Burning rubber smell
 

I have a 2004 RL...my second one. About 30% of the time I shut the car off in the garage I smell a strong burning rubber smell. I've been smelling it a lot more lately and it's December in Connecticut. So....what's different? I put my 4 snow tires on and the gas we buy here is treated from Nov thru Apr. I don't know if these things have anything to do with the smell...the y may just be coincidences and it's caused by something totally different....but as I said, I smell it a lot more lately....even while driving...on and off.

Any ideas what it might be? Thanks.

If you did not notice the "burning rubber" smell prior to switching to your snow tires I would check to see if maybe there not rubbing somewhere. That could account for the burning rubber smell.

Thanks...I had checked with my wife (this is our family car) and she said she's noticed it at other times of the year too. Plus, this is our 2nd RL (had a 2000 previously) and we all noticed that the 200 RL smelled from time to time too...and that car had no snows. So...we have no idea what causes this...it's not every day...sometimes it's when driving...most times it's when we park it in the garage that we smell it.

Thx again.

My 97 Rl sometimes has the burning rubber smell when I park in the garage.

Do you ever put your hand on the tires to see how warm they are? The brakes make some funny smells when they're good and toasty too. With a car as heavy as the RL it wouldn't take too much to warm the brakes and tires. If you drive even remotely aggressively I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

Now that you have eliminated snow tires as a cause there are other things to consider. I would get the car up on a hoist and check around the exhaust manifold/pipes/muffler area to see is any rubber parts are making intermittent contact. Spark plug boots/wires for obvious damage etc and check the brake areas and tires for noticible rubbing/wear that does not look normal. The smell is "more pronounced in the garage because there is no airflow over the car to dissipate the smell in an enclosed area. Hope you can find the cause. A burning smell can mean nothing or be a disaster waiting to happen.

Guys. Thanks for the suggestions. I will take your advice and chk the other possibilities. I have noticed that the burning rubber smell is really only on the passenger side (when in the garage). Any other suggestions or actual experiences with solutions are greatly appreciated.

I'd check the inner fender liner if i were you. I have a 2000 RL, and same story as you. one day im driving on hwy over 80 MPH and I hear noise and smell as well. found out that couple of screws were loose and my inner fender liner was rubbing up against my tires when i was driving it. I looked at the inner fender liner and you can see where it was melting away from rubbing against the tires. I had to cut the part of inner fender liner with a razorblade!

Burning Rubber Smell
 

Coming home from church today my wife said, "I always smell a burning rubber smell when we come home." in our 2004 RL. I smelled it before, but never really paid much attention to hit. I may investigate a bit further and keep checking this message board for ideas. ....common in 2004 RL s???

Burning Rubber Smell
 

Chi-Town...thanks. I'll chk the inner liners.

Craig...I had a 2000 and now have a 2004 and have smelled the burning rubber in EACH car.

Recently I started to smell a burn smell from my 07 MDX. So I finally got under it and noticed a plastic grocery bag neatly wrapped around the muffuler pipe towards the end of the X. Now I having to deal with getting it off...... :whyme:
Our RL's ride low and probably collects stuff like plastic bags. Check well under the vehicle!

Check for leaks
 

Check for power steering fluid or others leaking on to manifold. This smells exactly like burnt rubber. Acura has had a problem with hose clamps!

Burning rubber smell
 

FAB and RLBoy,
Thanks. Those are two good suggestions for me to check into.
JD