Achilles97

Stock 2008 with 15,000 miles.

A few times recently I have noticed a slight burning smell after pulling into the garage after a drive. At first I thought it was just the wind that day blowing exhaust back into the garage but a few days later my wife mentioned it too. I also remember a distinct odor in the cabin recently after I did a strong pull through a few gears. Although I am not an expert in smells, it seems like burning oil smell.

Oil levels look fine, although I haven't driven that often recently so I am not sure if I would immediately notice levels drop due to oil consumption.

I haven't heard another LS7 in person, but the engine seems a bit noisy. I recently had the dealer take a look at it while I was there for a State inspection and they said it was just the normal sounds of the fuel injectors.

I hate to say it, but I am slightly worried about valve issues. Is this a sign that I should take it to a good shop and have them check the valves? I am just out of factory warranty but I have one more year on a 3rd party warranty. If I am going to pay out-of-pocket for a health check, should I take it to a good performance shop or the dealer? I am in the DFW area, so I immediately thought of 21st Century but I am not sure if they do general work like this.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!

2k Cobra

I don't think the valve guide issue would cause the "Burning Smell". If it was my car, I would have a wiggle test done on the valves anyway.

If you don't see anything looking under the hood, I would jack it up and look underneath. The exhaust runs by the tranny and diff. If any leaks there, you would smell it.

If you had it serviced it recently, they could have got some oil on the exhaust checking levels.

Good luck, 2k

jedblanks

Any leaks? A little bit of smoked fluid goes a long way in the smell dept.

Are you riding the clutch hard? They smell when beat on.

C6z06man

I've noticed the same thing on my 09. Only 6800 miles. I smell it after a good run through the gears and come to a stop quickly. And when parking sometimes. I've pretty much narrowed it down to clutch. So I'm trying to be conscious in not slipping it too much. I was just under the car no leaks anywhere.

Achilles97

Hmm. Maybe it was clutch smell as I have a decently steep driveway. The clutch smell during acceleration could be attributed to the shift.

I'm going to take a closer look this weekend as it's time for me to change my oil anyway. In a hopefully unrelated topic, I am going to do the wiggle test on the valves just to ease my mind. I'll report back if I find anything out of the ordinary.

Thanks!

carpe dm

That "hot rubber/oil" smell is common after a hard or long run, especially if you park the car in a garage where it is more confined. I have noticed it for years and have not seen any problem arise from it.

Jawnathin

My car did this if it wasn't driven for a while, then I got the cats really warm. If I drove the car regularly I wouldn't smell it.

I haven't smelled it in a while since I went with High Flow cats and Headers.

This is also pretty common, look it up.

C6z06man

That sounds right. Mine only gets driven once or twice a week. So mostly sits and it definitely seems worse after the first hard pull after sitting.

y2kvette

Smell your rear tires. Not joking
warm rubber puts off rubber/burning smell
I have the same issue on warm days or jack rabbit accelerations then parking in garage.
I wasn't burning rubber either

fishdoc

Yep - same thing worried me in the beginning - then I discovered it was just the tires - and I hadn't been spinning them - maybe a little hard cornering though...now I kind of enjoy it...

MTPZ06

Make sure you didn't pick up a plastic bag and its now melted to your exhaust. Not a good smell...

Achilles97

Thanks for all the responses. I'll smell my tires next time

C6z06man

you know now that you said about tires I can see how it does smell similar to tires. I'll check it out too..

jedblanks

mental picture of you smelling tires and someone walking up going WTF???