Pelican Parts

Hot oily smell on a test drive

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6 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis

THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW

Discussion summary

YOUR RESEARCHHot oily smell on a test drive

Reported or suspected cause

rms leak

Suggestion or failed attempt

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Identified cause: 1
Suspected cause: 0
Reported fixes

Read evidence and context

Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.

Discussions that suspect a cause: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suspected cause · Original poster
I'm thinking given the location, it's likely an RMS leak.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Frequently discussed work

Test drive a couple of weeks ago

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes: 0
Unsuccessful attempts: 1
Discussions

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Discussions that contain suggestions: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion · Original poster
I took a nice 2002 C4 out for a test drive a couple of weeks ago.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

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Leading evidence: 'rms leak' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'rms leak' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Test drive a couple of weeks ago' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.

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1 matching discussions · 6 captured posts examined · 0 partial discussions

Compare 2 other evidence results

Test drive a couple of weeks ago

Suggestion or failed attempt

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes: 0
Unsuccessful attempts: 1
Discussions

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Discussions that contain suggestions: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion · Original poster
I took a nice 2002 C4 out for a test drive a couple of weeks ago.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Use no oil

Suggestion or failed attempt

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes: 0
Unsuccessful attempts: 1
Discussions

Read evidence and context

Discussions that contain suggestions: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion
BTW, my car uses no oil.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Frequently discussed actions (2)

These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.

Test drive a couple of weeks ago

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes: 0
Unsuccessful attempts: 1
Discussions

Read evidence and context

Discussions that contain suggestions: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion · Original poster
I took a nice 2002 C4 out for a test drive a couple of weeks ago.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Use no oil

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Reported fixes: 0
Unsuccessful attempts: 1
Discussions

Read evidence and context

Discussions that contain suggestions: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suggestion
BTW, my car uses no oil.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Reported and suspected causes (1)

These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.

rms leak

No successful repair reported for this finding.

0
Identified cause: 1
Suspected cause: 0
Reported fixes

Read evidence and context

Discussions that suspect a cause: 1

0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.

0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.

Suspected cause · Original poster
I'm thinking given the location, it's likely an RMS leak.
Original post Read captured discussion
Hot oily smell on a test drive

Coverage and how to read this overview

Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.

6 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.

Pelican Parts: 1 discussions

0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.

0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.

Generation: 20261026T200546Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources

POST 1 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

I took a nice 2002 C4 out for a test drive a couple of weeks ago. The drive went well, but when we stopped during the drive to get out and have a look around, my wife and I both noticed a hot oil smell. I opened the trunk and sniffed around the engine compartment, but detected nothing. It was more noticeable just beneath the driver's door. Of course, the dealer claimed to have never encountered it. I'm thinking given the location, it's likely an RMS leak. I didn't get a chance to look under the car, but that seems like the most likely issue. Any thoughts/advise?

POST 2Original post

If you drove the car a bit hard, then it's normal. It's tire dust burning on the mufflers.

POST 3 / ORIGINAL POSTEROriginal post

Hmm... I didn't drive it hard, I had my wife with me in the car. Just a nice drive down the freeway at 80.....

POST 4Original post

Tell the dealer you want to see the car up on a lift, if they balk, walk away.

POST 5Original post

My 2003 smells like burnt oil after a drive. It's normal. Residual cosmoline on the motor I'm told. BTW, my car uses no oil.

POST 6Original post

I get the burnt rubber smell, not the hot oil, it was concerning at first, but just got used to it as something that had to be normal with the car, as all the inspections I did trying to figure it out came up with nothing out of the ordinary.

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