my buddy has a 1997 neon sohc 16v and he beats on it every day i smell oil every time i get in it could it be the head gasket

 

yeah, or a valve cover gasket, any leak will smell. do you smell it when you are inside the car or outside. anyway, if its a beater then just keep adding oil.

 

I think You guys forget the most common problem when your smelling oil, VALVE SEALS. With a head gasket you are going to smell antifreeze first and a compression test would prove if your head gasket was leaking. Last summer I drove my '98 Neon for a little past100 miles within a 1/4 inch from the H on the temp gauge going 85mph all the wayto an air show to see a B2 Stealth Bomberand I never blew a head Gasket that was back when my water pump was bad, car never ran ****ty. Today the car has a turbo on it and runs great so I don't think theres a head gasket problem.

Valve seals allow oil to leak into the combustion chamber, tell him to get the High mileage Oil from Auto Zone should help reduce the problem. Or try the Valve Cover Gasket replacment but first look back there with a mirror and see if its leaking.

 

well he does have a heavy weight oil in it that might explan the ticking in the head when he starts it.

 

hey slash where was that airshow?
we had one down here by me with b2 bombers and all that stuff, watched it in my back yard!!!

 

It was in Oshkosh. July 27th I think....

I wasn't too comfortable dicking around with the back roads so I went 85-90mph from Wausauall the way to Green Bay then cut down to Oshkosh, made it to Oshkosh in about 15-20minutes from Green bay with theLittle neon overheating the whole way! was stupid for me to risk it but I always wanted to see a B2 Stealth and I ended up missing it by 3 minutes cuz I had to back it down to 65mph as I got near Oshkosh due to it actually beeping at me that it was overheating. I wasn't too worried about cops seeing about 5 other cars were going 90 with me and passing meeven...lol All must have been going to the air show...lol

 

would say headgasket is most likelythe problem. theory would be that is seeps on to the exhuast headerorother hot surfacesmaking a bad smell, could be a fire hazard.

better indication of an internal oil leak would be large amouts of white smoke from your exhaust.