Gear oil smell

You have a leak somewhere. I have never smelled gear oil with the top down. Tend to it soon, there is not a lot of gear oil to go around.

 

Have a quick look at your spider roof pump oil level. Its easy enough to do, its sat besides you under the cover between the seats. Different types of oils have there own smells, some of the thin hydrolic oils can smell very simular to gear oil. So when your roof is put down the pressure moves the oil within the pumps system.
You might have a leak in one of the multiple pipes that go into the distribution block and pump, or even a hood ram. You only need a few drops to start smelling it. Just thinking outside the box as they say.

 

Good, so you have ruled out that then. You did read the bit about the different smells different hydraulic oils give of right? However if you are 100% thats good
Now look at your water/oil heat exchanger, the oil in it runs from your gear box. Maybe worth checking V8 valley for any oil leak. Its located there.

 

Look at the c.v boots. Its possible they are weeping and intermittently and grease is being thrown onto a part of the hot exhaust.

 

It’s likely the speedo sensor. Ours was leaking and exhibiting the same smell you describe.

Lower LH side of the transmission, easy to snug down if leaking.

 

In my case, twice it was the banjo bolt connecting the oil line from the gearbox to its heat exchanger. The aluminum banjo bolt cracked, allowing the gear oil to leak out.

 

Make sure your heat exchanger is not leaking coolant into the gearbox. That would increase the level of the whole fluid, overpressurize the gearbox and eventually will start spitting out of the breather vent.
Its unlikely but not impossible as those go bad more than I thought they would.

 

My 98' 355 does the exact same thing. Checked for leaks, checked the cooling system, checked the boots and nothing. Just once in a while a whiff of pumpkin oil. I've given up looking for the cause.

 

One possible solution would be to put a suitable rubber "doughnut" which would go tight over the breather and be positioned at its bottom. Something like this:
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Then put a short rubber hose that would go tight over the bush and insert an elbow into the top of the hose to which you can connect a longer hose and bring it to somewhere at the back of the engine compartment or down. The elbow:
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