I experienced the same problem..
It may not be easily detected but my bet is that the valve cover gasket is leaking. Clean oil is leaking when the engine heat rises to operating temperature, leaking out of the gasket and onto the hot block or manifold thus burning off before it has a chance to drip.
There is not a drop of oil to be found on my garage floor either. That usually occurs from a leak in the oil pan or drain plug gaskets.

Mine is seeping from the drivers side gasket hense my forum posting for request on how to change the valve cover gaskets...The warranty is not transferable when importing a vehicle for the US to Canada. Once registered in canada Chrysler US will not honour it. Looks like I'll be purchasing a manual.

it appears this is a common problem albeit minor.

 

The driver's side valve cover was leaking on ours too. I carefully snugged up all hardware. Remember you can always go tighter but once you squeeze out the gasket you must replace it. Our fix worked as I no longer smell oil, and the pan under the engine is now clean. I will keep an eye on it at every oil change and periodic inspection.

 

Justed check my again and sure enough it's leaking on the drivers side just under the oil fill cap. I tried to tighten the bolts, but that may have made it worse. Mine leaks after you turn off the engine. Looks like a trip to the dealer in spring.

 

I believe my 2000 mile base coupe has one of the small oils leaks as well. When the weather breaks I will be searching the usual places for the cause. Hopefully, I can easily fix it myself eventhough its under warranty.

While I'm at it, I will be checking the lower edge of my doors for the rust problem. I looked behind a portion of the weatherstip and I believe I saw a little rust colored residue on the weatherstrip.

Thanks to this forum, I feel that can nip these problems in the bud.

 

my drivers side is leaking as well.

How many hours labor did they charge to replace the gasket?

I'm waiting on a manual but if it isnt too costly i might consider taking it into a shop...

TY

 

thanks to forum advice had friend check valve cover bolts and sure enough they had a little play slight drops of oil problem solved dealer wanted to spend 3 days doing dye tests ect to bill chrysler under warranty even after observing the drop was from the cover since my local dealer has limited experiance on crossfires i passed

 

Hi Everyone!

I just want to say thank you to the members who responded to this thread. I too noticed a burning smell, but thought it might be normal. Thanks to all of you, I took it in to my dealer along with a print-out of this thread. They wound up replacing the oil filler housing under warranty.

This forum in general is an incredible asset. A thread under the audio system heading led me to the perfect replacement head unit for my roadster (the JVC KD-LHX550). I found a new one through Amazon.com and just had it installed this week. I would have either continued to look for the compatible Becker cd changer for the factory head unit, or have finally given in and bought an Alpine (no dis of Alpine intended, just didn't want a black unit amidst the silver). The advice to visit Crutchfield (whom I had never heard of) was also a gem. Found the JVC changer for the head unit there.

 

Thank you everybody! I know mine's leaking on the drivers side also, as it's visable and I get a whiff of the oil burning every so often. Now I know it's a common problem and seemingly easy to correct, I'm not as worried as I was. I would much rather fix it myself than allow some half-wit dealer mech. the chance to screw it up worse. I know that might sound bad of me, but nobody will be as carefull as myself to protect and take care of my car.

 

I noticed the same smell for the first six months I drove the car. After winter storage it is much less noticeable. My car now has about 4K on it. Unless it returns I will write it off to a new car break-in problem...paint, lubricants, brakes all being possible sources.

 

Sounds like I had a common problem. Just before putting my roadster away for the winter, I had the local dealer replace driver's seat heater and I also asked them find the source of that annoying occasional oil smell. They replaced gaskets under warranty. Much better now.

 

Mine has a smell but it definitely isn't an oil burning smell. It smells more like plastic.

I took a look at my exhaust and noticed some melted substance that had solidified (once it was cool). This melted stuff is right near the last set of cats. I was thinking that I could have snagged a plastic bag while driving but I couldn't find anything. I got under the car to check it out and it was an amber color, almost like maple syrup! I scraped it off and the smell seemed to diminish but I can still smell it from time to time.

I just checked out the exhaust again today only to notice another "drip" of melted stuff. I really don't want to take it into the dealer for them to try and tell me that it is my aftermarket exhaust or CAI causing this because that is just B.S. Any thoughts?

Edit: Oh yea and there isn't any smoke to trace back either.

 

I took my roadster in to replace the drivers side valve cover gasket.
In doing so i learned there are two parts to the valve cover. The top cover requires a gasket made of silicone. These valve cover parts are extremely light in weight.
I am happy to say that the problem has been fixed.
I also learned how to remove the cosmetic cover or shroud. Just 4 pressure clips.
I'm now going to custom paint the shroud.

 

I just had mine redone. It's only billed as a half hour labor and they scraped out the silicone and re-sealed it, and they replaced the main valve cover gasket as well since they took the valve cover off to make the job easier. Under my extended powertrain warranty I have a $100 deductible and I'm not so sure that It'll come close to that on my bill which I haven't gotten yet.

They said it's a very easy job and you could probably do it yourself. The biggest problem they had was trying to get the old silicone out of the groove around the sealing surface.

 

I have the same problem. I wiped down the valve covers & drove the car 10 miles or so to allow it to come up to temperature. It is clear that the oil leak is coming from the upper valve cover. I removed the shroud and it is clear that mine is leaking on both driver and passenger side, though the driver side is much worse (right below the oil filler spout). I snugged the cover bolts just a little more - they were not "loose" but they were not really tight. Of course, you don't want to overtighten - just put a little more pressure on the gasket. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

Thanks to all. It is easy to find the source of the problem when everybody shares their experiences!!

 

When I had my valve cover gasket(s) replaced on the drivers side, I learned there is an additonal chamber to your valve cover that also requires a gasket. Since I had it serviced, the burning smell has disapeared.
If you are like me, you keep your oil clean. The detection of fresh oil dripping on a hot manifold doesn't always produce a recognizable odour, nor does it drip out of the cooled engine onto the garage floor.

 

Retorquing the covers was only moderately effective. It is definitely better but not good enough (if it was an old car, I'd say it was "fixed"). I suspect the rubber gasket is compromised, and I'm considering taking it to the dealer for repair under warrantee. I'm a little scared to have warrantee work done. I'm afriad of turning a $5 problem into a $5000 problem. I don't think the Dodge dealer is going to understand Xfire at all. Hmmm.

 

Any Body Know The Cost Of Fixing A Valve Cover Gasket Leak?

 

I had the same issue and in the end the Valve Cover was replaced under warranty and that solved it.

 

my cars not under warranty

 

Dang it!

The mechanic who worked on my car told me the cover was bent, I did not see the part myself.