burning smell

[racingmjl]

hi all and happy new year. now my problem is that over the last couple of days my speed six has started a burning smell not a oil smell more like plastic no smoke just a strong smell i thought it might of been a plastic bag on the exhaust but today i jacked the car up and can not see anything just wondering if any one else has had this problem or has anyone an idea where to look, i also checked under the bonnet to see if any wires were touching the exhaust, i'm a bit scared of driving it at the minute just incase it bursted into flames thanks mark

[GreenV8S]

racingmjl said:

i'm a bit scared of driving it at the minute just incase it bursted into flames

I think you're right to be cautious. It could easily be a power cable, fuel hose, brake line etc smouldering. More likely I suspect just to be something innocuous such as oil on the exhaust but until you know, better safe than sorry.

[esso]

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY ASAP!!!-until you find out where its coming from.Check the starter motor feed wires,make sure they are not touching the chassis,my 4.2 went up in flames,the starter motor burnt out and it remained live!!!

[southendpier]

esso said:

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY ASAP!!!-until you find out where its coming from.Check the starter motor feed wires,make sure they are not touching the chassis,my 4.2 went up in flames,the starter motor burnt out and it remained live!!!

yep, check the battery I had a cable from the battery, came loose from the mount on the inner wing, melt against the engine,strong smell of plastic melting before shorting, luckily found it.

[racingmjl]

strange thing is it only starts to smell after i've been driving for a bit and worse if a boot it, it started after a little race with about a dozen motorbikes, which made me think that is was exhaust related, is it possible for the heat sheild material to smell?

[southendpier]

well to me it sounds like something touching a part of the engine, so yes as you drive the engine/exhausts manifold becomes hot say after 10mins, and whatever it is will melt/burn.

[brakedust300]

do your washers work? i had this last month and the washer pipe was melting on the exhaust manifold, i got some more tubing and re-routed it so its well clear now.

[racingmjl]

yes the washer pipe wash the first pipe i checked what i have noticed this afternoon is a couple of oil drips on the bottom of the gearbox , would the leak become worse once the box is warm and under load and then spray onto exhaust?

[Erich Stahler]

racingmjl said:

couple of oil drips on the bottom of the gearbox , would the leak become worse once the box is warm and under load and then spray onto exhaust?

Sounds like a similar problem I had on my cerb. Does it still have the CATs fitted? On mine the gearbox tailshaft seal was leaking oil onto the CATs and causing a burning smell, which after a longish journey would reslt in smoke entering the cockpit through the gear lever gator, get it checked its not a major job having the seal replaced.

[rev-erend]

It might also be fluid finding it's way onto the exhaust .. for instance brake fluid.

Start the car from cold and look at the exhaust with a light for a few mins .. you should be able to see where the smell is coming from .. also check cables are not touching the exhaust when it's cold.

[big_treacle]

I had a problem where the clutch bleed hose wasn't properly tied away & fell against the exhaust manifold. Result was horrible smelling smoke as the pipe distorted and clutch fluid escaped & burnt. It also eventually resulted in clutch failure as I lost so much fluid

[nugget]

whilst you're routing around the engine, check that the aircon belt is working as it should, that came off my tusc, stuck to the engine, generated the burning smell (and a fair degree of smoke as well!!)....gave me the fright of my life!!

[TVR keith]

Hi, a visitor from the Chim camp!
Had a similar problem of burning. Turned out that in addition to the 100 amp fuse under the chassis rail my 2000 450 Chimaera has another on the positive lead adjacent to the battery. Fuse is of poor design and eventually fractured resulting in loss of all electrics and a burnt out fuse holder. Luckily nothing more than that. Had both the 100 amp fuses and holders with the type that Steve Heath sells.
No idea whether the Cerbie has this but worth a look

Edited by TVR keith on Wednesday 2nd January 16:10

[racingmjl]

well i found out today the cause of the smell with the help of a fire engine, i put the car on a mates ramp today found nothing but on the way home it was worse than ever pulled over evacuated kids and phoned 999, the burning was caused by the exhaust it was one of the collectors getting so hot that it burned threw the fiberglass and carpet in the passenger footwell, i was wondering why the exhaust would get that hot on a short journey, could a blockage in the cats cause it,when i get the car back i will fit extra heat shieding in the tunnel

[TT Tim]

Lucky escape. Glad you're okay.

The position of the cats' is awful, way too close to the heat shield,

I had 2 close calls with mine. It can be caused by overfueling, and as you've said, blocked cats.

So, how bad id the car?

Tim

[racingmjl]

cars not to bad the firemen cut the carpet out and a 10 inch sqaure of the fiberglass but it could of been worse, it's gone to the garage now so it will live again missing it already

[Whitey]

if its a speed 6 cerb get it decatted anyway as it will just eat the cats.

Glad you had a lucky escape, for future reference I hope you know where the emergency door releases are in the cerb?

[racingmjl]

yeh i think i will go for decats where is the best place to look price wise?

[rev-erend]

Sounds like you need to have the car checked out .. as it should not run a cat that hot .. it might be just as simple as a few leads breaking down.

[TT Tim]

racingmjl said:

yeh i think i will go for decats where is the best place to look price wise?

Give Tim @ ACT a ring: http://www.actproducts.co.uk/silencing.php

Tim