First 1999 Z24 convertible, AT, 105k.

I changed my oil about two weeks ago in the fridged cold...probably around 5 degrees F outside. I added about 4.75-4.85 quarts according to the marks on a 5 quart bottle. I could not get my dipstick to read right and my car seems to burn oil anything but the high mileage stuff pretty fast. (READ- I can't go more than 3000 miles/3months without a change) I have since drive the car maybe 3 times since...probably in 15 degree weather.

Yesterday, I drove to work in "her" yesterday- which is about a 30 minute drive...mainly country roads...so it is NOT a lot of start and stop. For about the last five minutes of my drive, I smelled something burning. When I got to work...it smelled like burnt rubber coming from the engine compartment. I didn't pop the hood, but I did notice that snow was lodged all in the grill. So, I assumed it was just not getting any good air and was beginning to over heat or that my belt had snow on it and was slipping enough to cause the smell.

So I drove home and the same thing happened. The last 5 minutes of my drive it begins to smell like something is burning. When I got home and popped the hood, I had a small patch of oil on my hood about above the oil cap or potentially in the area of the dipstick. I had smoke/steam coming off the exhaust manifold and my dipstick had oil on it all the way to the top of the stick (which is usually dry). It does not appear to be leaking oil...but everything appeared wet from melting snow. There may also be some oil on the back of the engine compartment, it was just to hard to tell cause things were wet.

Any thoughts? I just bought brand new tires for "her" and seriously have 60 miles on them. Then this crap happens...

1. Could I have over filled the oil capacity? Yesterday's temps were about 30 degrees F. Could that have made a difference?

2. Performance doesn't seem to suffer....but could it be a head gasket? How would I check? Compression test?...how do you do that with our ignition system?

I dont think you overfilled with oil.

Id probably check the dip stick, where it goes into the block? Mine was leaking from there and it took me FOREVER to find it.. I had to jbweld the damn thing back in there.. Hasn't leaked since.. Also try the back of the exhaust cam tower, between the bottom of that and the top of the head, see if there is oil leaking from there dripping on your exhaust manifold..











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Engine Issue - General Forum
General discussion - questions, comments or anything else that is not covered by any other forum, that is specifically related to J-body automobiles or the J-Body Organization.

this is not the maintenance forum

If it was cold out as you say, it's possible that it didn't fully drain properly when you were changing the oil, so putting in the proper amount on top of that COULD overfill it. This definitely sounds like an overfill condition to me. You need to make sure the car is parked level, let it sit for at least an hour or two, and then check the level again.
If it's still overfilled, I would try to drain out approximately what you think it's over to help prevent any future damage. Oil + hot exhaust can = FIRE.
You may want to check inside the air intake as well, to see if any oil has blown into there from the excessive crankcase pressure.
Whenever I change my oil in the winter, I always find it takes just a little less to fill it up than normal. I'll usually start with it about 1/2 a quart less than what's called for, and adjust as necessary afterwards. When the oil is thick, it will stick to everything inside the engine, allowing less to drain than usual.

I have been thinking about this all weekend and wondered if this could be a PCV issue? My Haynes says the PCV should be checked and replaced every 2 years/30k miles. I have owned my car since 2003 and 19k mileage and have never replaced this.

Any thoughts on a PCV issue?

Has anyone changed this? The Haynes says to remove the intake manifold. Are we talking complicated here?

I believe that these engines don't actually use a vacuum PCV system as "older" ones did. I think that they just vent crankcase vapors into the intake stream, so there won't be a valve to change. At least that's how it is on my LN2 and my brother's Ecotec, so I could be wrong, but I don't remember my service manual mentioning it at all. (GM manual)
How's the oil level now?