burning rubber smell

[yurkope]

Just had the same problem. From the rear of the car, on both sides I could smell it by the wheel wells. The smell for my car was oil burning on the exhaust. The seals for my spark plugs were going bad, about 36,000 miles on a 2000. Very inexpensive to fix. I hope it is nothing serious.

Originally Posted by berj

Hi all,

I'll be calling the dealership tomorrow but I thought I'd get some opinions anyways.

Today I noticed a slight burnt rubber smell coming from somewhere at the back of my car ('05 base Boxster, 5 speed). It *seems* to be coming from around the rear wheels.. but I'm not sure. This is after I've driven the car for only 10 or 15 minutes and not hard at all (not revving past 4000 nor driving more that 50 or 60km/h).

Any thoughts as to what this might be?

[porsche986spyder]

I had this same smell happen to me right before my clutch went bye-bye. Make sure you are shifting properly. The car should not smell like burning rubber at all. If you do drive your car hard the clutch will give off this oder. If the smell last longer than 3 minutes I would think it may be time to replace your clutch or change your driving style.

Don't forget the hot mufflers are right there behind the rear tires. Very close proximity.

I have read that small bits of rubber from our tires gets kick back onto the mufflers (not to mention all kinds of other road debris) and this helps to contribute to that odor we notice. Don't know if it is true, but makes a lot of sense to me.

[FTD]

good post. I had wondered about that burning smell, too. It seems intermittent for me, and I have been watching the forum for answers.

[dmcutter]

That sounds reasonable. I smell that too, from time to time, and when I've had the car worked (including RMS at 15k miles) no one has ever said anything was amiss. I vote for rubber on the muffler!

[turbo23dog]

I've noticed the smell on my 00 S too. I pulled the engine cover off to take a look in there and noticed that the foam pad that is glued to the firewall is split and pulling free in few places. I thought that some of these hanging pad pieces could be the source of the smell but was not able to confirm this.

[RandallNeighbour]

And I thought that burning smell was the simple fact that I am one hot driver tearing up the pavement with my mid-engine curve carving machine

Went for a 2 hour drive in the countryside outside of Houston yesterday and the car smelled a LOT because I was running through the gears to 6000 rpm the whole time.

I likened it my boxster's version of one of those satisfying belches or farts after a great meal. :dance:

[Topless]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Don't forget the hot mufflers are right there behind the rear tires. Very close proximity.

I have read that small bits of rubber from our tires gets kick back onto the mufflers (not to mention all kinds of other road debris) and this helps to contribute to that odor we notice. Don't know if it is true, but makes a lot of sense to me.

I think this happens often and we just don't notice. I was coming down from a spirited canyon run once and a plastic trash bag drifted in front of me. I went right over it and noticed it never came out the back. It got sucked up onto the exhaust and just melted in. I took a stick and tried to scrape it off but couldn't get it all. The car smelled like burning plastic for weeks. Finally I got the car hot and put it up on a rack so I could clean it completely with a putty knife. I still get some burning smells when I park the car hot.