Just got a weird chemical smell on my way back from lunch and the a/c stopped working. Pulled up to the garage and there was a smell of burning under the hood, plus a fairly loud hum, and also these weird noises that sounded like electrical discharges from underneath.
View 21 RepliesHad numerous problems the last 9 months, and we've replaced the thermostat, water pump, clutch fan, flushed radiator. Last week we thought the heater core had died (air blowing cold, but gauge not indicating any overheating). But it just need flushing, had a clog. Has been kicking out the heat ever since.
What is bothering me though is that the temp gauge always seems to be right at the C, even after driving for a while. Before the van had issues, it stayed right between N and O.
Then this morning, I hear a loud pop, smell horrible burning antifreeze and smoke/steam pouring out from the hood (I managed to park it immediately, had just dropped son off at school). After I'm parked, all the antifreeze puddles underneath.
So hubby comes, and we see that the top radiator hose has blown, with a lovely crack/hole from one side to the other. Now, that hose was old, and probably was a big part of the problem.
We fixed it, and I just drove it again, but I am watching the gauge. And the van is blowing nice, HOT air from the heater. But the gauge is staying right at the C. Used to run between N and O. It is jumpy...not jumping towards hot, but little jumps...below the C, above the C, up to the N, back down to C...it just seems strange to me; it doesn't go past the N at all and spends most of its time at or below the C.
I guess I am wondering if there is any other reason why the hose could've blown this morning besides it being old and worn out....for example, excess heat and pressure building up that for some reason is not registering on the temp gauge? It's making me nervous. Is there something else besides the thermostat that could cause erratic temp gauge or cause gauge not to show me the true engine temp?
So my '01 E350 has been fine but tonight when I went to start it I didn't get a WTS light and the SES light was on and there was a weird number on my PHP Hydra that looked like r5 ? This happened a few times back to back so I tried starting it and it just cranked and cranked. Wtf? So I started pushing the button on the chip and all of the sudden I got the WTS light and the hydra flashed, now the chip was on tune 10 instead of 5 where it was when I parked it. I should also note that during these episodes there was a fairly loud clicking/clunking sound coming from the drivers front under the hood when I toggle the key on.. Sounds like maybe a relay? Louder than I recall ever hearing.
View 5 RepliesI have a 2007 BMW 328xi with only 46000 miles. About three weeks ago, I heard some pumping noise under the hood so I drove the car to a repair shop for estimation. I was told that the AC compressor stopped working. When I drove out of the repair shop about 5 miles, the car stopped running and was towed back to that repair store. After the new AC compressor was installed, the car still could not be started. It was then towed to dealership. Now I was told that the AC compressor failure caused engine chain problem, to fix it. Does it make sense? How AC problem can cause engine problem?
View 19 RepliesLately my 2002 v6 has been smelling like it's burning oil from under the hood. Around the front exhaust manifold, there's a wet black "powder" type substance. Oil levels are fine and the car has also been driving without any issues. The car hasn't overheated but then again, I live in NJ where the temperatures don't go above 35F.
I'll be posting a picture tomorrow.
The car has 144k and the timing belt, water pump, spark plugs were done at 120k.
I recently noticed that my car was starting to smell like oil burning off. Soon i realized that from time to time there would be a bit of smoke form under the hood I looked under the car and noticed that oil is dripping onto the cat but i am not sure from where. There is not alot of room in the back of these engines to see.
View 3 RepliesYesterday I made a 3 hour round trip with my car, and on the last leg coming back into town, I noticed my check engine light came on, and I saw white smoke coming from underneath the hood of my car, along with a burning smell. Luckily I was able to make it home just fine. I've googled this issue, some people have suggested coolant leak.
Also, I checked the oil levels today and they appeared to be slightly below the lowest level tick, which could be why it was having issues yesterday. Last time I got an oil change was November of 2015. I'm surprised it's this low considering I normally don't commute farther than a couple miles each day.
While waiting at a stop light my car totally died, there were no warning lights, the car is a 2011 Subaru forester with 52,000 km. I had it pushed off the road, tried to restart it with jump cables but it would not turn over. I noticed an odd burning smell when I opened the hood. There were rat tracks on top of the engine area. I had the battery pulled out and replaced with another fully charged but it did not make a difference.
After sitting for two days, I restarted the car and the engine managed to turn over but very very rough, a mechanic thought there was something loose in the engine. I currently live in Mexico and closest subaru dealership is 5 hours away. I will need to get it towed there but I would like to have some idea of what it may be, my thought is somehow a wire got chewed off but I had driven it about 20 miles that morning and then it just stopped dead.
I have a new 2013 Hyundai Accent (automatic, 4 cylinder) with less than 1500 miles on it. The day I drove it off the lot and up until today, it randomly smells like burning rubber. It happens whether it is hot or cold, driven two miles or thirty miles. The smell is coming from under the hood but I know very little about engines, so I'm not sure what it is. I have told the dealership and they don't seem to care. I may not know much about cars but I know that that smell is not normal, especially in a new car. What could be causing this...
View 7 RepliesI purchased a Certified Pre-owned 2008 Lexus LS 460 in January 2011 with 29,000 miles. On April 2, 2011 I was parking my car and smelled wires burning and then saw smoke coming out of the hood. I immediately cut the engine, got my kids to safety and called 911. The firemen threw water on the engine and disconnected battery. It was towed to a local Lexus dealer and has been there since. They believe it was the starter, but the repairs as of yet are not complete. I submitted a claim with headquarters to give me my money back or a comparable vehicle. I am concerned about the safety of this vehicle and any residual chemicals and smoke that may remain with the vehicle.
View 12 RepliesI have a 2002 Honda Odyssey. The other day while driving, and today after just starting up, the car makes a whining noise, multiple lights on the dash illuminate (charge, all door open indicators, brake, and brake light bulb indicator) and when I open the hood I can smell a slight burning smell. I thought maybe something was frozen, but the belt is not unusually warm, and all the pulleys I can see are turning.
View 17 RepliesI have a 2001 F150 4x4 supercrew XLT 4.6 with 150,000 miles. I have a few things happening in the truck, and although it is still running for now, I would like to get ahead of this before something catastrophic happens, and I don't know if everything is related, or everything is falling apart separately.
1. I have been noticing a burning smell coming from under the hood after driving, every time I drive, but no noticeable leaks, and oil level is fine. I have seen light smoke coming from the exhaust but inconsistently. A mechanic said it was probably the valve cover seals leaking to the manifold, but I would think there would eventually be less oil on the dipstick?
2. When on the gas, over 2200 RPMish, the air and AC switches to defrost. It seems like a vacuum line leak somewhere, but can't find it.
3. Generally, the truck seems sluggish, sometimes unwilling to shift gears or accelerate at freeway speeds. Not sure if its the transmission going out again (had it replaced at 125000), or spark plugs?
My Phaeton had the typical burning oil smell so I suspected the Camshaft cover gasket. However when I looked at the service history the gaskets were only just changed in 2012.
When I inspected the car closely I found the RH EGR vacuum line was disconnected (pipe cracked through).
Unlike the Audi A8, the VW 4.2 looks like it has 2 EGR valves, and not one. So I reconnected it, and so far, the burning smell is now gone!!
I am a newbie on the VW 4.2 but is a disconnected EGR a likely cause of oil leaks? (ie positive crankcase pressure). It makes me wonder if all the people whom are changing their cam cover gaskets, should be checking their PCV/EGR's instead??
I have always had a occasionally burning smell in the cabin when I am using the heating system. Has never happened in summer. Only happens randomly in winter when I am using the heat. I don't think I have seen steam and stuff and definitely no water puddle in footwell area. This strongly makes me think that I have a leak in the heater core area, maybe not the core itself, just o-rings and things like that. Vw has checked many times and replaced the valve gaskets. But the smell is still there. This morning when the smell came, I opened up the hood immediately and I think the smell was around the passenger side plenum chamber area.
View 1 RepliesMy car smells like some plastic part is burning inside. The heat works just fine but for some reason i am getting this horrible smell. How to get to air filter of the fan.
View 5 RepliesI own a 2001 Buick Century Limited that has 208k miles on it. A couple days ago I started the car up at a friends house and noticed that it had a loud rough idle and that the check engine light came on. When I drove the car home, the CEL would flash when I accelerated and I could smell something burning. When I released the gas pedal and coasted, the flashing CEL would return back to a solid state but I could still smell the burning. When I would accelerate, the CEL would start to flash again. Whenever I was stopped at a stop sign, the flashing CEL would again be solid and there would be a loud rough idle along with the same burning smell. Am I looking at an engine replacement or an easy fix? One problem or could it be multiple problems?
View 9 RepliesOn the way home this evening the car, 3.0L TDi of 2006 vintage started making a rather loud and horrible whooooooooooOOOO noise - following the revs of the engine. Pulled in and the power steering failed...well..it came back briefly as the revs increased then went.
What do we think? PS pump? Did it lock causing the belt to make that noise as it couldn't turn the pulley, then die altogether?
Is the PS pump on the same serpentine belt at the front as everything else? I took the engine cover off and could see that the belt was still under what appeared to be normal tension.... What are the pumps like to replace?
What would be considered normal variation in idle speed? VCDs shows my Phaeton idle speed jumping between 680 rpm and 720 rpm fairly rapidly. I feel like the car is hunting too much at idle causing excessive vibration. There are no codes from the engine or transmission. Am I looking for a problem that isn't there?
View 6 RepliesI have a 2003 Pontiac Gran Am GT 3.4 and i just noticed yesterday when i start my car now it sounds like i have one lifter that is fairly loud, it goes away about 10 minutes after its running. It did it for the first time when we were at the inlaws yesterday, after a few hours of sitting i went out to warm the car up and heard it. Then in the evening after sitting for a few hours i went out to warm it up and did it again. is it possible to be dirty and need something ran though the engine like seafoam?
View 3 RepliesMy wife's 2012 Camry XLE has developed a brake squeal after a car has been parked for a day at her work or in the driveway or street overnight. The brakes squeal in the beginning when a car is maneuvered out of a parking spot or driveway (backing out) or pulling forward with foot on the brake pedal. After that, during normal city and freeway driving and using the brakes, the squeal does not appear and brakes work fine.
I thought it might be rust but that would be gone when brakes are used. What could it possibly be?
I have a 2008 Mariner that has just started making a fairly loud chirping noise from the from. It is not always there, sometimes when the car starts it doesn't always start for a minute or two.
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