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Joined: Aug 2002
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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.
-Chuck Dienzo
Black 98.5 E1 SVT
#5022 of 6535
Born on March 16, 1998
"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason."
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Hard-core CEG\'er
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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.
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 84
CEG\'er
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CEG\'er
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mine just did the same and after awhile my ac clutch started making noise and it turned out that my bearing failed.
export the imports
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Joined: Oct 2004
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Hard-core CEG\'er
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That reminds me, I had an a/c clutch fail on a chrysler, there was an odd smell, followed by no cooling.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 411
CEG\'er
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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?
-Chuck Dienzo
Black 98.5 E1 SVT
#5022 of 6535
Born on March 16, 1998
"If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason."
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Joined: Oct 2004
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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.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 786
Veteran CEG\'er
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Originally posted by vudusvt:
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.
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.
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Joined: Oct 2003
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Addicted CEG\'er
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Addicted CEG\'er
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One of my pulleys were making a horrid griding or grounding noise when it was running. on occasion pending upon how hot it was outside, I would be able to smell it coming through the vents... I later found out that I could especially smell it when the AC was running... and I listend to it one day and heard that it was louder and made a squeaking noise when I ran the AC compressor... I bet you that its a pulley thats taking a dump... My AC compressor clutch and pulley assembly had to be replaced.
98 Corolla LE 1.8L DOHC 1ZZFE
TEIN H.Tech Springs
Tokico HP series Struts
Short ram air intake
Tsudo Axel Back Exhaust
... if a jelly fish stung me.. would you pee on the wound?
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 10
New CEG\'er
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New CEG\'er
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I had the same problem on my wifes car. Then the fan only worked on high. Traced it to the fan resistors and burned wiring. Further digging found a safety SB from Ford. Sorry, can't find that number now. Apparantly this problem can cause a fire. Ford have a kit to change the resitor block in the ducts. I fixed mine by removing all the burned wire which appeared to tbe caused by lousy - read cheap- electrical connectors that could not carry the amps and installing high quality slip on connectors.
Everything now works and no smell.
Suggest you remove the resistor block and have a close look at it. Wana bet you will find a bunch of burned wires?
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