'01 Dodge Caravan smells like something is burned or burning when the heater is on. Both heater motors run fine on all speeds, no noises, but doesn't seem to be heating like it should.
View 6 RepliesWas driving home just now when my car (2003 Dodge Caravan SE) started acting strange. Stopped at a light, it started going back and forth a little, like the transmission was stopping and starting. As I drove I noticed that it kept doing that when I had the accelerator pressed slightly. When I pressed the accelerator more fully, the problem seemed to mostly (not completely) go away.
When I got home (after driving like that for about 2 miles), it seemed worse. When I stopped the car and had it idling in Park, the engine died. I was able to restart the engine, but it seemed like it was having trouble staying on (though it did for a minute or two until I turned it off).
When I got out of the car, I noticed a bad smell coming from the engine, like burning. Also noticed a loud sound, like knocking. My first thought was that I didn't have any oil. So I checked the oil and the transmission fluid. Both were fine. After about an hour I restarted the car, and it wasn't doing it anymore. Maybe because the car had cooled down?
What this might be or what else I can check?
The van a 2001 Dodge caravan ran without one of it's fan speeds for the last couple of years, but had enough other selections for the fan that it really didn't matter too much. Now the fan has actually quit working completely with no prior warning. The van has just over 200,000 miles on it. Where do I start, and can I check for voltage just before the fan, and how?
View 5 RepliesA 2000 Passat with the 6 cylinder and automatic transmission. 95,000 miles has a burning smell...especially with the heater on...Changed the oil about two weeks agao ...and now with the heater on the car smells like its burning... You can see smoke coming off the rear of the motor when the engine cover is pulled off. .
Could it be a head gasket?
Could it be a rear seal?
Could it be a valve cover gasket?
Could it be the tranny leaking?
Anything typical of these V6's that might give possible insight? Local car mechanic was looking at the car and said "take it to the dealer" ....
My Caravan heater fan runs only on high speed. Am I correct in assuming that this is caused by a burned out heater fan resistor? If I am correct, where is the heater fan resistor located? I understand the 1995 to 1997 Caravan and Voyagers are all alike. I looked behind the glove box and didn't recognize anything as being the resistor. The fan cover is there but if I took it off, I wouldn't know what the resistor looks like!.
View 6 RepliesI have a 2006 Dodge Caravan, My AC unit works great. With the heater, it will work for 2-3 minutes, at which point it starts to blow cool air. I can leave it running, but it never gets warm again, if I turn the fan off for 3-5 minutes, when I turn it back on, I get a good amount of heat that goes for about 2-3 minutes before blowing cold air again.
View 1 RepliesFor about a week I started smelling gas. Checks things out and didn't see anything until today. It is the lone on top of the tank where the plastic piece (fuel pump?) connects to the hose. What is the size? The auto store has three generic replacements but said they don't know what size mine would be. Otherwise I have to take it off and bring it in and try to eyeball it. Not sure what the part is called, but is looks like some two piece clip.
View 19 Replies2013 Elantra GT ... It is winter on the east coast and we turned on the heater and the car began to smell like an electric wire is burning. It literally is making us sick. The A/C did not produce this smell. The dealer says it is normal.
View 9 RepliesMy 2003 Dodge Caravan instrument and radio/heater lights stopped working. I don't see any bad fuses or fusible links. Odometer and other service lights work fine.
View 1 RepliesOver the past 6 years, searching for this problem--burning rubber smell coming from the heater in y 2003 Baja. Not so bad if the re-circulation is on, not so bad outside the car, can be smelled beneath the hood, but unbearable inside. It isn't plastic, oil, fluid, gaskets, wiring, it's rubber, like burning tires. Was barely noticeable when I bought the car 6 years ago, making me think it was just the tires, but it has gotten worse and worse and worse. Sometimes it takes 50 miles to happen, sometimes two, but when it does, I have to open the windows or shut off the blower.
View 10 RepliesNoticed a smell like rubber burning about 40 minutes into driving my car today. When I turned off the heater it went away. What this may be? Possibly the last legs of my heater melting away?
View 6 RepliesMy van has quit me finally. It only has 98,000 original miles on it. Right now the car really smells like it is loading up and not properly burning fuel. Also a huge amount of white smoke is coming from the exhaust pipe. The oil pressure is good. could it be as simple as new plugs and plug wires, coil pack etc.
View 3 RepliesOkay, 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.
I drive a 2003 jeep liberty with about 98,000 miles.
Over the course of this winter, I've noticed a very strong smoky / burning smell whenever I've had the heater and blower on in my car. It's easier to notice it when the car is sitting still (say at a stop sign), or driving slowly. If I shut the car off and walk around it, I notice the same smell outside of the vehicle, around the front end.
My initial guess was an exhaust leak. I've had two independent shops look over the exhaust system carefully (with a probe) and they've found no leaks anywhere. They also checked all of my fluids (including oil), and said that everything was at the proper level. I also had them spray some cleaner into my vent fan's duct work, just to see if that would do the trick (they didn't charge me for it since they weren't 100% sure, and it didn't work).
The other day, I stopped the car and noticed a small amount of gray smoke coming out from under the hood. I had just bounced over a pothole when I noticed the smoke. I opened up the hood (with the engine running), and saw a small amount of smoke coming out from the left side of the engine, from beneath the coolant reservoir. The smoke was dark gray in color (looked almost like wood smoke). I asked the mechanic at the gas station where I'd pulled over to take a whiff - he said it smelled like burning oil. Within about 30 seconds, the smoke was gone, but the smell lingered.
He told me that there could be a small amount of oil leaking down onto the exhaust manifold and burning up, but that was just a guess.
So here's what I want to know. This smell is terrible. I have to figure it out, because whenever I turn the blower on, the smell is practically choking me. In the interim, I've been checking the oil level every time I drive (once the engine is hot), just to avoid a potential disaster. The oil level has been consistent over the last couple of days, though I haven't been driving very much.
I'll bring it back to the shop, but what should I ask them to examine? Could it be a bad valve cover gasket? Loose oil filter? Something else? Is this a problem that many Liberties have?
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....
View 9 RepliesI have a 2005 Durango with the 4.7L engine with 140,000 mile and there is a burning oil smell coming through our vents. I also smell it when stopped at a light or drive thru and when the hood is raised. Our mechanics can't find anything. We've changed the plugs and wires, replaced the valve cover gasket and water pump recently, and can find no leaks or evidence of leaks. It uses oil a little, but mostly over a long period of time or on long trips.
View 3 RepliesI just had my van inspected and tires rotated...van sits for a few days then travels 20 miles and am now smelling something burning and smoke is coming out from front right tire. Other discussions say calipers/pads and that's ok BUT my question is since my van only has @24,000 on it, did the mechanic do something when he rotated my tires? I am a senior citizen and only use my van once a week.
View 6 RepliesI 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.
View 6 RepliesI have a 2001dodge caravan that I can't seem to get the engine temp up on. I've replaced the thermostat and the coolant temp sensor and topped off the coolant. It raised the heat to the first line but once the vehicle is being driven the temp drops to 0 and heater blows cold. During the summer the vehicle runs at normal temp. Have disconnected the ambient temp sensor which did nothing to better or worsen the problem.
View 10 RepliesResurrecting this 2001 2.7l, I noticed the horrible gas mileage.
I'm thinking o2 sensor, but it doesn't throw a code... Anywhere else I should look? I've changed Crank Position Sensor, Fuel Pressure Regulator, plugs, and brakes.
One note, when the a/c is turned on, I can smell a burning kinda smell. Maybe the clutch on the compressor is going out, causing some parasitic type of power loss? idk. Car seems pretty peppy now that it has a new CPS.
I have a 2001 T&C, 3.3L, 4-Speed tranny and around 116K Miles. On occasion, I totally lose power steering for about a second or two. It acts like the engine has stalled and I have to muscle the steering wheel. There no belt squealing, no pump noise, and the serpentine belt is relatively new. PS Fluid level is good. It seems to happen at idle RPM.
Of all the caravans I've had, this is a first.
Now, I'm OK with it as long as I don't let anyone else drive it. I know what to expect, and I can muscle the steering when necessary. Once this happened to my on a highway offramp and I was able to control it with no problems. I suspect it is a problem with the rack, maybe?
My question is this: Is this an indication of something going terribly bad, like the total loss of steering control?