# Oil Burning Smell

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** saab, 900\
**Created:** [February 4, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821 "2010-02-04T02:17:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![BHJensen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BHJensen](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BHJensen)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821/1 "2010-02-04T02:17:35Z")

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I’ve noticed that when I turn my 1990 Saab 900 off, there can be a smell of oil burning. I never was concerned about it because I don’t see smoke but now I’ve seen that the oil level has fallen below max–never had that problem before. What might be causing this burnoff when I turn the car off?

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**Author:** ![edb1961](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/edb1961/32/122_2.png) [@edb1961](https://community.cartalk.com/u/edb1961)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821/2 "2010-02-04T03:06:33Z")

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Check if the oil pressure sending unit is leaking. It’s easy to miss.

Ed B.

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**Author:** ![BHJensen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@BHJensen](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BHJensen)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821/3 "2010-02-04T04:15:34Z")

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Is that the same thing as the oil pump or what is that exactly?

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**Author:** ![hellokit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6a8cbe/32.png) [@hellokit](https://community.cartalk.com/u/hellokit)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821/4 "2010-02-04T04:19:13Z")

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If oil is leaking onto the hot exhaust and burning, it could catch fire. If you can’t fix it, you could have a barbeque

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**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/oil-burning-smell/43821/5 "2010-02-04T14:56:25Z")

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If you don’t know the difference between a sending unit and a oil pump that just means you probably won’t fix it yourself. Just have your mechanic find and fix the oil leak that is dripping on your exhaust manifold or exhaust pipe.