sigh...


i was driving today on the freeway, and as i approached the exit, i began to smell a weird burning rubber smell from the AC (ac was off, but i kept it so that the incoming air came into the cabin) and when i opened my window i could smell it. then it disappeared like 1 min. later

later on, on the local streets, i smelled it again. i cant tell but seemed to be coming from the engine bay maybe? the smell disappeared by the time i stopped and try to smell it...

and now, i just drove back home and no smells whatsoever.

what could cause this smell?

i have a six speed, and maybe i thought the clutch was burning or something, but i was on the highway so it makes no sense.

i tried to see if anything was stuck in the engine bay that may have been burning, but couldnt find anything. i also checked oil level, and seems to be fine.

any ideas?

 

handbrake on ?

 

Was your foot resting on the clutch?

 

nope...i was just slowing down in 6th gear as i exited the freeway.

i have 2000 miles on my car. could it be that there still was plastic and rubber being burnt in engine bay for break-in? or should it have passed that already a thousand miles ago?

 

I have a feeling it was just something new that was heated up enough to cause a smell for a few moments.... I'm not an expert, so I can't say for sure, but when my car still had just a few thousand on it, after running it on the highway somewhat hard, that very faint burning smell would be noiticeable, which i think is just typical new engine stuff.... I'm at 10500 and the car's running great, so I wouldn't be worried.


I changed my oil at 5000, then I did another change at 7500, then swithced to Synthetic at 10000, and she's running great!

 

If you just had a recent oil change that is the most likely culprit. The RSX owners have that smell because the oil drain causes the fluid to go everywhere and it burns off causing that smell.

 

is the smell coming from other cars that's burning fuel on highway/local or soemthing like that?? sometime i was wondering if the smell is coming from my engin bay too, but it's all from some other old car or van that put out white/blue smoke.......

 

Was your A/C on recirculate or fresh air? Were any of your windows open?

 

I'd lift up the car and take a look underneath. Look for oil or other fluid stains, particularly on parts that get hot (engine block, header, exhaust, etc.) It could be that you picked up a loose plastic bag got stuck and started burning.

 

my a/c was off, but recirculate was on. air from outside was coming inside.
no windows were open.

 

If recirculate was on, then air was not coming inside through the vents. Did you have the temperature set so that the heater was on? I get the burning rubber smell when the heater is on.