I have a 1990 Accord LX, with 93k on it - About a month ago I started noticing a burnt oil smell after the car has been running for a few minutes, so I went through it, checking for leaks (In the process I also changed my oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, and PVC) - There are no leaks whatsoever, and after assuming it was the valve seals, I replaced those as well, yet that damned burning oil smell is STILL THERE!!! Compression on all four cylinders was 151, so there's no problem there, so what the hell could be the issue??? I'm not losing any oil at all from the looks of it, and ZERO smoke from the exhaust

 

Anybody??? :-/

 

REMEMBER..youre asking strangers on the internet to diagnose a car they are not familiar with personally..and are not in front of..best bet is to keep checking your oil levels...you could leave cardboard under your car overnight to verify a leak...i mean it could be a case of a small leak or just paranoia

 

I think it's the latter.
It is a 26 years old car so the inevitable will happen. I think yours is doing great (base on your description), and you shouldn't be too paronoid about it.


It's possible you have a little spill from your last oil change and some oil, somehow, got onto your exhaust and get burned up when the car was running.


The oil filter on my Accord is right above my exhaust pipe so I get that often after a filter change unless I proactively cover it up with a rag during the filter change. It's not a big deal either way. Some oil drops on it may keep the rusty pipe from rusting.

 

Check that there is no oil leaking from your rear main seal, or from your differential. Oil from these two spots easily get blown onto the exhaust and cause that burnt oil funk. Oil sensor switch is also a good spot for oil leaks, can be hard to spot as it is above the oil filter.

Clean your engine/engine bay with a green cleaner, hose it down. Go for a drive and look for new wet spots.

 

Ditto the above^^^, clean the engine and add UV dye to the oil, if it is leaking out anyplace it will become very apparent.

UV dye kits are available at most auto parts shops. 94