Hey guys,

For a little bit, ive been noticing a wierd smell coming from the car.

I only smell it when im at a stop, Usually with the fans sucking air into the cabin, expecially when its set to warm air.

It smells similar to burning rubber, and the smells coming from under the hood... in the oil dipstick area to be exact. What could it be? My clutch? I dont feel the clutch slipping at all... Maybe some kind of wierd travel on my shocks? Theyre pretty much dead because of my S.techs, so im swapping in coilovers soon.


Maybe I should put new break and clutch fluid in? I recently did my first diff, tranny etc, but forgot to do the clutch and break.

If you guys have any idea what it could be, let me know.

Its just really wierd to have the smell come into the car, as you cant smell it from outside unless you open the hood.


Thanks for your help guys.

 

Check the engine again. But most likely plastic or rubber compound on your muffler pipe etc.....

Worse case is CAt converter. Check for a plastic bag on the pipe or something.

 

If you're sure the smell is coming from that specific area, use a flashlight to check out the surrounding area. Look for oil spilled around the base of the oil filter pedestal where it will puddle or around the joints between the engine housings. Other than that, like Razz says, look under the car for a melted plastic bag. You can also replace the cabin filter with one of the special aldehyde units.

 

True, ill check it out.
thanks guys

 

It could be coming from your transmission. Mazda is having problems with the seals on the transmission which are leaking. Not enough to be noticed but enough for the smell to enter the cabin. I think there is a tsb on it. I had the same problem and it was replaced. They had to drop the transmission.

 

good to know. Ill see what mazda Oakville has to say about it... (canada)

 

I had a prob just like that. Only smelled that way at stops. I looked under the car and there was sum drip comming from what looked like where the tranny is mounted to the engine. I took it to the dealer and they said it was sumthing like a silicone seal that was loose or sumthing. Maybe thats it?

 

I too have been smelling nasty orders but only in the morning. Right after warming up the car, drive for about a mintue or two, I can smell what smells like oil burning. I understand 8's consumer oil as by design, but didn't smell this much the first two thousand miles. I now have close to 3k.

Nedor

 

Oh, by the way, you didn't tell us if it's a new car.

New cars do that. It's the plastic the using in transportaion. They peel it off at the dealership. Sometimes they miss some.
Anyhow it still leaves a residue and smell for a week or two.

 

Nah, its about 1.5 yrs old.

Im just trying to think....
It sorta smells like clutch now that I think about it.


When a clutch slips, can you constantly smell it?

And what does slip feel like?

Ill look into the tranny thing.

how urgent is the tranny leak anyways?

I have midterms for the next week.... so i cant spare anytime for anything and its smelt for a good 2 weeks ish

hmm.

If its my clutch, looks like ill be getting a new flywheel too :-D

 

I have 19K miles on mine and have noticed a smell in the last few months. Smells like I'm sitting behind a car that burns more oil than gas. Funny thing is, there are no cars around to smell. Is this what it smelled like for those of you that had bad tranny seals?

 

Clutch slip is most noticable when lugging the engine, i.e., running it at a lower than optimum rpm, well below the power curve, for the existing situation. Do a test. Find an up hill section of road and drive up hill while slowing the car to a low rpm (like 1,500-2,000) in a high gear until you feel it lugging, then floor the accelerator pedal. If the car bucks, your clutch is OK and the smell is likely coming from somewhere else. If the engine suddenly revs to a higher rpm in the same gear without the car moving accordingly, your clutch is slipping.

BTW, I don't recall reading any threads about leaking transmissions and I'm on here every day. Not to say there are none, but if there are some there aren't many. You should do a search on that.

BTW#2, Oh, my Canadian cousins tell me that there is no such thing as Canadian Bacon in Canada.

 

Its called Pemeal bacon

And ill do a test, good call.

 

I'm failry certain I'm getting the same smell when I come to stoplights. It started the first night I really pushed my car and now it's constant. Could it be that little bottle of reserve oil next to the washer fluid (going to check that today) however if it IS the TSB, how do you go about getting the dealership to fix it?

 

Woooo!!! 69 posts sweet... oh damn it I totally just screwed that one up!

 

I had a "Nasty Smell" too but it hapen when I was going on the freeway I hit redline in 3rd an when I got off like 10min later came to a stop with the windows down I can smell this "burning rubber smell" too.

 

did you trying pulling that bum you ran over out of the grill yet?

 

LOL! no but could have been a cat or something

 

got it all fixd up,

Seems that he four bolts on the tranny just under the shifter assembly was loose, and we leaking fluid allll over.

My mech said that it was a good thing I was runnin redline, as it ignites at 200 degrees higher then what I was using before, so a fire was prevented

 

I know it's late, but if it's help to anyone later on down the road, I went and had the fuel recall done and smell is gone. Either that or the super air freshener I got from the dealership covers it up. My bet is the first one though.

 

I have been noticing a nasty burning rubber smell also. When I stop and get out of the car, it's very noticeable. Other people getting into the car have commented. I thought it might be related to my high oil consumption. I'm now using a quart every 6-700 miles. My car just turned over 23k miles. I'm bringing it into the dealer in a couple of weeks. My old dealer has closed up shop, so I'm trying out a new one. I hope they are more responsive to my problems. I seem to have new problems every week. Good thing I have my dependable Kia.

 

Might it be a plastic "burning" smell? If so, check out your exhaust system for a melted plastic bag. Your oil consumption seems quite a bit too high. Ask the dealer to check it out.

 

I had this smell too.. In my case it turned out to be the seal on the top of the tranny,, where the shift arm is located. Completly covered under warranty. Have your deallers service people check it out.
Good luck.
Grey

 

Thanks guys. I complained about the smell a while ago and the dealer told me there was a plastic bag on the exhaust. 8's must really attract bags, because I have never had this problem on another car. If the dealer gives me this line again, I will ask them to show me the melted bag on the exhaust.

Anybody want to buy a smelly, oil burning, rough idling RX8?

 

Guys I had a similar problem. For a year, the service people couldn't find anything wrong with the car. They checked all the seals, etc. Finally yesterday when in service the engine gave an error code. As it turns out it was my cat converter. The honeycomb inside it was all worn out. They replaced it and the smell is gone! Worth getting your cat. converter checked.