So for some reason on my A-Spec, whenever I drive the thing to hell and back, then pull into my driveway and get out of the car, there's a burning smell coming from somewhere near the engine. I read somewhere on this forum that if you're hard on the tranny, you will encounter a burning smell. And it seems to only be there after using tiptronic a lot, and gunning it. Is my tranny about to die?

could it be overheathed breaks?

please leave your opinion.

 

LOL--Smells like teen spirit--err, sweaty tranny to me!

My old one died not long ago, and honestly, my car NEVER smelled funny after hard driving before. But with my new tranny, the car does smell funny--almost like a smoldering smell--after really hard driving. I really do think its the ol' slusher...

 

with most cars I test drive hard (right off the lot of the dealership) you tend to get a burning smell too. Most of the time it's from the catalytic converter when the car is new.

 

i figure that since ur driving hard.. it also might mean braking hard... so maybe the brakes? just a thought

 

I wouldn't gun my car or brake hard on a new purchase. I noticed the same burning plastic smell coming from the engine the first few days i bought m ycar (mine's the regular TL not ASPEC or Type S)....the smell should go away by a few weeks..how long have u had the car for?

 

Most of the time its from the brakes.

 

yup, its from the brakes. happens to me sometimes too

 

i smelled something burning too when i was using the Steptronic feature of the trans on like those smlal highwats with traffic lights...i smelled the buring inside the car tho...i was just hoping it was something else that i drove by...i havent had any trans problems tho....knock on wood

 

burning smell definitely came from hard driving....notice it sometimes...must be the brakes

 

my car is 1.5 months old. Is that still considered to be new? I actually haven't really noticed it recently, maybe tonight i'll see what this puppy can really do and see if the smell comes up again.

Whatever I'll let you guys in T.O take a look when I come to the meet.

thanks for all the replies, keep them coming.

 

Mine almost has 17k and it happens to me also. I dont think its the breaks.. I got that burning smell on the highway with no lights.. I was dawging it for a while and then i slowed down to cruise and after about 5 to 10 sec I started to smell something nasty from the front of the car... Rarely on the brakes and I didn't use the breaks to slow down to cruise...

 

Thats just your engine being broken in.....mine was the same for the first 5000 miles or so.....

 

Its a brand new car with brand new belts, and hoses, so in hard driving, you are going to get some smell of burning plastics as those things cure.

P.S. you should try and be a little more gentle until the car is fully broken in.

 

Mine is 2 years and 28K mile. I always get the burning/weird smell when i drive hard... I think it's the exhaust gases. Doesn't the TL of rich when you WOT it? Maybe that is why it smells?

 

Dont they put some sort of undercoating on the new cars that gives off that smell? I had a Dodge loaner (which was brand new and it gave off the same smell after about an hour of highway driving). Might be normal, but you shouldnt be driving a new car that harsh to begin with......you need totake it slow with a virgin man

 

all these replies are awesome, but I have one question from all the responses. What do you guys consider to be brand new?

My car has nearly 4000km on it which is like 2600-2700 Miles.

Can I drive it hard? If not, then at what point can I start driving hard?

 

I drove my car hard after 400 miles...
My dad is a car freak and can build them on the way up. His simple reply was "train your car like you are gonna drive it forever", of course after fluids and such have a time to circulate and break in (brakes), then hammer down...

 

It's normal. With 2600-2700miles, you should be able to drive her hard. She's broken in. The smell should go away after another 2500. Things just need to set in that's all. When I installed my headers and exhaust, that smell was very noticeable. After driving it hard for a few days, I don't smell it anymore.

axleback

 

could be tires too