I just started noticing this. When my wife gets home from work, there seems to be a smell of burning oil coming from Durango. . . If I put the ol' sniffer up to the front grill it is unmistakable.

I lifted the hood and see nothing obvious except that smell seems worse towards front of engine.

A quick forum search revealed nobody else with this issue. Do I need to take to dealer for a check, or could this be some kind of "manufacturing oils" burning off? Currently approx. 1700 miles on odometer, no oil change yet, so can't be spilled oil.

 

Fever,

Any type of typical new burn off smell should be gone at 1700 miles. I would check fluid levels first just to be safe and schedule a dealer visit if you believe the smell is indeed oil burning.

I would also take a look under the vehicle and make sure the smell is not something that melted to the exhaust system. Running over things like a plastic grocery bag and having it stick to the exhaust system will make a smell that will take a couple thousand miles to go away completely. There is usually a dark spot where the plastic melted on, so I would look for that. The last time this happened to me I could not believe how long the smell lasted. Just a thought if there are no visible leaks.

 

I've had some buring oil issues on my '11 RT. I've figured out by reading other posts (that I can't find now) that the Hemi puts oil in the intake via the crankcase vent (PVC valve). This is a result of the design of the Hemi engine, not a problem with your vehicle. Mine smokes at startup here and there. I'm guessing that is whats going on with yours as well.

A "catch can" will solve this issue. There are several out there, including an upcoming part from Mopar.

I suck at finding and putting links in posts, anyone who is better at it feel free to back link to the other discussions.

 

DodgeCares:
Interesting thought that it might be something burning, other than oil. . . that does remind me that several weeks ago, during rain, wet roads, my wife ran thru a patch with "road kill". . . It was like "shredded meat" sprayed on the lower doors and wheel wells. . it smelled gross. . . I wonder if the current smell is some residual of that, now being heated?

It smells like oil burning to me, but maybe something else.

A friend has lift, and I am hoping to get some time to take a good look from the bottom soon, for any oil leaks . . -or- plastic bags. : )

jdloyd01:
This is more like something burning in engine bay, not out the exhaust pipe.

 

Now that is gross. Does it smell like burnt dog?

 

46Fever, Sorry for the miss on that!

Anyway, my wife once ran over a dead deer lying in the road in our Caravan (it was the deer or a head on collision). It was pretty rank. It ended up messing up one of the motor mounts. The dealer fixed the mount under warranty and cleaned the underside of the car as well.

 

Does anyone have any info on the catch can for the Durango? Ive contacted Billet Technologies and they told me they do not have any plans on manufacturing a bracket for use with our trucks. Is the Mopar one going to be available soon?