speedweasel

Has anyone noticed a burning rubber smell coming from the rear end of the car?
I have 5500 miles and am getting a bruning rubber smell after driving more than 30 miles.
It definitely is not oil, or cosmolene smell.
This is like a soft rubber compound smell.

The first thought I have is that the exhaust hanger grommets are heating up.
The second..God forbid...is that my rear tires are misaligned and scuffing. But the tire doesnt feel hot to the touch.

Since I have yet to find any smoking, melted rubber/plastic on the car...I cant pinpoint the cause.

Any thoughts?

ccracing19

did you recently have your brake pads replaced with Mazda?

speedweasel

No new brake pads.
I cant think of anything that has changed on the car since new.

Oil change occurred after the smell started.

KKMmaniac

I think strange smells have been reported before. No, not me, I bathe regularly! Anyway, I'm too lazy to do a search right now, but my car (with 17,000 miles) still has that rubber smell, and I can't figure it out either.

It seems rain or inclement weather brings it out more with my car.

VelociRedBeast

I get it from reving my engine up on cold morning before putting it in drive..

philodox

I find the same smell too as of late. But I have been attributing it to spilled Transmission/LSD fluids since I had just changed them to Red Line. The smell is pretty much gone now so I guess it's burned off by now.

speedweasel

I have noticed that it increases in the rain too.
Having just finished a hard day at the SCCA event, and not noticing any greater smell, I have to think this is exhaust related.

Napboy

i have the same smell after driving for a while. i assumed that it was the rear tire rubbing the edges, although my car has tein s-tech spings and 275/30/19's in the rear.

RX Renesis

haha could it be garage bags getting caught under the exaust again? hehe

Geo

If you park on an incline and have a daily paper delivered, your exhust system may have come in contact with the newspaper bag. I had it happen.

Napboy

i had the plastic bag thing happened to my first 8. it wasn't a nice smell. however, this smell is distinctly rubber and definitely coming from the rear (no pun intended).

misterwilson007

have you checked your tires??

om-nc

Hey Speedweasel...a quick search found that "almost" all of the odor is from plastic bags that attached to the exhaust system. Good to met you yesterday and GREAT improvement. FWIW 5 second improvement is great on any course. Sorry i couldn't be more help. We will have to practice so that we can beat the 350 next year. BTW the results are posted at www.teamtac.org.
om-nc

speedweasel

Maybe it was a cone that I forgot to dislodge from the undercarriage? hehehehe
Thanks for all the help!
I cant wait for the next event.
Cheers!