burning rubber smell

[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?

[drburton]

Is this new and different? My car always smells like it is burning after I drive it and I think this is pretty normal for Boxsters. It alarmed me at first, but I don't worry about it now. If your car never did this before and it is completely new you might want to have the dealer take a look at it. Maybe you just never noticed it before.

[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:

[Kirk]

I have this smell too. Loren who runs Renntech told me what it was one time at one of our tech sessions. I can't recall exactly what he said though, but I just kind of shrugged it off as not being important then. I think he said it was either oil burning (I do have a little seeping oil but no drips) or from heavy use of the brakes. Why the brakes would give off a burnt rubber smell though I do not understand. I do notice this more after driving 100+ mph and then having to use the brakes heavily to slow down...

Kirk

[super66]

05 box and it stinks like burning rubber time to time too

[Jacques79]

Good I'm not the only one.

I have a 2000 S and it smells like something burning very often when I park it and leave my car.

More often than not it's right after I zing the car up to redline a few times during a drive.

This didn't happen with my previous sports cars...hmm..

[CJ_Boxster]

Check the MAF wire, if it isnt attached to the wireloom clip it can melt the extra insolation on the head/valve cover.

[chitowndad]

Wow, my car also has a burned smell when I park it and it coming from the same area. I was surprised at how many other guys have the same issue! Bonus to the guy that actually figures it out

My car has 9,000 miles on it and it's a 2001 S.

Thanks,
-Steve

[blueillusion97]

Guys Guys...... Just stop doing burnouts and the smell will go away

[kt1]

Are you lowered? Rubbing on the Quarter Panel wheel well liners? Sometimes if you drive with the AC on and a lot of city driving you can mistaken that burning smell with a clutch burn smell which happens often on manual transmission vehicles.

[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.