I've had my FD for about two months now, and lately I've noticed a smell, like something's burning under the hood. Most of the time when I pull into my garage but even sometimes during driving itself. I looked under the hood and it doesn't look like there's anything burnt, could someone please give me a list of problems that might be causing this? The car only has 18k miles on it

 

mods?

 

none.. just a strut bar and a 2000 watt audio system

 

Now here's a clue.

 

could it be a fuse or something?

just giving my 2 cents i havent got my fd yet

 

nope, i just checked all the fuses and they're fine. could it be a transmission problem? my mom might have fried something when she tried to drive my car.. do such problems generate a smell like this ?

 

CAN U IDENTIFY WHAT OIL, GAS AND DIFF FLUID SMELLS LIKE?

IF NOT , THIS CAN BE VERY HARD TO START FIGURING OUT WHAT HTE PROLEM IS.

 

I GUARENTEE ITS YOUR CLUTCH!!!! OR FLYWHEEL!!!!

 

It doesn't smell like oil or gas, I don't know what differential fluid smells like though..

 

if his mom drove the car, it can't smell like a burnt clutch for that long. the smell gernally goes away in one good drive or so.

is it coolant? could be a small leak. coolant has a distinct sweet smell

 

it doesn't smell too sweet =\

 

where exactly could i check for coolant leaks ?

 

It's your clutch.. is this your first car w/ manual transmission. you are 16 right?

 

for a car that has only 18K miles on it, you have some sort of burning smell, and you have exposed wires in the engine bay.

I just read your two posts and i'm starting to put 1 and 1 together. Are you saying you have 18K original miles on body motor? Are you sure the previous owner did no mods to the car? and how much did you get the car for??

To check for coolant leaks.....see if anythign is dripping.

if you see no moisture on the floor, that's a good sign,

good luck, i hope it works out.

danny

 

you might want to check your audio system. did you install the system yourself or did a professional do it for you? most professionals dont know what their doing so id check out your wiring under the hood, make sure it isnt touching anything hot. also check your head unit some head units get extremely hot if you dont have your high speakers on an amped. also check your amp make sure it isnt overheating (check the carpet around the amp to make sure there aren't any burn marks) and make sure your amp is connected correctly some people cross wires. you might also want to look into a fan for your head unit and amp, 2000 watts is ALOT of power which means it gets very hot very fast especially if you have it on for long periods of time at high volume levels. not sure if it is your system but if it is it CAN start a fire. btw how much does a system that big cost?

hope i helped

D

 

This worked for me once. You might give it a try.
Drive the car until you smell the burning smell, then put the car in the garage. Make the garage completely dark. Mask any windows with trashbags if you have to. Then shine a flashlight all over the car and see if you can spot smoke in the flashlight beam. Trace the smoke to it's source. (Often times faint smoke isn't visible in daylight, but will show up in a beam of light. Anyway, it worked for me once.)

 

Lets see, 2000watts and 12volts = 167 Amps! momentary albeit but sniff your alternator.

 

Thanks for all the help, but I'm still not sure exactly what it is. There is no moisture and nothing dripping from the bottom of the car. I had the audio system installed by a proffessional shop. It consists of 2 12" subwoofers with 800 watts feeding to each from a memphis amp. the speakers are boston accoustics and the head unit is the sony one with the tray that slides out. The alternator looks and smells fine, thats one of the first things I checked along with the fuses. Yes I'm 16 and yes this is my first manual transmission, between my mom, my girlfriend and I, its probably the clutch (could anyone give suggestions as to where to go from there?). But still there are a lot of wires exposed and they look pretty ugly.. like they shouldn't be showing, they're kind of gooey too. Where exactly would i get the repair manual?

 

A burnt clutch smells kinda... Spicy. A little like gunpowder, actually. I should know, I was drunk and let a friend of mine drive my old Talon TSi once... Redline + slow shifting = fried clutch. My car actually stank of clutch for at least a month after that.

 

Dr. Watson, we have more clues...

Try taking a piece of scrap wire, hold a butane lighter under it to where the insulation starts to melt and then sniff.

Is that the smell?

 

Yeah! Thats what it smells like, gunpowder. What can I do about it? The wires look melted too, I don't have any electrical problems though but I don't know where they're supposed to be, I don't think they should be exposed.

 

Take it back to the place that installed the nuclear stereo before your car burns down.

 

its been my experience that "professional" stereo installers dont know what they are doing. i have had to fix 2 of my friends stereos after a pro installed them (best buy, and a local audio dealer) so just because you had a "pro" install it doesnt mean its right. and as for your exposed wires they should be covered by those heat resistant tubes (cant think of their name) that should protect any exposed wires. and dont forget about cooling your amp and head unit.
later
D