Engine has faint burning smell

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Old 01-21-2010, 07:17 PM
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Engine has faint burning smell

My engine has a faint burning smell and gets hot really fast even after just a mile of city driving and returning home. I purchased the car second hand and it has close to 100k miles. The engine oil hasn't be changed yet and is at 40% oil life. The temperature gauge seems fine and is usually right smack dab in the middle of hot and cold.

I don't think this is normal. Should I get it checked out or should I just replace the engine oil ASAP? The previous owner told me he used pennzoil conventional oil and fram filters..ugh.

I have pennzoil platinum full synthetic and a k&n filter ready to be installed.
Old 01-21-2010, 07:35 PM
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Burning Brakes
 
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Check your coolant.

Might be time to do a radiator flush. GL!

btw platnium aint all that great. i know its cheap but if u want soething really good, go for Castrol Edge. A bit more pricey tho
Old 01-21-2010, 08:41 PM
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coolant level seems fine. i just did a half flush (about 1 gallon) and topped it off with prestone long life coolant. i'll do another flush when i do my oil change or something.
Old 01-21-2010, 09:02 PM
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na dont do no half ass stuff yo

if u ganan do it, do it right the first time. flush the whole radiator
Old 01-21-2010, 09:06 PM
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Does it smell like rubber?

Does it smell like oil?
Old 01-22-2010, 07:42 AM
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I have a faint burning smell too, but only when I run it hard. I'm gonna do a radiator flush this weekend and see if that does it.
Old 01-22-2010, 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by gilla_monster
I have a faint burning smell too, but only when I run it hard. I'm gonna do a radiator flush this weekend and see if that does it.
It happens to me, after i cleaned my cats and put exaust i think cuz there is no cat to stop gasses idk, but smell like gas when i run it
Old 02-04-2010, 01:57 AM
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I started smelling the same thing these last two days, but it happpens right after I start her up from a cold start. Then it fades away before driving.
Old 02-04-2010, 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by 1FAST_TL
It happens to me, after i cleaned my cats and put exaust i think cuz there is no cat to stop gasses idk, but smell like gas when i run it
hrm, i don't have any gas smell while driving or after driving.

Originally Posted by t0talacuratl
I started smelling the same thing these last two days, but it happpens right after I start her up from a cold start. Then it fades away before driving.
for me, the smell comes only comes on after driving.
Old 02-04-2010, 08:30 PM
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I think I narrowed it down to whenever I leave my seat heaters on. I turned it off last night, and did not smell it this morning when I cranked the car.
Old 02-07-2010, 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by t0talacuratl
I think I narrowed it down to whenever I leave my seat heaters on. I turned it off last night, and did not smell it this morning when I cranked the car.
Do you mean it's the smell of burning ass? Haha.
Old 03-01-2010, 10:28 AM
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Well boy do I feel stupid! I took a spin down to my local Acura dealership to see if they could diagnose the burning smell. They diagnosed it alright... A plastic shopping bag had gotten caught on my new XLR8 j-pipe and was burning as the exhaust would heat up. I never bothered to look! Who new it could be something so simple? Beware of the obvious before you go tearing the engine/interior apart.
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