Burning fluid/grease smell in interior?
 

I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that once my car sits for a while after driving and I hop back in I can smell what appears to be either a burning transmission fluid smell or a grease smell. It doesn't smell like burning oil or fuel, definitely transmission fluid or a grease of some sort. I hopped underneath the car over the weeekend to look around and didn't notice ANY leaks around the engine, transmission, or rear-end but the smell is still definitely there. The car drives fine and shifts fine. Outside of the smell the thing is perfect.

Any idea where this might be coming from? I searched for TSB's and couldn't find anything. My search efforts on the forum came up with nothing as well.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: '04 RX-8 base with 31,000 miles. Original engine, transmission, clutch, etc.

have you changed your tranny fluid lately?

I have not but it's on the list of things to do (transmission fluid and differential fluid).

Bump. No one else has had this problem?

people have had the problem before but mostly after having changed their tranny fluid. have you checked the cabin air filter?

What burning grease smell to you is burning rubber to some one else.

Bring it in to a rotary shop.

I'm able to determine the differences in smells between things. It's not burning rubber. It's not burning oil. It is what I'm saying it is and those who have ridden in my car agree. The strange part is the smell only appears when the car has sat for a while. When I'm driving the smell is not there. When I hop in my car 5 hours later it is.

I'm not familiar with a rotary shop here in Kansas. The rotary following here is nothing short of pathetic so I doubt there's even a market for it. All we have are Mazda dealerships which deny you service and otherwise just screw your car up. Ironically the ONE good Mazda dealership we had was closed due to lack of business.

Think I found the problem and it was transmission fluid. One of my bottles of Redline apparently didn't survive a turn and most of the bottle spilled all over my trunk. I noticed it today when I popped the trunk to grab some pre-mix while I was filling the car up. :tear:

that's gonna be near impossible to clean without taking out the trunk liner... ouch