Boxster 987 sporadic burning smell
Discussion
Every so often after driving on a motorway and going through the range I can smell a burning smell , its like a freshly struck Swan vesta ! It only happens now and then . I have had it checked over , OIl is fine, break pads a little low on osf but well within safety . Anybody any clues or had this happen before?!
Thanks
Thanks
Watch-Collector said:
Every so often after driving on a motorway and going through the range I can smell a burning smell , its like a freshly struck Swan vesta ! It only happens now and then . I have had it checked over , OIl is fine, break pads a little low on osf but well within safety . Anybody any clues or had this happen before?!
Thanks
This might not be of any help but when stationary you can get a whiff of something burning. I reported to my OPC and they said that they it had been reported numerous time and they had never found the cause. The 'air outlets' (might fails me to come up with a better description) are in the rear wheel arch so very close to your nose as you get out, or to the open drivers side window. Ths might be the cause.Thanks
Watch-Collector said:
Every so often after driving on a motorway and going through the range I can smell a burning smell , its like a freshly struck Swan vesta ! It only happens now and then . I have had it checked over , OIl is fine, break pads a little low on osf but well within safety . Anybody any clues or had this happen before?!
Thanks
This might not be of any help but when stationary you can get a whiff of something burning. I reported this to my OPC and they said that they it had been reported numerous time and they had never found the cause. The 'air outlets' (mind fails me to come up with a better description) are in the rear wheel archs so very close to your nose as you get out, or to the open drivers side window.Thanks
On my 987 Cayman I notice a smell most in the region of the grill behind the drivers door (I think that this is where the fan blows hot air out of the engine bay). Interestingly, during the warmer weather it just smells of hot engine but in the winter it smells more like burning rubber - there is no fault to explain this on my car.
I've had my 987.1 for a year now and it stinks to high heaven of burning rubber after driving it for 20mins or longer. A mate of mine says they all do, but I'm sure they all don't. No harm seems to have been done, although I've just had an engine warning light come on yesterday. Its in for a major on Friday so will see what crops up.
I also noted that the car 'hops' on its wide tyres when reversing with full lock. Again, my mate says they all do!!
I also noted that the car 'hops' on its wide tyres when reversing with full lock. Again, my mate says they all do!!
Rex Rexroth said:
I also noted that the car 'hops' on its wide tyres when reversing with full lock. Again, my mate says they all do!!
They do.Think of the turning circle of the inside and the outside of a single tyre. There is quite a difference but they are moving at the same speed so something has to give.
I had the burning rubber smell after long journey on my 987.1, mostly after long journeys. Never had a burning match smell though, on either the 987.1 or 987.2. I was concerned about the rubber smell and posted on PH to get a general opinion. It resulted in my favourite PH response of all time...
'That's the smell of 'awesome'.'
It turns out that the smell eventually dissipated and was more likely rubber dust from the tyres melting on the hot exhaust. Was still awesome though!
'That's the smell of 'awesome'.'
It turns out that the smell eventually dissipated and was more likely rubber dust from the tyres melting on the hot exhaust. Was still awesome though!
Johnniem said:
I had the burning rubber smell after long journey on my 987.1, mostly after long journeys. Never had a burning match smell though, on either the 987.1 or 987.2. I was concerned about the rubber smell and posted on PH to get a general opinion. It resulted in my favourite PH response of all time...
'That's the smell of 'awesome'.'
It turns out that the smell eventually dissipated and was more likely rubber dust from the tyres melting on the hot exhaust. Was still awesome though!
My 981 doesn't too.... Not on long journeys if I've simply been cruising, motorway driving etc. 'That's the smell of 'awesome'.'
It turns out that the smell eventually dissipated and was more likely rubber dust from the tyres melting on the hot exhaust. Was still awesome though!
After a spirited drive though, the smell is there. I've read somewhere before they all do it, my mates Cayman R does it so I've never worried about it.
If anyone asks me though, I shall now have THEE office response
Watch-Collector said:
I hear its common but what exactly is it ?! It really smells like freshly struck matches or similar , it is slightly disconcerting ezpecially when you pull up somehwere and people ask with concern whats that smell?!!
These cars can emit a variety of smells or odors. Most are "normal".What I think you are smelling is normal.
The engine is coated with some kind of corrosion protection compound (cosmoline?) to keep the aluminum from being attacked by water/salt.
From new and for some time after new this can outgas and one can smell it.
After this has run its course other odors can be present.
Remember the engine is around 400lbs of hot metal and rubber and plastic and it is at around 200F hot.
There is considerable exhaust under the car and this is really hot. The converters operate in the neighborhood of 600C. A hard working engine can have the exhaust manifolds at a dull red heat.
There are the brakes. Those rotors can get plenty hot along with the pads and calipers and other brake hardware.
Last but not least there are a couple of very wide tires which can get pretty warm.
Other odor sources are not obvious. One is sometimes a piece of paper or plastic wrapper blows up and touches a hot exhaust pipe. The engine and exhaust sit at a particularly dirty location directly in line from whatever the front tires kick up and the rear tires too in the case of the rear engine models. This trash can stick at least for a bit of time and char and smell. I've found charred small pieces of plastic film (the kind that is used to wrap packages of cigarettes and other items) on top of my Boxster's engine nestled down in under the intake. I know the charring didn't happen there but from the trash being in contact with the hot exhaust.
There is not only paper and plastic wrappers. Often on heavily traveled roads there is some rubber dust. If this contacts the hot exhaust one can smell burning rubber. (Hot tires can contribute to the hot rubber odor as well.)
Another source of an odor is road splash. Plain old rain water can have the car emitting a metallic/ozone like odor. Other fluids that get splashed up can cause different odors. (In a hotel parking lot with inches of snow on it I ran over -- I was in my Pontiac GTO -- an aerosol can of shaving cream which spewed shaving cream under the car. The car smelled like a barber shop for some time afterwards.)
You don't want to know what running over a dead and juicy animal can make a car smell like.
The engine exhaust can be a source of odors. A faint smell of rotten eggs arises from a converter getting off on the wrong foot, so to speak chemically at engine start (and possibly at other times) and producing a bit of hydrogen-sulfide. Gasoline plays a role for it is the sulfur in the gasoline that goes into the converter making hydrogen-sulfide.
If the radiator ducts are full of trash if this gets wet the car can smell like a pile of garden mulch. If the body water drains are loaded with trash the car can develop an off odor of wet leaves and stagnant water.
For odors one notices while in the car, if one lets the cabin air filter go too long it can develop an unpleasant odor. The "activated charcol" filters seem more prone to developing an odor than the plain filters.
If one uses the A/C but puts the car away without running the cabin vent fan with the A/C compressor off to dry the evaporator the evaporator remains wet and can develop a nice "crop" or growth of mold/mildew which can have the car stinking like a moldy basement in an abandoned house. (Mold and mildew spores are everywhere.)
There are other sources of an off or even foul odor. I got into a car owned by a couple with a baby. Oh my goodness did that car have a foul odor. I about gagged at the smell but the man and his wife were unaware of the odor. I don't what the smell came from but I think I would have been better off had I been in the dirty diaper bucket instead of the car.
If someone eats in the car and drops/spills some food or tucks some food into a door storage bin -- caught someone getting ready to that in my car once -- this can have the car stinky after a while.
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