 including the gasket and labor at Scott Clark Honda here in Charlotte NC). You can generally save a bunch by doing it yourself. Valve cover gaskets are easy to replace.
You just unscrew the bolts that hold the valve cover on and then you remove the valve cover and scrape any leftover gasket off. Then you replace it with a new valve cover gasket, replace the valve cover, tighten down all the bolts and you are done. Do not use any liquid sealers as they tend to have chemical smells which will mess with your oxygen sensor – I found that out the hard way.
I replced a valve cover gasket to find the check engine light come on right after I was done for a bad oxygen sensor. Again do not use liquid sealers. The appropriate valve cover gasket can be found online for about $15 to $20 plus shipping. As I said it can easily be installed by most any do it yourselfer, but you can also find someone dirt cheap through Craigslist or a similar website like Kijiji or Backpage to do it for probably $50 or less.
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That is a huge savings from the car dealers $500 price tag. So, now you know what is the culprit of the burning oil smell in your Toyota Camry or other car (I also had to do this exact same repair on my wife’s 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse) and how you can save a bunch by either fixing it yourself or hiring a mechanic off an online classifieds website like Craigslist.
