OK guys (and gals) this is really bugging me. About twice a day I'm noticing this burning smell while driving my car. It's not really that strong, but it's the same distinct smell. It seems to happen most after I get on her a little bit.

Yesterday I noticed the smell as I was pulling into the driveway, so I parked it and got out and went around the whole car and sniffed. I couldn't smell it outside the car anywhere. I got up under the car, and under the hood, nothing. I inspected everything thoroughly, and I didn't notice any smoke, steam or leaking fluids anywhere on the car. The smell is only appearant in the cabin as far as I can tell.

The car is running excellent, so the smell is the only symptom (knock on wood.) Any ideas what this might be?

TIA

If your valve cover is leaking it could be just the oil getting burned. Mine has been leaking a hair for the past month or so and it starts to smell once in a while.

I looked at it yesterday, nothing was visable. Externally it is dry as a bone.

did it smell like beans? It probably was the Taco Bell u ate... sorry. My valve is leaking alittle bit but I never smeleed anything before except coolant... Damn turbo making car overheat.
-Dave

<except coolant... Damn turbo making car overheat.>

Hrmm...maybe I'll check the coolant levels. You think I could be smelling coolant eh?

Check the gasket between the turbo and the DP. That always leaked for me and I could notice a burning smell under acceleration. Probably just an exhaust leak.

lower ur windows when u fart... that mite make a diff :P

really tho, wat kinda smell is it?


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<really tho, wat kinda smell is it?>

Kory, the closest thing I can descibe it as: My buddy had a civic with 110K on the factory clutch, his clutch started going out and it had this nasty burning plastic type smell. It's similar to that only not nearly as strong.

Now it couldn't possibly be my clutch, cause I only have 38,000 on it and 7,000 turbo'd, but I baby the clutch.

TIA

Get a CM Stage 4

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>Get a CM Stage 4

Amen to that one. I get the same smell after I get on it every now and again. If you find out for sure what it is. LET ME KNOW!!!

Check for wires near the exaust and turbo i noticed that the turbo heats up things quite a bit like loom and wire straps if the smell is inside check for it near the back of the engine bay (closest to fresh air ducting for the a/c (that is if you cant smell it on outside still)

"Check for wires near the exaust and turbo i noticed that the turbo heats up things quite a bit like loom and wire straps if the smell is inside check for it near the back of the engine bay (closest to fresh air ducting for the a/c (that is if you cant smell it on outside still)"

hrrmmm...you might be on to something there. I seem to remember passen telling me that "something is touching something else that its not supposed to be touching" when I picked the car up. I'll have to find my invoice from them a look at it.

Is it a smell kinda like gas (as in PUMP gas...not farts you asses....hahahaha)? Cause every once in a while after pushing my car it gets a smell that smells kinda like that in the cabin and I can't smell it anywhere else.

It could be the clutch. You may baby it off the line and when shifting, but the clutch is still being subjected to far more torque than it was ever intended to take and by nature of driving it in full boost you are putting a lot on the clutch. A lot of times you can smell them burning away but they are not quite slipping yet. I even smell that on some aftermarker clutches after really hard driving, especially after and AWD launch.

It's deffinately not a fuel smell.

Well, I'm getting a new clutch soon... probably a CM 4, but I need to do some more research. Maybe that'll resolve the problem

didn't stan(stan2gnt) say something about melting some wires around the firewall or something?

I smelled burning stuff once, found out it was a piece of wire loom I put on something that gets REALLY hot lol, it was melted clean off