Unless you’re a racecar driver testing the limits of your ride, smelling burning rubber from your vehicle is concerning. It could indicate various problems that can get worse if you leave them unresolved. As such, it’s crucial to locate and deal with these issues before they affect your vehicle’s health.
Here are the possible reasons why there’s a smell of rubber burning in your car.
There are different types of belts and hoses in a car, and the ones under the hood can produce a burning rubber smell when they come loose.
Usually where this is happening, smoke will also be a factor, followed by a leak, either of coolant, oil (spraying out) or air (sucking into the hose).
Because belts and hoses are often made of rubber, the burning smell could indicate a slipping belt due to a problem with a pulley or accessory component. If you think there may be a problem with a component, remove the belt and handle all the pulleys. Turn them by hand to see if they’re rough or have loose bearings.
Pay attention to when you smell burning rubber. If it’s every time you shift gears, it might be often due to an overheating clutch. If this is the case, you’ll typically notice the clutch slipping as well. Remember that riding the clutch can accelerate clutch wear.
Coolant, or antifreeze, contains ethylene glycol, which has a sweet maple syrup-like smell when undiluted. However, the odor becomes unpleasant when it leaks and makes contact with hot engine components. What most people don’t know is that leaking coolant can also be a fire hazard in the engine compartment.
Similarly, leaking engine oil that spills onto the exhaust manifolds, exhaust pipes, and other hot surfaces burns and evaporates to create a distinct rubber-like odor.
If you see signs of oil leakage on the intake manifold or the exhaust pipes underneath, suspect valve covers, intake gasket leakage (V engines only), oil pan, or rear crankshaft seal. To fix one of these, you have to make sure which one is leaking. You also need to make sure the last oil change was done right. Check the filter and drain plug.
Because electrical wiring is coated in plastic, short circuits and overheating can burn it off. This leads to a rubber-like smell plaguing your car.
The crazy thing about electrical wiring is that a very short piece of wire can blister and burn due to a short and make you think the entire vehicle is on fire under the dash, even if the only wire that is melted is two or three inches long.
The smell of burning rubber often stems from a component touching something hot. As such, you might smell it when the debris that entered the hood made contact with the hot engine. If some burnable object that doesn’t belong under the hood makes its way to the exhaust manifold, you may smell it burning. Plastic grocery bags can do this.
A damaged tire due to overloading, misalignment, or overinflation could also produce a burning rubber smell. It’s likely due to the rubber making contact with the asphalt, especially if you accelerate quickly from a standstill.
If you’ve recently done a burnout, you would expect to smell rubber smoke. If not and you smell tires burning, look for the tire to be rubbing against something while you’re driving.
A compromised brake caliper will heat up and cause a burning smell because it can’t release its hold on the brake pads pushed against the rotor. In severe cases, the heat could also cause smoke or even fire from the wheel.
You’ll usually notice a change in the way the brakes feel and stop the vehicle, or the vehicle may feel like it’s pulling against something that is trying to hold it back if a caliper is stuck. Also, the wheel will get very hot so you can feel it from 3 or 4 feet away when you walk around the car.
A catalytic converter removes pollutants from the car’s engine and converts them into harmless emissions. The converter, even when it’s working right, gets very hot because it needs to in order to work right on the inside. If anything plastic comes in contact with it while you’ve been driving and you’ve stopped at a traffic light or stop sign, you’ll notice a burning smell and may see smoke.
You can get rid of the burning rubber smell in your car by dealing with the issues above. Typical solutions include the following:
First, you’ll need to find out where the smell is coming from if you can. If you can’t determine the source of the smell and you see no smoke or fire, you may need to hire a professional to track it down, but a burning smell should never be ignored. Fires happen.
You can replace the belt or hose yourself if you know your way around your car’s systems. Simply thread it into position, crank the tensioner, and slip the belt over the pulley.
Of course, if it’s damaged, it’s better to replace it to prevent problems down the line.
Replacing the clutch (if it’s the culprit) should get rid of the foul smell. It would also improve your car’s drivability, as you won’t have to deal with shifting issues.
There are a lot of steps involved when changing the clutch. It usually includes unhooking the clutch and positive battery cables and disconnecting the electrical connections and the speedometer cable. Then, you’ll have to unbolt the engine mount before you can replace the clutch.
Check underneath the hood and examine the hoses for leaks. Tighten loose ones or replace them if they’re damaged to ensure the coolant won’t leak again.
Afterward, drive to an auto shop to top up coolant to prevent engine overheating and other problems.
Identify the source of the oil leak. One way to do this is by placing a cardboard under the engine and taking note of the spots that get oil.
There are different fixes depending on where the leak is coming from. For example, if it’s due to a loose oil pan, you’ll need to tighten the bolts.
You can also use stop additives to soften the engine gasket and seals to make them more flexible when you plug the hole causing the leaks.
To solve the issue of short circuits, you’ll first have to locate where it originated. Use a multimeter set to continuity mode and touch the black probe to the ground or the electrical circuit’s chassis.
Touch the red probe to the component you want to test and ensure both probes are touching a metal part, like a wire, a component lead, or the circuit board foil.
A multimeter reading zero or close to zero means the component you’re testing has short-circuited. Fixing the short circuit depends on its location:
Check under the hood to see if there’s any sort of debris that’s stuck to the engine. Remove anything that shouldn’t be there and inspect the engine parts for damage.
Note that the debris could have also knocked some components loose, so keep an eye out for those when you check.
Check your tires for damage and replace them if needed. If they’re producing a burning rubber smell because they’re not properly aligned or inflated, be sure to address the issue as needed.
Replacing the brake caliper when it’s worn usually involves the following steps:
Figuring out where the burning smell is coming from and promptly fixing the issue can be a tricky task. The safest route you can take when dealing with this issue is to talk to a mechanic and have them inspect your vehicle.
The lemon scent of the air freshener and the faint smell of smoke from the exhaust pipe are normal scents you might notice in your car. But if you’re smelling burning rubber from inside the cabin, that’s an entirely different story.
You could be looking at a wide range of issues that could be causing this symptom to pop up, and a careful diagnosis is a must to properly identify the faulty part.
Here at CarParts.com, you’ll find everything you need to replace the part that’s causing the smell (if necessary) and get your vehicle running like it’s brand new. We have engine parts, electrical components, brake parts, and more.
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