burning smell- not the heating

[olebrock]

Just to add my tuppence worth, I sometimes have the same smell (I would say hot/burnt rubber smell) with my 1999 2.0l auto. It appears to come from the rear exhaust end and more noticeable after I've reversed into my driveway !! I checked all over for any suspect piping over or near the exhaust but can not find any clues - I don't have any evidence of oil leak marks that Andy suggests (on the 2.0l the exhaust does'nt go under the engine).

Would anyone know if this could be a possible 'cat' smell ? (not the moggy kind )

[Doone]

I don't know what's causing the burning smell from your 2 litre, there could be many reasons which may not include the cat. But cats can give off a burning smell and HERE'S A LINK with general info about cats. It includes 'burning rubber' smells and although the smell can come from the cat, it's generally caused by something else affecting the cat.

[dunslair]

Just to add my tuppence worth, I sometimes have the same smell (I would say hot/burnt rubber smell) with my 1999 2.0l auto. It appears to come from the rear exhaust end and more noticeable after I've reversed into my driveway !! I checked all over for any suspect piping over or near the exhaust but can not find any clues - I don't have any evidence of oil leak marks that Andy suggests (on the 2.0l the exhaust does'nt go under the engine).

Would anyone know if this could be a possible 'cat' smell ? (not the moggy kind )

I have noticed a hot / acrid burnt rubber smell a couple of times with the bongo (but not recently) It happened on a short run of about 1 mile or so, even before the engine had an oportunity to warm up. When I have started it up again to have a better look about to isolate the smell....nothing. (ours is a 2003 2l auto) My initial thoughts were air con related, but that could have just been because it was moving the 'smelly air' through the fans. Mystery to me.

[olebrock]

Did a road test on mine to try and find the burnt/hot rubber smell. Going up hill in 2nd/3rd could smell the rubber when stopped at the top. Going down the same hill no smell at the bottom. It seems 3000rpm + get hot rubber smell, below 3000rpm no smell. Slipping belt/s ? Replaced the easy single vee A/C belt and re-tightened the Alt/P.Steer belt, big improvement only a slight smell now ! Just need to wait until weather gets better to get under the van to change the mini-v belt (have to remove the tension pulley - can be done from the top but easier from underneath !).
Check your belts/tension first. Note - I don't get the normal belt screech when pulling away as usually associated with loose fan belts!!!

[ninjasmith]

Hi there,

Firstly it is quite hard to spot as the oil, on mine at least, was very slow trickle from one of the seals on the drivers side. It trickled down the engine, to the sump rim, that rim is then angled towards the rear of the car and it drips onto the exhaust.

Look under both sides of the car just behind the drivers doors. On the drivers side you will see the exhaust run acrossways to join the other pipe, before it then travels down the nearside of the car to the rear. Where the sump corner is, is generally where it drips, you may see a darker colour on the exhaust. Use a clean tissue and rub that round the edge of the sump to see if it picks up oil.

If you look at the sump at the front (this is hard as there is the lower engine cover in the way, and also the plastic cambelt cover across the front of the engine, you may see the oil as well, here it generally shows more as it gets mixed with dust and dries off a bit.

Some pics.

Drivers side looking at back of engine:



Passenger side looking at back of engine:



Notice the oil staining on the exhaust.

This is the front of the engine from beneath, this is during the seal replacement and all the belts, pulleys, covers etc are removed. My one was leaking from the top left hand camshaft seal, you can see traces of the oil leaking downwards:



Smaller pic of above, red line points to the seal that was leaking, green circle shows where the leak was hitting air and gunging up, this is right next to the cambelt tensioner, that was fine and can easily be tested, the tensioner is around £300, unlikely to fail mind, mine was fine.



I have to say the difference now without that smell is amazing, you kind of get used to it in a way and not having it now is great. I did see smoke once a few mins after setting off, sitting at a red light, thought the car was on fire !! That was the thing that prompted me to get it sorted !!

If you need further help with this let me know. How old and what's the mileage on yours out of interest? Cost wise you are looking at around £75 for the bits (that includes a new cambelt and 4 oil seals) and about a days labour. The coolant has to come out too.
Andy

the good/bad news is that the underside of my van looks exactly like the photos here. so its a cam seal oil leak I think....

[apole]

Hi,

Sorry to hear that, but remember you don't have to have it done immediately if you don't want to.

Andy

[ninjasmith]

just to finish off this thread. is was a cam shaft seal. had it fixed at MD motors in walthamstow. nice guy there mick. did me a pretty good deal on it. mot, full service, front brakes, cambelt and two of the seals all for under 600!!

now fingers crossed thats all for the year (he says hopefully)

[mikeonb4c]

just to finish off this thread. is was a cam shaft seal. had it fixed at MD motors in walthamstow. nice guy there mick. did me a pretty good deal on it. mot, full service, front brakes, cambelt and two of the seals all for under 600!!

now fingers crossed thats all for the year (he says hopefully)

Thanks for the update. That sounds like a pretty good price for all tat work. Hope it behaves now for many happy miles.

[Swindlebiscuit]

A tremendous long shot – but does anyone (Apple?) have the original photos from this post? It sounds like exactly what I need to check a similar issue on our wagon...

Thanks!

Hi there,

Firstly it is quite hard to spot as the oil, on mine at least, was very slow trickle from one of the seals on the drivers side. It trickled down the engine, to the sump rim, that rim is then angled towards the rear of the car and it drips onto the exhaust.

Look under both sides of the car just behind the drivers doors. On the drivers side you will see the exhaust run acrossways to join the other pipe, before it then travels down the nearside of the car to the rear. Where the sump corner is, is generally where it drips, you may see a darker colour on the exhaust. Use a clean tissue and rub that round the edge of the sump to see if it picks up oil.

If you look at the sump at the front (this is hard as there is the lower engine cover in the way, and also the plastic cambelt cover across the front of the engine, you may see the oil as well, here it generally shows more as it gets mixed with dust and dries off a bit.

Some pics. CUE: MISSING PICS

[the laird]

Think you'll find it's the camshaft seals are leaking if its av6

[Swindlebiscuit]

Think you'll find it's the camshaft seals are leaking if its av6

Thanks for the reply.

As a bit of a mechanical dolt, is this something relatively easy to fix yourself? Or is it **shudder** many hundred quids at the garage type of job?

[Simon Jones]

Bit of a big job for a DIY'er. Worth getting them changed (along with crankshaft seal) when you have the cambelt done. If you're due a belt then get the whole lot done in one go. Typically cost round about £500 as it's at least half a day's labour.

[Swindlebiscuit]

Bit of a big job for a DIY'er. Worth getting them changed (along with crankshaft seal) when you have the cambelt done. If you're due a belt then get the whole lot done in one go. Typically cost round about £500 as it's at least half a day's labour.

Thanks Simon.

Just to check - do you think that, assuming this is the result of a seal leak, then this is unlikely to cause serious issues?

I'm just concerned that by driving around in the van I'm doing long-term harm to the engine.

Cheers!

Paul

[Simon Jones]

Depends where the leak is. You don't really want it leaking onto the cambelt as it may weaken the rubber. Probably be alright for a while though

[g8dhe]

Depends on how bad it is but I used FORTE SEAL OIL SEAL CONDITIONER available on EBAY for about a 12-18 months, until got round to changing the Cambelt and doing all the front seals. It was noticeable from the time we bought it 6 years ago then after 4 years it was getting a bit strong, so last year started using the stuff and then at the beginning of this year got the garage to replace all bits up the front of the engine - its worth doing everything at the same time as a lot of the work is simply getting access to the front of the engine which is a bit tight!