Burning smell in 2012 Hyundai Accent

[Darrell KSR]

My daughter tells me that she smells something that smells a little like burning rubber or something in her car. There are no other indications of anything, no gauges/lights, no sounds, no differences in driving, etc.

Is this something just to sorta "watch," or should I drop it off with the mechanic to have him look at it?

I assume an OBD II reader wouldn't be of any help here, would it? No codes, etc. (It does generate some other readings, but I have no idea what those really mean.)

[Darrell KSR]

Googling around, it looks like it could be any number of things. Because of that, I guess I'll just tell her to drive it til something else happens.

Question--can I go someplace and have the engine steam cleaned or something, and maybe that will get rid of any oil or other fluids that could be burning off? Is that something I can do at the local car wash myself, or should I avoid it so I don't put water in the wrong place? Or is that just a bad idea altogether?

[KeithKSR]

Googling around, it looks like it could be any number of things. Because of that, I guess I'll just tell her to drive it til something else happens.

Question--can I go someplace and have the engine steam cleaned or something, and maybe that will get rid of any oil or other fluids that could be burning off? Is that something I can do at the local car wash myself, or should I avoid it so I don't put water in the wrong place? Or is that just a bad idea altogether?

I used to get a product called Gunk, spray it on the engine and hose it off. Some car washes have and engine degreaser setting, it may operate at a lower PSI than the regular setting.

[dan_bgblue]

My daughter tells me that she smells something that smells a little like burning rubber or something in her car. There are no other indications of anything, no gauges/lights, no sounds, no differences in driving, etc.

Is this something just to sorta "watch," or should I drop it off with the mechanic to have him look at it?

I assume an OBD II reader wouldn't be of any help here, would it? No codes, etc. (It does generate some other readings, but I have no idea what those really mean.)

I started to ask a gazillion questions, but in your case, I would have it looked at by a professional. No sense in having the auto burst into flames on the highway

[Darrell KSR]

I'd rather it not burst into flames on the highway, but I think I might at least try the gunk stuff Keith mentioned and see if maybe just cleaning the engine gets rid of the smell. If it does, it's over; if not, maybe take to the mechanic. Because, as you know, I have NO idea what to do with a car.

By the way, I did change 4 headlamp bulbs recently--two in my Honda Odyssey van; two more in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have to replace the actual headlamp in the Jeep also; somehow the bulb came loose before, melted the headlamp interior, banged around in there and broke, etc. I put the new one in, duct (or is it duck) taped it in place to it was in the middle and not resting against anything, and it's sorta ok for now. But when it melted away part of the headlamp interior, it messed up the projection, so you can tell it's not as effective of a light as the other one, even though I upgraded both lights from the previous standard OEM bulbs.

I was quite proud of myself for being able to unplug a bulb and plug another one in. That's my limit. Oh--I did change sparkplugs and wires once on my old Volvo 940. I wish I had that one again. Even I could work on some things in it; there was so much room to see everything and most things were pretty straightforward. I don't know how anybody does any work on an engine these days; everything is so compacted.

[KeithKSR]

I've bought replacement headlight assemblies off eBay fairly reasonably a few times. After about a decade a lot off lenses took on the foggy look, which restricts a lot of light.

[BigBluePappy]

I'd rather it not burst into flames on the highway, but I think I might at least try the gunk stuff Keith mentioned and see if maybe just cleaning the engine gets rid of the smell. If it does, it's over; if not, maybe take to the mechanic. Because, as you know, I have NO idea what to do with a car.

With the luck you seem to be having with vehicles here lately you might want to have a Catholic Priest/Exorcist on standby, just in case.

[Darrell KSR]

I caved and brought it to the mechanic today right before the ball game. My daughter said the RPMs revved up in 4th gear and then went back down, and with two things, rather than one, I dropped it off.

I received a call at 5 that they took it on a test drive and couldn't replicate either the smell or the RPM anomaly, but they said they'd keep it overnight and do it again tomorrow morning and call me.

[Doc]

I'm betting (figuratively) its a belt.

[Darrell KSR]

Well, they took it on two test drives and had 3 different people smell it, and couldn't replicate the smell or the RPMs. So I picked it up today.

[Darrell KSR]

For what it is worth, I never smelled it, either. But my wife and daughter both swore there was a smell.

[CitizenBBN]

Well if it's not a problem with the car that leaves:

1) Someone is a smoker and doesn't want to be found out, and is smoking those new green cigs made from recycled tires.

2) They were in a construction / paving zone, which will get in the car and linger, esp. if tar got on the car

3) The government control chips in their basal ganglia are malfunctioning. If they reset they can cause you to hear and see and smell things that aren't there.

4) They secretly read this board and get a kick out of our discussions of car issues and are just pulling your leg for the joke.

[dan_bgblue]

CBBN makes a good point. If the climate control system is set to draw outside air into the stream, mine always is, then if they happened to be following a semi that had a malfunction in their braking system and the brakes were dragging them they would get a burning smell sucked into the vehicle and it would linger for a while. That is just one example of how they would smell something and 10 mins later the odor was gone.

Glad to hear the mechanics found nothing.

[Doc]

It also could have been something caught up in the wheel well that was rubbing on the tire that eventually came free, or a piece of the plastic that forms the the wheel well that was rubbing and is worn so no longer rubbing.

[KeithKSR]

For what it is worth, I never smelled it, either. But my wife and daughter both swore there was a smell.

How many times? If it was a one time thing I'd chalk it up to the odor entering the car from outside.

[KeithKSR]

CBBN makes a good point. If the climate control system is set to draw outside air into the stream, mine always is, then if they happened to be following a semi that had a malfunction in their braking system and the brakes were dragging them they would get a burning smell sucked into the vehicle and it would linger for a while. That is just one example of how they would smell something and 10 mins later the odor was gone.

Glad to hear the mechanics found nothing.

Most vehicles draw fresh air inside anytime you don't have the heat and air controls set to off.

[dan_bgblue]

Not the ones I have had recently. They have a setting for recirculate and one for outside air

[KeithKSR]

Not the ones I have had recently. They have a setting for recirculate and one for outside air

Even on the recirculating setting the ones I have had still seem to pull in some outside fresh air.