Did a search & none have described a "burning metal" smell through their vents. Anyone who has worked in or been around a metal shop would know this smell- VERY strong but not really "smoky". It's kind of hard to describe.

The smell takes a few minutes- maybe 20 min or 25 miles of driving before I start to notice it.

The smell occurs w/AC, max AC, heat, defrost and fan only, too. Basically, whenever the fan is on.

My blower resistor seems fine, as the fan works on all speeds. My cabin air filter is about 1 year old. It doesn't smell like either oil or coolant, those scents are all-too-familiar to me. Additionally, there are no leaks/drips/rubbing that I could see in the engine bay.

I know it's not my clutch- I know THAT smell.

The only thing I've noticed is that for about a 4 mo. period after a changed my tranny fluid, the smell went away. Now the burning smell is back. (yes, I've had this problem for a little while- I just never use the fan).

Is it possible that my tranny is literally "cooking" its gears? Could the tranny be causing this- or might it be just a coincidence?

Sorry for the long post.

TIA.

BTW- 98.5 SVT w/ 127,000 mi. No engine mods- just a K&N open element & the battery's in the trunk.

TIA.

I hope the tranny oil level is still correct and the engine is not overheating from a failed waterpump. Could be a dragging brake. Brake linings have an unusual hot material smell. Check underhood next time you smell it. There was a recall on engine cooing fan wiring. A slipping a/c clutch or belt is possible. I had oil dripping on the exhaust system on the passenger side of the car, it smelled when the engine got hot. It smelled different then "blue smoke" oil smell, and took 20 minutes, oddly enough.

mine just did the same and after awhile my ac clutch started making noise and it turned out that my bearing failed.

That reminds me, I had an a/c clutch fail on a chrysler, there was an odd smell, followed by no cooling.

Thanks for the suggestions fellas.

Upon further inspection, I have found NO leaks or dragging belts, pulleys, pads etc.

I DID notice that the middle 3(?) fan speeds all blow at the same rate. Only the low & high settings differ.

I suppose my blower resistor and/or switch may indeed be on its way out and I'm just smelling its slow, painful death....

Does anyone know FOR CERTAIN if there is a time limit on the related campaigns/recalls/TSBs? ...or will I just have to shell out the 20 bucks & buy the part for a DIY?

I seem to remember the swich failure lets it work in high speed only when it happened to my sister's car. If you have low and high, that could be the resistor (happened on my Dodge Lancer) Tsb's usually stop at 100kmiles. It would be worth asking about coverage before ordering your parts.

Originally posted by vudusvt:

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Did a search & none have described a "burning metal" smell through their vents. Anyone who has worked in or been around a metal shop would know this smell- VERY strong but not really "smoky". It's kind of hard to describe.

The smell takes a few minutes- maybe 20 min or 25 miles of driving before I start to notice it.

The smell occurs w/AC, max AC, heat, defrost and fan only, too. Basically, whenever the fan is on.

My blower resistor seems fine, as the fan works on all speeds. My cabin air filter is about 1 year old. It doesn't smell like either oil or coolant, those scents are all-too-familiar to me. Additionally, there are no leaks/drips/rubbing that I could see in the engine bay.

I know it's not my clutch- I know THAT smell.

The only thing I've noticed is that for about a 4 mo. period after a changed my tranny fluid, the smell went away. Now the burning smell is back. (yes, I've had this problem for a little while- I just never use the fan).

Is it possible that my tranny is literally "cooking" its gears? Could the tranny be causing this- or might it be just a coincidence?

Sorry for the long post.

TIA.

BTW- 98.5 SVT w/ 127,000 mi. No engine mods- just a K&N open element & the battery's in the trunk.

TIA.

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Have you figured anything out? I have that same burning smell in my AC too. I didn't check the cabin filter yet though. All my blower switch speeds work fine as well.