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Burnt clutch smell after WOT coming from auto trans
Hey guys, this is something I just noticed today after getting of the freeway and accelerating heavily. After getting up to 70mph under pretty much wide open throttle, there was a burnt clutch smell in the car. Thinking this came from the transmission, but it's an automatic, so I'm not sure if the auto clutch packs can/should smell like that. What does this mean? Is my transmission on its way out? Other than this "problem" I just noticed, it shifts smooth and I don't have any other issues with it
Trans fluid is reddish or pink, looks brand new since I just replaced the transmission maybe 1000 miles or so ago and flushed the torque converter and transmission completely. So no the fluid isn't burned. The weird thing is this happened twice, and only when I drove it hard, as in hitting vtec through all the gears up to 70-80 mph. It doesn't happen if I get up to that speed while driving normally/moderately
The Torque convertor is the only thing that could generate enough internal heat to make the trans smell in short WOT acceleration, but you're simply running through the gears once so I can't see it doing it enough to smell and not have noticeable TC slip.
Wondering if engine mounts are causing excessive movement and allowing something to rub or contact under WOT. Other wise you need a spot to do a 70 run and immediately stop and pop the hood. Hope it doesn't take you long to solve!
No, im not... I've never smelled cats burn before, but then again never had a car with pre cats... Is that normal for the cats to smell that way and for the smell to get into the cabin or is that an exhaust leak?
Precats have been around for decades so that can't be the problem as all the people would be complaining.
Did you drive the car before you replaced the trans? If so, any odor you remember?
Check for something on the exhaust, dripping fluid etc. Brakes sticking would generate the odor whether accelerating quickly or not, and I would discount the trans, especially without any indication of fluid overheating or being burnt.
Precats have been around for decades so that can't be the problem as all the people would be complaining.
Did you drive the car before you replaced the trans? If so, any odor you remember?
Check for something on the exhaust, dripping fluid etc. Brakes sticking would generate the odor whether accelerating quickly or not, and I would discount the trans, especially without any indication of fluid overheating or being burnt.
No leaks from anywhere, I've checked multiple times. I don't remember any odor before changing trans but then again the old trans was in no shape to go through gears hitting Vtec... So I didn't drive it that hard/hard as it slipped pretty bad. I keep checking the fluid, and at 1200+ miles now on the trans it looks just as pink as the day I filled it 2 months ago...
The odor has got to be coming from somewhere and entering the cabin some how. Odor noticed when windows up/closed or can the odor be noticed outside the vehicle? If when windows closed, sometimes odors can be pulled through the A/C system up through the condensation drain, and an exhaust system that has been contaminated can take quite a while to burn off and will be quite noticeable everywhere, in/out. On one of our cars the dealer left a plastic parts bag in the engine compartment that stuck to the exhaust, geez, it took quite a while to burn off, but the smell was always noticeable when the car was hot.
Keep digging and remember, any small fluid leak will be quickly burned off when it hits the hot exhaust and won't be readily seen.
Smell is noticeable in the cabin with windows up, as I'm entering freeway usually and stepping on it. Once I did stop shortly after because I was worried and smell was noticeable outside/under hood as well. Will keep looking...
I had the same thing happen to me last week. At WOT , I goosed it with an older M3 and it wasnt for very long but did it twice. The second time I got a really strong clutch smell. I have an automatic. And the fluid is exceptionally clean. I just did a 3x1 fluid swap about a month ago with DW1. I was leaning the fluid back toward DW1 instead of Redline. I have about 118k miles. I think as these cars get older, the dw1 may be too "slippery". So I may get the Redline D4 fluid, not the RTF. Still, some people say these Transmissions only last 120,000 miles so I may be wasting my time?
by the way speaking of " smelling engine oil dripping down on the exhast".. for 1to 2 years I have smelled people's radiator fluid and I have helped people identify a league that was about to occur because their hoses were leaking slightly and you could smell radiator fluid. And that person think of me because I save them a possible being stranded. So I know what radiator fluid smells like. And I'm old enough to know what radiator fluid smells like. And for about 2 years I've been smelling radiator fluid and it's worse when it's warm outside. So about two months ago I put in a Dye into the radiator. And I bought a black light. And to this day I cannot find any leaking whatsoever so I took the car to a a Honda shut up and Denton Texas. And he looked at it and said that he did a pressure test. And he said the radiator was not leaking. If I bet he didn't think it was leaking way before I got there so I don't know if he was biased or what. But his prognosis was that I have a valve cover gasket leaking oil down onto the exhaust manifold and creating that smell. And here's the weird part not only does oil not smell like radiator fluid but about six months ago I was at a drive-through oil change place in Plano Texas and I never go to those places. But for various reasons I went to a alube store on 15th Street because I needed to and I didn't have the ability to change my own oil. So I didn't say a word about any smells or anything leaking I just went into their shop and had the oil changed as a drive-through service. And the guy did his finger and said come here. And a said I have a head gasket leak and he pointed down to it. So there's something going on. I have a leak from somewhere and it smells like radiator fluid but somebody is telling me it's not radiator fluid its engine oil. And the mechanic in Denton said it's not a head gasket leak. He sent those engines are solid. So it is strange that I can smell something that seems like radiator fluid but there is no evidence under a blacklight and that anything is leaking. I've looked at the radiator itself I've looked at the intake throttle body I've looked under the car and no signs of any die with a blacklight anywhere..
so I never have fix it and it's been 2 years and then all of a sudden I get this splurging smell of a clutch burning..
but this time I honestly do think the clutches didn't burn because I got on it at wide open throttle and I think the dw1 fluid as I already stated is contributing to extra slippage at high miles..
Originally Posted by CaliBud916
Hey guys, this is something I just noticed today after getting of the freeway and accelerating heavily. After getting up to 70mph under pretty much wide open throttle, there was a burnt clutch smell in the car. Thinking this came from the transmission, but it's an automatic, so I'm not sure if the auto clutch packs can/should smell like that. What does this mean? Is my transmission on its way out? Other than this "problem" I just noticed, it shifts smooth and I don't have any other issues with it
let me retype that. Google voice to text doesn't work when you are in bed
------------------------------ I had the same thing happen to me last week. At WOT , I goosed it with an older M3 and it wasnt for very long but did it twice. The second time I got a really strong clutch smell. I have an automatic. And the fluid is exceptionally clean. I just did a 3x1 fluid swap about a month ago with DW1. I was leaning the fluid back toward DW1 instead of Redline. I have about 118k miles. I think as these cars get older, the dw1 may be too "slippery". So I may get the Redline D4 fluid, not the RTF. Still, some people say these Transmissions only last 120,000 miles so I may be wasting my time?
by the way speaking of " smelling engine oil dripping down on the exhaust".. for years I have smelled people's radiator fluid and I have helped people identify a LEAK that was about to occur because their hoses were leaking slightly and you could smell radiator fluid. And that person THANKED me because I saveD them from possibly being stranded. So I know what radiator fluid smells like. And I'm old enough to know what radiator fluid smells like. And for about 2 years I have been smelling radiator fluid and it's worse when it's warm outside. So about two months ago I put in a Dye into the radiator. And I bought a black light. And to this day I cannot find any leaking whatsoever.. so I took the car to a a Honda SHOP IN Denton Texas. And he looked at it and said that he did a pressure test. And he said the radiator was not leaking. BUT he didn't think it was leaking when I told him on the phone so I don't know if he was biased or what. But his prognosis was that I have a valve cover gasket that is leaking oil down onto the exhaust manifold and creating that smell. I was like what? And here's the weird part... not only does oil not smell like radiator fluid but about six months ago I was at a drive-through-oil-change place in Plano Texas.. I never go to those places but for various reasons I went to the QUICK LUBE store on 15th Street because I needed to and I didn't have the ability to change my own oil. So I didn't say a word about any smells or anything leaking... I just went into their shop and had the oil changed as a drive-through service. And the guy wagged his finger at me and said come here. And a said I have a head gasket leak and he pointed down to it. So there's something going on. I have a leak from somewhere and it smells like radiator fluid but somebody is telling me it's not radiator fluid, they said it is engine oil. And the mechanic in Denton said it's not a head gasket leak. He sent those engines are solid. HE SAID IT WAS A VALVE COVER GASKET!! So it is strange that I can smell something that seems like radiator fluid but there is no evidence under a black light that anything is leaking. I've looked at the radiator itself I've looked at the intake throttle body I've looked under the car and no signs of any die with a black light anywhere.. And the black light is a huge black light. one of those long fluorescent one's from walmart. So I never have fix it and it's been 2 years and then all of a sudden I get this splurging smell of a clutch burning.. but this time I honestly do think the clutches created that burning smell because I got on it at wide open throttle and I think the dw1 fluid, as I already stated, is contributing to extra slippage at high miles..(118,000 miles)
It should be noted that the more I smell "radiator fluid"... and the worse it gets, the more it starts to smell like engine oil.. oddly! (but this is a separate issue than the clutch smell)... Gee maybe its time for a new car? haha
Wow.. this might be why a TINY oil leak may smell a bit like radiator fluid until the oil leak gets worse.. then you may smell more of a normal burnt oil smell. This may explain why so many people on azine think they have a coolant leak but can't find it! So funny!
It happened again.. I was driving back from Tulsa to Dallas over the weekend. I was on the interstate and I nailed it hard and I had the right rear window cracked open.
I got a second chance to smell it again.. And boy it STINKS! And I must say that I re-read through all the comments and I think you may be correct about the CATS or Precat.
It took a good mile before the smell went away while doing 75 on the turnpike.
A mechanic I knew in the late 80's told me that when cats go bad, they smell like ROTTEN EGGS. That is what he said. Rotten eggs!
And I think the smell on the highway was more likely Cats than Clutch pressure plates.(or whatever it is called in a automatic transmission)
Because I was trying to figure out what the heck it was. It just STANK! And I think it probably was not the transmission, THANKFULLY! (112k miles)
And by the way, I do not experience any other shifting problems at this time. And no CEL.
As for the other smell I mentioned in the previous post, I noticed my transmission fluid was 1/2 a quart low! I think the 3x3 transmission fluid changes might actually drain a little more than 3 quarts on each drain and fill. You can let it set there and drip and it will keep on dripping a long time... So, you have to make sure and check the fluid level when HOT with the idle off. And yes, that dipstick is sort of messy to read. So verify the fluid level!
under full throttle, I suspect symptoms would show up first. Then as time goes on, the smell will be more continuous as the catalytic converter clogs even more.
I have not worked on it yet.. and I do not have a CEL. I am not sure if you can get a CEL from a bad converter anyway. But if it is the converter I would naturally think when they begin to go bad, the show signs at a high RPM first, because that is when the most flow is required. And that also when the most heat is pushed out. So, I suspect it only gets worse over time. Presently it does not smell at idle or moderate driving. I was logged into the ECM on March 29th, and I do not recall seeing any codes for the exhaust. I dont know if I had these symptoms then on march 29th or not. I know I had a smell coming from the engine, but not for sure about the cats. So, ya I had 2 different smells!
But I just took my car to a Honda dealer in Dallas and they are doing a valve adjustment and changing the valve cover Gaskets! So hopefully that fixes 1 smell from the engine.
I will address the cats later... Only 113k miles! haha and my DVD player is having random trouble reading the disc. And I just bought some new Faux Suede for my dashboard. Its like almost exactly like alcantara. And it cost only $15 for 1.5 wards at the local fabric store (50% off) . And I need to change the front shocks and springs. So I have too many projects.
10-02-2014, 07:47 PM
