I just recently got a new valve cover gasket for both front and rear for es300 97. It was leaking for maybe 2-3 years? Oil dripping down all over the engine and stuff. Finally got it fixed. Got most of the burned oil from around the top sides of engine but the bottom or hard 2 reach places couldn't clean those up. I turned on car and was smelling around the car and i can smell the same smell i get into the car when i turn on the air which is coming from the front of engine near the timing belt. I was wondering how would i get rid of that smell? It smells like prob dirty burnt oil maybe? 172k miles on car

 

All you can do is look around your engine bay and clean/scrub till you get tired. Otherwise the culprit will burn off in time.

 

+1

and most cleaners end up stinking too...

so... drive the car, windows down, on the highway on a hot day...

 

I just checked my cabin filter. It appears that i never had one and i don't think i ever did service it before. There were some form and dirt on the bottom. I was able to get out a lot it it with a vacuum cleaner but i am pretty sure there is more further inside but i cant get it further in. I think it smells better not after cleaning it. That form inside smelled really bad, i think when i had a rat inside it ate it up so that is why it is inside my car. I ordered a cabin filter so i think it will filter out the smell + dirt, so it should fix the problem. I felt some type of metal radiator(maybe a/c?) when i was sticking my hand inside the cabin filter area. Is it possible for dirt and other particles to clog it up?