Hi everyone,

So I recently noticed a slight burnt oil smell in my 2000 Durango's cabin. I have seen a bit of oil around the rear of the valve covers and figured this is the cause but I am not 100% sure. The last few times I have taken the truck out I noticed mist or white smoke coming from the center vents when I turned the air on. I have no A/C in the truck right now, I suspect a leak in my heater core after hearing a hissing sound 2 years back after refilling the system with freon (haven't had time to tackle that job yet).

I am pretty sure the smell is burnt oil. Today I tightened down all the valve cover screws and hit the engine with degreaser and the hose to get any oil of. If oil is leaking and burning by the valve covers, still don't get how I would get smoke and have that smell inside the cabin though. I thought these trucks grabbed air from the windshield area?

thoughts?

Yeah, inlet is at the base of the windshield. However.... (and you just KNEW that was coming....) airflow can be rather random....... so, getting underhood air into the heater inlet really isn't all that surprising...... Is it smoke though? Or is it indeed a mist? Does it get your hand wet? What's it smell/taste like? If its pretty sweet smelling/tasting, that would be coolant, and indicates a leak in the heater core.

Thanks for the reply HeyYou,

Its only happening every so often, I think its happened twice so far. I am almost positive I am not smelling sweet coolant smell. Heat is still good on the truck. It could be a mist though, I guess next time I see it I will stick my hand and nose into it. Both times its happened its been after the truck has been parked for a week or 2. It was very visible I will post back when it happens again. I tightened down the valve covers today. None of the bolts were really loose. 180k on this Durango.

Wonder if you are just getting some condensation in there..... is the drain hole open?

Hmm, that might be worth checking out. Am I looking for some sort of drain hose on the firewall?

Yeah, should be toward the bottom.

So today it's about 62 took my truck out for a drive and I turned on the vent and I saw a little bit of the Mist and now I'm somewhat smelling a little bit of light coolant in there so I'm thinking this is definitely a small heater core leak based on the smell and fact that I saw the mist again.

If this is the case any idea on how much time i have before the leak gets really bad? This is going to be a big job.

Yeah, gotta get the dash out of the way.... at least, in the trucks ya do. That should be fun....

Think I would schedule a time to do it as soon as possible. If you wait for it to get 'bad enough', it will be bad enough that you won't be able to drive it...... better to do it on your schedule, than Murphy's.

Never a dull moment, I have to change a water-pump on my other truck which is probably going to be an easier job than tackling the heater core.

That would likely be a safe bet.