Burning Oil Smell Coming From Engine Bay

Up until recently, my 99 3.4L taco w/ 150k miles was my daily driver. My wife and I have been carpooling so my truck usually sits 3-4 days before its gets driven. About 2 weeks ago when I cranked it up, it sounded like a diesel truck when it cranked up. White (not blue) smoke blew out the tailpipe and then went away. Ever since then I've noticed a burning oil smell coming from the engine bay. I can't always see the smoke though. I've looked after 6 trips in the truck and have only seen the smoke twice, but smell it every time. I've attached a picture of the part that was evolving the smoke. It is on the driver's side and is close to the firewall. I've put a red arrow on the part in question. Any thoughts as to what the issue is?

 

valve cover gaskets are leaking... try snugging them down a little to see if they stop..if not i just posted some pics and things to look for,,,i just did mine today... need any questioned answered just ask me.

 

Thanks for the info. That looks to be an easy enough DIY project.

 

I have this exact same problem, since the smoke looked like it was coming from that exhaust manifold flange (and because I am an anus) I thought that the gasket there had gone bad. Let me know if tightening the bolts works for you, if you dont mind.

 

White smoke out the tailpipe to me that's anti freeze, the picture indicates that the valve cover is seeping some oil on the exhaust manifold, that would cause smoke under the hood not out the tail pipe.

If your not sure if its white smoke at start up after sitting a while oil galleys inside the cylinder head may be partialy clogged, causeing the valve cover to fill with oil, and the intake valve guides may be worn enough to suck in some oil at start up, just enough to cause a puff of smoke at start up, and not enough to indicate oil comsumption on the dip stick, and thats what you are seeing,just a guess of course.

I had a 350 Chevy V8 that had worn intake guides and after it idled a while and you gave it some throttle a puff of smoke would blow out the tail pipe, there was an aftermaket boot kit to install over the intake valves that cured that.

If you pull the valve covers off make sure the returns are not partially blocked.

 

I definitely think my problem is related to the valve covers. You could see a small oil stain where the oil had been leaking out onto that exhaust bracket (the place where smoke was evolving from). I tightened the valve covers and the smoking problem has gone away. The burned oil smell persists, although at a lesser degree. The truck is almost 13 years old. I'm sure the gasket it nice and crispy. I'm not seeing much oil loss on the dipstick, so I will change in after the holidays.

Thanks for everyone's diagnoses.