Hi, All!

My son in D.C. emailed last evening that his (our) '95 855 starting stinking up, after about 5 minutes of driving, while he was driving it home yesterday. He thought it smelled like burning oil. Nothing untoward at the rear end (no blue smoke, no smell in exhaust). His oil level when checked after cooldown was 1 quart low (though this car is an oil burner, and he's not assiduous about checking the oil regularly). He says there aren't many fresh drips on the garage floor, but that recent rain runoff from the underside of the car (the eastern seaboard has been pounded with rain for the last 5 days) shows a rainbow.

Sounds to me like he's recently developed dripping oil from somewhere and it's getting onto the exhaust system. Likely spots I can envision:
-- the round disc on the rear flank of the cam cover (mirror image of the oil filling cap port)
-- loosened bolts on seam of cam cover
-- possible rear main seal blowout with oil drops being directed rearward by the slipstream of the car in motion.

Anything I'm missing? Anything notorious on these white blocks? I replaced the flame trap 18 months ago and it's associated plumbing seemed clear at the time.

I'll probably head down there with our '96 855 this weekend and swap cars and I'll get to deal with it, but I'm wondering ahead of time what I'll be facing.

Thanks in advance!

Rob Kuhlman