Fresh oil smell in car

I have a periodic fresh oil smell inside my car while driving. I had added a quart of oil a few days before. I have smelled burning oil before but never fresh oil. It’s a 1997 Lumina, and had intake manifold gasket replaced 3 months ago.



A/C is shot, and all freon has leaked out. I ran A/C anyway and heard a noisiness. Now I hear same nosiness while heater runs in the setting next to the A/C setting on dial. No noise in other heater settings. Could these two things be related?

There is (was in your case) oil in the compressor. If the freon leak is in the evaporator, then you could get the fresh oil smell inside your car.

Thanks Keith. I haven’t smelled fresh oil the last few times I’ve driven. Oil in compressor sounds serious. Do I need to see my mechanic? Still smell oil burning at times. Have 143,800 miles on car. Had fuel pump, O2 sensor, and EGR valve replaced in the past year. Good power, but sometimes seems sluggish some.