What’s wrong when the starts and runs than starts sputtering and the car smells like burnt oil
What's wrong when the car takes forever to start than when it starts it runs for a maybe 30 minutes than starts sputtering and dies. It won't restart and it smells like burnt oil
My car has an automatic transmission.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Experienced mechanics share their insights in answering this question :
You need to check the oil and coolant to see if the coolant is low and oil is contaminated with coolant. This engine is known to have intake manifold coolant leaks into the engine and the head gaskets leak coolant. Also the intake and heads get corroded and can leak. I would recommend having the engine checked for overheating and coolant in the oil by a mechanic like one from YourMechanic.
How to Identify and Fix Common car Problems ?
Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced mechanics :
Compression leak between cylinders: Rough idling, misfires, and a loss of power may indicate that the head gasket has failed between cylinders. This causes a loss of compression as compression leaks from one cylinder to the next and can cause exhaust gasses to flow back into the intake.
If the blown head gasket is preventing your car from starting, it`s likely it`s because there is an opening in the engine, and it can`t build up the compression that`s needed to create a spark. A mechanic will be able to take a good look at your engine and diagnose the issue.
A vacuum leak caused by a bad intake manifold gasket can throw off the engine`s air-fuel ratio and cause engine performance issues such as misfires, a decrease in power and acceleration, a reduction in fuel efficiency, and even stalling.
If you never change the oil in your car, it will collect sludge and deposits and leave them in the oil passage. When oil cannot pass freely through the passage, it gathers inside the top of the cylinder head. When the passage is totally blocked, the oil will go through the PCV valve and enter the air intake manifold.
Engine misfire caused by a head gasket
A head gasket that fails between cylinders will generally cause a misfire and perhaps few other symptoms. With a failure between cylinders, compression from one cylinder leaks into another. Lowered compression results in a rough idling engine.
You may even hear a knocking sound emanating from the engine, or the sound of a misfire, depending on how the head gasket blew. The sound of a misfire could be related to an overheating engine, coolant leak, or lowered compression as a result of rough idling.
If you continue to drive your car with a blown gasket then you risk damaging the engine further as the increase in heat can warp the parts connected to the gasket or cause even more problems because of leaked fluids and/or eroded parts.
Generally a really bad intake manifold gasket will make a car run rough at idle and/or cause a service engine light to illuminate. … As far as driving the car, as long as you don`t have a fluid leak or the car is not stalling or running rough, it should be fine to drive for a few months.
A blown head gasket can keep your car from starting. When you have a blown head gasket, you may have no heat, no white smoke, no start, no check engine light, or even no overheating in some cases.
If the ECM reads low intake manifold pressure due to issues like a vacuum leak, it`ll assume that the engine load is high and send more fuel to compensate. This leads to excessive fuel consumption and poor fuel economy.
If the seal is worn out, the oil will make its way into the intake manifold. Oil will then be burned and will increase your consumption.
Hello, yes, it`s possible to get coolant into the cylinders if you have an intake gasket leak.
If your head gasket is blown, it will allow the compressed air in 1 or more cylinders to bleed off into the cooling system lowering the compression in that cylinder. If you find low compression in 1 or more cylinders, it could be an indication that you`ve got a head gasket leak in that cylinder.
The short answer is yes. Head gasket sealers can temporarily fix a leaking head gasket, but they`re not a permanent solution. These products last a little while and can only do so much; eventually, the wear and tear will need to be dealt with for your car to run properly again.
Other items that will likely be needed to complete a head gasket replacement include coolant, maybe oil, oil filter, spark plugs, hoses and new cylinder head bolts.
The number one sign of a blown head gasket is when your engine is spitting and sputtering and won`t run right. It`s a sign that the gasket has wholly failed. The machine is struggling to keep the fuel burning cycle going because there`s not enough compression coming from the combustion chamber.
The valve cover gasket seals the top of the engine, and if it leaks, oil can drip down onto the valves and cylinders. This can cause the engine to misfire, and as a result, the engine will run Rough idling is often caused by an imbalance in the air-to-fuel ratio.
Typically a car will last no longer than a month with a blown head gasket. This is the average and your engine`s life may differ depending on how bad the leak/perforation in the gasket is. The head gasket keeps the internal pressure that the engine holds.
A blown head gasket is a serious issue, as mechanical problems in the vehicle may have caused the problem and will need fixing. In addition, the head gasket problems may have caused engine failure or serious damage to the engine components, and that situation will need addressing.
When your engine isn`t starting because of a bad head gasket, you`re going to notice certain symptoms: The engine turns over but doesn`t start. Each time the engine rotates, the battery dies more. Even when the starter catches, the engine will not ignite.
In addition to a possibly rough, uneven idle speed, you may also hear whistling, sucking, gulping or hissing noises. Your check engine light comes on: Abnormal operating conditions and loss of performance can result from a bad intake manifold.
When idling, the engine relies on coolant water to cool it down. But a blown head gasket causes the coolant to flow into the engine block and get combusted. You`ll also notice that the coolant level drops and the engine overheats.
Sporadic Idling
One of the primary signs of a vacuum leak is sporadic idling. You might notice that your engine is idling fast while you are at a stop, particularly if your tachometer is bouncing up and down or resting at a setting that is too high. The sporadic idling is being caused by too much air in the engine.
Relevant Questions and Answers :
the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue
What’s wrong when the starts and runs than starts sputtering and the car smells like burnt oil
ANSWER : You need to check the oil and coolant to see if the coolant is low and oil is contaminated with coolant. This engine is known to have intake manifold coolant leaks into the engine and the head gaskets leak coolant. Also the intake and heads get corroded and can leak. I would recommend having the engine checked for overheating and coolant in the oil by a mechanic like one from YourMechanic.
think i put wrong oil in car went few miles lose power car dies oil in spark plugs still starts low oil blinking light before die.
ANSWER : Hello. If you put too thick of an oil in the car, then you may have damaged the engine bearings but this should not have caused oil to get in to the spark plugs unless the oil got into the intake of the engine or one of the pistons rings broke. If you ran it without oil and then tried to put oil in thinking it would be okay after that, then you were not that lucky and broke or damaged all of the rings on the pistons. If you would like to have this looked over, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to your car’s location to inspect the stalling issue and go over all of the relevant systems for a better diagnosis.
2006 BMW oil filter gasket keeps breaking and oil leaks from oil filter. Oil leaks only after starting car in morning. PCV valve?
ANSWER : Hi There,
It sounds like you may need to replace the oil cap o-ring. If you haven’t done this before there are two O-rings to replace; a small green one on the base of the filter cap stem and the large black one that seals the filter cap (which seems to be the one you are having issues with). The large O-ring sits in a small square-shaped groove that is at the base of the oil filter cap. It is very easy to not properly seat the large O-ring because the threads for the oil cap are quite large and will accept the O-ring if you are not careful. I would suggest having a professional from YourMechanic come to your location to take a look at your vehicle.
It sounds like you may need to replace the oil cap o-ring. If you haven’t done this before there are two O-rings to replace; a small green one on the base of the filter cap stem and the large black one that seals the filter cap (which seems to be the one you are having issues with). The large O-ring sits in a small square-shaped groove that is at the base of the oil filter cap. It is very easy to not properly seat the large O-ring because the threads for the oil cap are quite large and will accept the O-ring if you are not careful. I would suggest having a professional from YourMechanic come to your location to take a look at your vehicle.
My car will not start Intermittently. I purchased a new battery 2 weeks ago and yesterday the car wouldn’t start. Got a jump and
ANSWER : The issue you are having is probably due to an intermittent fault in the starter motor itself or a deficiency in the starter electrical circuit, for example a large voltage drop due to a poor ground or a high resistance connection. These issues can be readily diagnosed and resolved on a mobile basis if you request a hard starting diagnostic. If you request that diagnostic, the responding certified mechanic will get this resolved for you promptly. Based on Toyota’s Factory Service Manual, the battery should not be disconnected if the vehicle engine is running. The battery acts as a large resistive voltage sink and consequently taking the battery out of the circuit, while the alternator is still running, can create a voltage spike on the car’s electrical system which is not good for voltage sensitive components such as the engine computer. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.
My car will be starting perfect and when the gas tank gets lower it will start having problems .
ANSWER : Based on the information you gave, it sounds like a possible fuel starvation issue, caused by a partially blocked, in-tank fuel filter or a crack in the fuel pump housing. The remedy would be to replace the fuel pump assembly and filter. The overheating may be caused by several things, including a stuck thermostat, faulty water pump, or even a cracked head gasket. I suggest having a certified technician, like one from YourMechanic, inspect the relevant systems to pinpoint the cause of your vehicle’s hard starting issue and overheating problem.
Ok car starts and runs fine normal idle but once it gets up to warming temp it’s like it starts to bog and dies.
ANSWER : With the randomness of the codes you are pulling, it is hard to determine what they have in common. When diagnosing mechanical errors like this, keep it simple. Due to the loss of power and stalling issue, I would like you to look at the one component that may have a huge effect over all of theses parts.
The ELD is a unit which measures the amount of power coming from the battery. It allows the alternator to adjust the field, and the amount of power generated by it. If you are experiencing issues with the ELD, which allows the battery and alternator to behave incorrectly, the other electrical components in the vehicle will not work. You may have more than one issue that is all coming to a head at once.
You can test the ELD with a multimeter, but any electrical testing can be dangerous, and we recommend you proceed with caution. If you’re not comfortable with this repair, consider YourMechanic, as one of our mobile technicians can come to your home to diagnose the stalling issue firsthand and help you make the necessary repairs.
I put the wrong key in my car and a few weeks later my car just shut down and it will not start I believe it’s the computer but…
ANSWER : Hi there. What had happened is the wrong key set the security to the vehicle. This is to prevent the vehicle from starting with the wrong keys. Try removing the battery cables (+) and (-) for 13 minutes. During that time, put the original key in the ignition and turn it on. Activate everything in the car even though there is no power. Then remove the key and hook up the battery cables. The computer should have reset and reset the security. If the security is still being tripped, then I recommend seeking out a professional, such as one from Your Mechanic, to help you
My car is leaking oil i got an oil change for it last month but it is still leaking oil what will cause my car to leak oil ?
ANSWER : Most older cars have oil leaks. Sealing technology has just not kept up with mechanical improvements to engines so much so that leaks often kill engines rather than mechanical problems. So, it is not unexpected at all to have an, indeed many, oil leaks on a 23 year old car. Oil leaks vary hugely in terms of severity and priority of repair. Oil leaking onto a hot engine manifold is the worst case (the oil can start a fire; at best, you are left breathing oil fumes in the cabin, as the oil burns off of the manifold) while de minimus seepage of oil at the oil drain plug or oil pan gasket, while annoying and messy, if limited enough is not an emergency. Some leaks are easy to repair, while others literally require the engine to be removed just to get physical access to all the leak points. In your circumstance, if you smell burning oil, oil is probably leaking onto a hot engine part such as the exhaust manifold. A certified Mechanic, dispatched by YourMechanic right to your location, can perform an oil leak diagnostic and then let you know of your repair options and costs.
As far as the check engine light, that is not related to the oil leak(s). If you request a check engine light diagnostic, a certified mechanic from YourMechanic would use a code scanner to retrieve the specific diagnostic trouble code(s) from your car’s PCM that have caused the check engine light to illuminate. Using those codes, the appropriate individual vehicle components or sub-systems (often a sensor, circuit, and the like) are then carefully tested, based on specifications set forth in your car’s Factory Service Manual, to pinpoint the cause of the fault or the reason why the check engine light has illuminated. Once the faulty part or component is identified, it is explained to your satisfaction and the mechanic will let you know of the cost to repair. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.
