Burning oil odor from vents on all ZL1's? The GM District Manager says it's normal

[shibbs]

Originally Posted by TomF1

I've had mine into my local dealer for a smell I thought was burning oil.
(14 Months old 13,400km)
My advisor and the mechanic (technician), tell me its excess build up in the cat converter, not an oil smell.
When I get on the on-ramp to the hwy, I put it to the floor. A few seconds later is when the smell is bad, really bad.
So, they told me to drive it harder. The rev's stay way too low in the auto, so they want me to run it in a lower gear to keep the rev's up.
I take a lot of side roads and at low speeds the car cruses at 10-11-12 hundred rpm. He says that's not enough to keep the cat lit up, so I get buildup. Then when I stomp on it, it burns and smells.

So, any ideas if he could be right about the cat smell?
So far, I've tried keeping the rev's up, and it still smells when I stomp on it.

That's complete garbage, because I get this smell and I don't even have cats!

[Jetcop20]

Thank you happy production line employee who built mine

[johnsigley/squidZL1]

Originally Posted by DropTopZL1

Hello fellow ZL1 owners, I have a question for all of you. I traded in my 640rwhp C6 Z06 for a brand new 2013 ZL1 convertible in January of 2013 due to the wife saying I needed a back seat for the little one.

Since then I have had my car at the dealership 7 times for a total of 45 days due to a burning oil smell from the A/C vents at normal operating temperatures and I'm at a stop or slow roll (ie. traffic). This burning oil smell is more prominent for the 1st 2,000 miles post an oil change. Yes, I did watch the technician perform the oil change twice and made sure they did not spill a drop of oil anywhere.

The dealership asked me to bring the vehicle in yesterday to meet with the General Motors District Manager. I met with the GM District Manager and let him experience the smell. His response was that the GM engineers are aware of this smell and that it's a normal smell for this vehicle. He offered to give me $5,000 towards the purchase of a new GM vehicle and they would take my vehicle in at trade in value.

I am not an automotive mechanic however I am an electrical/mechanical/chemical engineer and I'm pretty sure the smell of burning oil coming through the A/C vents means there's an active oil leak outside of the block somewhere. When the vehicle was on the rack at one point I did see a small amount of oil on the bottom of the bell housing.

I've always been loyal to GM but this makes me want to never buy another GM vehicle ever again.

What are your thoughts?
Do all of you experience this same odor?
Does it ever completely go away?

Thanks,

Anthony

had that oil smell also for the break in period the car has had the first oil change and service and I no longer smell the oil hope all gets better

[PsychoZL1]

I noticed the smell every once in a while, but I haven't smelled it for the last week or so. I have just over 600 miles now.

[JANNETTYRACING]

Changed my Oil, took it to the Track on Friday, Drove like I stole it, no smell LOL

Ted.

[eightup]

Normal smell is when you walk into the crapper and it smells like crap. Getting into a 60k car that smells like burnt oil now that's not normal.

[Harley01]

We just bought a 2015 and we have the burnt oil smell also. Will install a catch can and put a few more miles on it. If it don't go away will drive it through the front window of the dealership!!

[Bigtime53]

Does anyone know what causes this problem and what has been done to fix it?

[12 ZL1 #1725]

I received a letter today stating the evaporative emission canister vent solenoid valve may not close properly on some 2012 models... And they extended the warranty on that fuel evaporative system for 10 yrs or 120000 miles... Could this have anything to do with that smell? Just throwing it out there...???

[hairtrigger]

I think it also was mentioned on here that a faulty PCV valve or something in PCV system was to blame on one car.

[djnice]

Originally Posted by djnice

I have never noticed oil smell. This is crazy.

Here is a quote from me saying I never noticed oil smell. Well, I do now after oil changes. Not sure why. The last two changes I did this summer gave the smell. I change my own oil and didn't drop any. It might be I need to put on my real catch can. I am also thinking it could be some types of oil smell worse.

[Vroom]

I had the smell originally, I believe the oil smell is coming from the dip stick. What solved it for me was to pinch the gasket between the hood and car in front of the vent. If you get the oil smell after oil changes, as your oil change guy to clean up after the oil change, I believe it makes a mess when then oil filter is taken off. After asking them to clean it up, no more smell.

[CAM....ZL1]

I smelled it a couple times after the first and second oil change, but I don't smell it anymore at all.

[Sharp-ZL1]

I never had the smell in mine. Then the SC went and exploded on me. So, The dealer changed the SC, engine and clutch under warranty. I now have the smell. I just broke in the new engine, then took it to Kraftwerks for a cam, and pulley. Winter is here so I have to wait for a dry sunny day to really break in the engine changes and to see if the smell goes away.