Golf/GTI VII :: Distinctive Burning Smell Coming From Air Vents?
Mar 3, 2015
For the past month or so I've noticed that there are a few strange smells coming from the air vents on my GTI. Firstly, if the car sits for awhile and then is started it smells like that model airplane glue or some kind of strong adhesive inside the cabin. It goes away rather quickly. The second one worries me more. When I run the car hard for a few minutes (higher speeds, highway pull or two, etc.) and then come to a stop at a light, there is a very distinctive "burning" smell. It might sound gross, but the closest thing I can think of that smells like it is the smell in a dentists office when you're getting a cavity drilled out of a tooth.
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When stopped at lights I start to smell burning oil coming from the vents when I have the heat on. It only happens every now and then and only when you are stopped at a light. I tried letting the engine idle after driving once and I can't smell it when i open the hood. I do synthetic oil changes every 5,000 since the car was new. I don't know what it could be? My last oil change was about 2,000 miles ago so I can't see it being burn off from the last change still.
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So I was sitting in my car, running, parked with the ac on and out of no where I got an electrical/burning smell coming from the vents. My volts were reading 12 with ac on at idle but once my rpms reach about 7-800 it goes back to 14. My question is what was that smell? I've had 2 alternators go on this car (power draining aftermarket accessories 3.3 v6) and have driven the car for about 2 hours collective time since the problem started (usually alternator goes quick) and haven't noticed any lights dimming, ac blows cold, system still plays full tilt. could a bad compressor be causing putting some stress on the car?
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I have an extreme burning smell coming from my heater whenever it is on, curious I put the fan on cold and it still has the burning smell. I pulled over and got out of the car he popped the hood and I don't smell anything underneath the hood. I've been leaving it off because I don't want anything blowup on me... It is a 98 chrysler sebring convertible, and the low and medium don't work on it, it only turns on on high....
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When starting up my 2011 F-250 Gas, I have a burning smell coming from my vents for about a minute then it goes away. It smells like new electronics. My A/C seems extra cold as well. We just got back from a 3800 mile vacation. Its been going on now for about 3 weeks and never changes...
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So just about every trip that's over 20 minutes I'll get a smell, seems like it's coming thru the vents and it smells like burning wires or like you turned on your heat in your house for the first time of the year.... Is this normal??
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I have a 2003 Dodge Neon and recently had transmission work done on the car. When I got the car back the radiator cap was left loose, I didn't know this until I took the car for a drive and it overheated. I let the car cool down, replaced the coolant, and made sure the cap was sealed down. The car now has a slow coolant leak, when I turn the car off I can see it drip underneath for about 2 minutes and then it stops. Also, after the car heats up to running temperature I get a burning rubber smell coming through the vents. What could this be? The car only has 70,000 miles on it and I would like to keep it going if I can.
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I have a 2004 prius with about 350k miles on it, bought it about a year ago and we have had our first trouble with it (it's been great so far, and when you consider it's mileage, pretty impressive).
We were driving along and a constant alarm started (beeeeep!!!) and lights on the dash lit up. I assumed it was cranky because the rear hatch wasn't closed or something and kept driving (we didn't have far to go). It wasn't long before smoke with a distinctive burnt electronics smell started coming up from the dash at the front left lower corner of the windshield. Then the brakes started to feel very unresponsive and sluggish (no regenerative braking either). She still runs and drives. So here is where I am now:
The car screams constantly and the brake light, ABS light and the (!) light are all lit.
I've been poking about and figured out that my inverter coolant pump isn't working properly. At this point I am wondering if this is just pure coincidence though (i.e. perhaps its not been working for awhile). I will be replacing this soon.
I checked the error codes and they all seemed to be un-related and or old (catalytic converter not working properly, ran out of fuel, etc). I cleared them and no new ones are populating. (car has only been driven around the block 3 times though)
The 12 V battery seems to be working fine, and it's getting the proper charging voltage. (voltage tested through the console under various conditions)
I have reset the braking system (bridging the #4 and #13 pins thing) and this turned the buzzer and lights off for about 20 seconds. Still no proper brakes. And of course the noise and lights just come back. Still no error codes via my Bluetooth reader and smartphone.
I have my doubts that replacing the inverter pump will fix this brake issue. I am familiar with working on cars, but this is my first foray with 1) a modern car and 2) a Prius. (Previous cars are all mid 90s or older, so I'm a little bit overwhelmed here...)
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Took about a 200 mile trip this weekend, stopped at a rest area about halfway through and smelled burnt carbon, smelled like a burnt clutch almost. It was very strong and there was smoke coming from the engine. It wasn't a lot but it was cause for concern. I checked the oil, last oil change about 1500 miles ago but no problems there, temp gauge was in the middle. Let the car sit for a 10 mins or so and then headed of again. When I got home that night, couldn't smell it and there was no smoke. Car has 42K ... Also, I got an airbag fault light about 30 mins from my house.
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Mk7 GTI, currently at 5k miles but strong mildew smell coming from the vents.. I know the cabin air filters will last at least 15-20k miles.
I read before that the condensation hoses were sometimes installed incorrectly leading to run off inside the cabin. Can that be it?
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When starting the RX, I smell something I would describe as "burning insulation". It happens only first 10-20 seconds after the air comes out from the vents, and then the smell disappears. The smell is stronger after prolonged parking. It is the strongest in the morning and less noticeable after I start the RX 2-3 more times ( I usually make 6-8 short trips during the day). The smell was very strong when I started the RX first time after it was parked for one week (while we went on vacation).
There are no warning lights, and the vehicle runs just fine. I pulled out the carbon cabin filter (changed about 3 mo ago) - it did not smell and was very clean still. I am hesitant to go to the dealer-afraid they will rip apart the dash, which they probably will not be able to put back together without having rattles and noises after.
The smell comes from the inside - there is no smell under the hood after I start the RX.
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I am experiencing a strange rubber burning smell coming through their vents.
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My car had the smell of antifreeze coming from the vents, but it goes away when I use the "recirculating" button. Do u think it's the heater core? I hope not though. Also how much is the coolant suppose to be filled up too? Mine filled up a lot more then half the reservoir.
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While driving my Montero sport last week, I began smelling a burning rubber smell from the air vents. At the same time I noticed, on the dashboard, that both the brake, and, battery indicators had lit up. There was no smoke, mist, or off sounds, coming from the engine, and, the engine seemed to be running no differently than before this occurred. I drove home, parked the car for 5 days, and, yesterday visually inspected what I could see, which was almost nothing unusual. I started the engine and let it run for about 10 minutes in park.
The engine ran normal, no noticeable knocks or pings, no shaking of the engine, the belts ran smooth, no noticeable leaks of any kind. I checked all fluids and they were at normal levels, only the power steering showed a slightly lower than mid level of fluid, not anywhere near low.line. But, as soon as I started the engine, the dashboard indicators lit up and stayed on. There was only a very faint smell of rubber at the end of the 10 minute running of the engine, barely noticeable. The only thing that I did different recently was about 2 weeks ago I added a quart Pennzoil high mileage motor oil 5-30 instead of the usual GTX high mileage motor oil 5-30 that I usually put in the engine, as there was none available at the store. The auto has ran very well for the past year.
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Okay, so the car in question is a 2003 Escort ZX2 with roughly 110k on the clock. It's run like a champ up until now. My wife was driving it home from work the other day and said that there was a burning smell coming through the vents, then the coolant temp gauge on the dash went all the way to hot and stayed there, and the heat simultaneously stopped working.
She got it home and I quickly found out that the car IS NOT overheating. Something screwy is going on with the gauge and it will sit at cold for 10 minutes, then go all the way to hot, then sit in the middle, and it's just all over the place. However, the engine fan works fine and comes on at the appropriate time, the engine does not overheat at all, and other than the gauge acting weird and the heat not working, the car runs as it always has.
So, just a as a measure of preventative maintenance I replaced the thermostat, thermostat housing, and both clip-in coolant temp sensors on the thermostat housing. This seems to have fixed nothing, but oh well.
Next, I let the car heat up and checked the two hoses going to the heater core in the firewall. One hose is just slightly warm (even at full operating temperature) and the other is completely cold.
When you get in the car and attempt to turn the heat on, all the blower motor speeds work. When you turn the dial from cold to hot you can see under the dash that the cable that opens the blend doors is working fine as well. However, no heat at all, it's just cold air that comes from the vents even on the hottest setting.
The heater core isn't leaking at all, this has been confirmed.
So, I'm unsure where to go from here. The wacky coolant temp gauge seems like maybe it's the actual gauge itself that's gone south (in which case I'd need a new gauge cluster I suspect). The heat though perplexes me. Sure, the heater core could be plugged but that seems rather unlikely considering the coolant has always been regularly flushed and when you open up the radiator there's no gunk or rust or anything in the system at all.
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Sunday I got in my car and noticed a distinctive odor coming from the a/c and to my surprise not cold air. The temp seems to work as well as the fan and controls.
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I have a burning smell coming from the grill? noticed it yesterday while driving. 110,000 miles + volvo s60. no engine lights, no smoke, temp. gauge is not high.
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Having burning oil smell coming from the V6. Took it to the dealership and they tole me it has an oil leak on the the header then it burns off. It seems to get much worse when the RPM's are some what high. Only 70,000 miles too. Guess its getting to stay that way for a while.
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I got my heater core replaced about 2 months ago. Since than I get this almost like a burning smell coming through the vents. Took to dealer they said they dont know, because i replaced cabin filter, and they say they don't smell a coolant leak. So to find out they have to take apart my dash! Comes through when the car heats up/ or i turn on heater.
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After driving about 60kms yesterday for the first time and driving pretty cautiously to break the car in i noticed a pretty strong burning plastic like smell in our garage.
This is only my 3rd brand new car and i don't remember the other 2 having this smell..
does hyundai coat their new cars with Cosmoline? or another protective coating that burns off and takes a bit to go away?
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My wife was in the car today, and complained about a strange odor coming from the A/C vents. I would describe it as a slight vinegar/alcohol/sour odor. I think it is from the A/C vents.
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