thklam

Everytime after I drive the car,there are so kind of funny smell came from the exhaust, it's smell something like burning.
I ask my friend to smell it, he also said it is weird.
Anyone know what's going on??

Jsuzuki

The car is still really new correct? When I did an exhaust upgrade several years ago, there was a funny nutty burning smell. It's the oil they use in manufacturing that is burning off.

Racer X-8

Wasn't me!:D

thklam

ohhh...
so that's normal, right?

I thought there's something happen to me car
:o

Thanks! :p

dcfc3s

I've seen new aftermarket exhaust systems take a few days for the oil they use on the pipe benders to fully burn off. If there's oil on the outside, it takes a little longer to burn off - not as much direct heat as inside the pipe, so it burns slower.

Heck, when I put my N1 GT on my '88 turbo, I drove it to the gas station, and with the car off filling up there was a steady stream of smoke coming from the exhaust! Sure was fun going out and burning all that off, though .

Dale

Randy

It's the smell of burning oil. Remember, oil is injected into the combustion chamber of this car.

rx7aggie

i have no AC in my s4 TII rx-7, and therefore drive with windows down and sunroof open. i have a free flowing exhaust (no cats), and as a result, i usually end up smelling like gasseous exhaust after 30 min of driving. gotta love rotary engines...

my roommate says to me, "you smell like gas", too bad chicks dont dig the smell, otherwise i could save money on cologne.

Speed Racer

My RX-8 had the same problem but it does go away after a couple of days. So I wouldn't worry too much about it.

SA22C

If any of you guys do install a free-flowing exhaust on your 8, especially one without any catalytic convertors, you will notice the stink factor of your exhaust rise big time. Rotaries smell like two strokes, especially on start-up, when the mixture is richer than normal.

It's all part of the joy that is the rotary! Seriously though, it's not that bad, and doesn't get into the cabin of my '79 RX-7, so I would imagine that the 8 won't stink you up. My previous RX was a different matter, however. It had some serious rust holes in the rear body panels, allowing exhaust gasses to enter the cabin. Needless to say, I didn't smell too good until I got that fixed.

SSS 01

It's common for the exhaust to be burning off weird smells, fumes during the run-in period of a new car. Nothing to be generally alarmed about. But after the run-in period, you should find the smell going away or completely gone.

bassik277

I have 700 miles on my car, and i just got that burning smell today, and it smells like somethings actually burning and on one exhaust theres some smoke coming out, has anyone had the same problem?

cueball

It is a normal for some new cars to have an odd smell for the first few days. It is not just exclusive to rotary.

jdl

I have a little over 1300 (that's thirteen-hundred) miles on my car. And I still get that whiff of burning oil smell in the cabin every time I drive.

It happens that a few days ago, while the car was parked, warm, and idling, I had the (accidental) opportunity to get my face right into the exhaust while stowing things in the trunk. Several times. The striking thing about this was I didn't smell anything like buring oil at all directly from the exhaust.

Yet, the burning oil smell inside the car persists. This has me more than a little concerned! Sure, "the rotary burns oil"...but I would expect the burned oil smell to come from the exhaust, not leak into the cabin like there's something wrong. Anyone else with similar experience?

RodsterinFL

I had a smell until I started using regular gas!

I contribute it now to carbon build up. The soot has disappeared (almost totally) I have 1800 miles.

vudoodoodoo

Don't worry unless it smells sweet.

B-Nez

I'm at 2800 miles, and I've figured out that slipping the clutch more than a little produces the faint smell. I had stopped halfway up my steep driveway (darned genie excelerator decided to not open at double-speed), and slipped the clutch a good deal to pull on into the garage. The smell was so strong, even my 4-yr olds carried on about it like a couple of drama queens.

Digisan

If that is the case I imagine our clutches will not last very long.

jdl

Sadly, this isn't my case. I get the burning oil smell in the cabin whenever I come to a stop after driving around normally. No racing/high reving/clutch slipping/whathaveyou.

I have discovered that it's strongest with the fan ON. With the windows up and fan OFF, no smell. And like I mentioned earlier, the smell is NOT coming out the back from the exhaust. It seems to be closely related to where the interior fan's fresh air intake is located. Also, I noted this happening since zero miles to today, now near 1800 miles, before and after oil change.

I mentioned all this to my service adivsor yesterday , and her suggestion was to definitely bring it in: this is not normal at all. I setup an appointment with my service advisor for Monday (9/8); I'll post the results.

rotorian

I've started to notice it the last few days as well. Seems to be if windows, or roof is open. Definitely a burning oil smell.
I have had to put about 1 3/4 litres of oil in, since I got it.

BTW I have about 6000 kms (3700 miles) on my 8.

8_wannabe

Ditto this (except the part about the drama queens. ) slipping clutch will do it, but occasionally I get that gas or oil burning smell just highway cruising or something. No apparent cause and it's very faint. I've got 3600 miles on my car, so I can't claim "break in" anymore.

SpYnalChRd81

So.. what were the results after you brought it in?
I just hope it's not an interior leakage problem on every car...

jdl

so many threads...! Seriously, sorry for failing to follow up sooner. Good news: the service manager immediately recognized the smell as "Kosmolene, a rust inhibitor applied to exhaust components." Well, I had my doubts about that, since I had nearly 2k miles on the car! Turns out, a little after 2k the smell is gone! Go figure. I reported that fact back to the service department for a data point.

Now I'm just flat-out pretty darn happy with this car, period!

Cheers,
-jd.

layzieb36

and i thought i was the only one :o

really glad to see other people have this problem :D