I have been noticing a weird smell lately while stopped at traffic lights and after i get out of the car when its been running a while. It's not an oil smell and not gas smell not really even an exhaust smell but maybe a mixture of all 3. well anywho i just made a 300 mile trip and the next morning checked the oil to see if it had used any on the way up, it did not, but... i did notice that weird smell that smells like a gas/oil mixture on the dipstick.. so im guessing that somehow gas is getting in with the oil and knowing my luck it will be expensive... btw i just had blown head gasket repaired about 5 months ago. any ideas?

unrelated to a volvo,but interesting and scary as well.years ago i bought a slant 6 dodge dart.dip stick was very,very full.i thought cool,all i have to do is get it home and drain some oil.well,the fuel pump diaphram was leaking and filled the block up with fuel.talking about a time bomb.had to rebuild due to shot engine bearings.surprised that baby did not blow sky high.got yrs out of it after that and so did the next owner.
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92-965-221k, 94-965-220k, 92-944t-211k

Nice call Spook! It could also be a leaky injector, usually #1, and the oil would have gas in it. If so, change the oil and clean the injectors.

Klaus
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98 V70Rawd(108Kmi), 95 854T(88K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)

Dear meangreenswede,

Good p.m. and may this find you well. I presume your car is a 960. I recall several posts, which involved the leaks from the fuel rail cap (at the front of the engine, in front of where the injectors are mounted. These leaks are far less common on the later 960 cars, and on 940 series cars.

A leaky fuel rail cap might account for the gasoline smell. This should be tended to at once. So far as I recall, the fuel rail will need to be replaced.

I doubt there's any way for gasoline to get into the oil, unless a spark plug died. In that event, gasoline would be sprayed into a cylinder, but not burned, if there were no working sparkplug. That would mean, that a small amount of gasoline could have gotten into the oil. It wouldn't take much, for you to notice it. If a spark plug were dead, you'd surely notice that!!

To check the state of the fuel rail, wrap some clean, white paper towels around the forward end of the fuel rail. Start the engine. If the paper towel smells of gasoline, you've find the source of the problem.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

spook