Burning rubber smell

[Ihavethree]

I called my independent Honda shop's service manager and he looked in vain to find a technical service bulletin that addresses this problem, so Honda has not formally addressed it. He also had no explanation for the smell.

[CarCabell]

I also have a 2007 Honda CRV and live in Western Washington. Recently we experienced a major Winter Snow Storm. Needless to say, we park inclined on a hill with snow all around us. That evening, after a great struggle of getting out of the snow, we drove off on the freeway and then began to notice a burning rubber smell on my rear right tire. It finally stopped snowing and the roads have gotten much better. And I no longer smell the odor when I am driving. However, if I pull over and walk over to my rear right tire, I can faintly smell the burning rubber odor. I plan on calling the dealership Monday AM and dropping it off...so we shall see what happens. Will keep you all posted.

[myHonda]

Hello everybody.
I am glad to see this forum because I am also very concerned about the burning rubber smell coming from my 2002 CR-V. I just bought this car 6 weeks ago at a dealer with 80K and in great condition. Immediately in the first week we started smelling an terrible burning rubber smell while driving in snow or rain (anytime that the AWD is engaged). I suspected there was something wrong with the rear differential or the AWD. Also my tires were seriously cupped on the passenger side.
I have had it to the local Honda dealer in Iowa City twice. They say that it is a very strong odor but that there is nothing they can do to fix it. They told me that Honda Technical Help center informed them it was the smell of salt burning up on the muffler from the right rear tire and that there was no repair at this time.
I feel this explaination is bogus. I want to know why salt would smell like rubber? I want to know why it happens in the fall in wet weather when there is no snow or salt on the roads? Also, most of all I want them to take this vehicle back and I will never buy another CR-V or to fix the problem. I have talked with Honda Assistance (1-800-999-1009) and they say they have never heard of this problem with a CR-V. The dealer also tried to tell me they have never heard of this problem before me. Likewise, according to this forum, there are possibly hundreds of CR-V owners experiencing this same problem with no repair options.
My biggest concern is that I have a two year old and a newborn infant that ride in the backseat of this car. You can easily smell the buring rubber smell in the backseat where they are and I feel this is not good for them to breath the air in the car. I also do not feel right about selling this car to get rid of it with this problem and not disclosing the problem. If anyone has a solution to this problem, please post it here. Or maybe some of you out there are lawyers and we want to write a more formal letter to Honda voicing our conern about this problem so they will get a repair and possibly a recall on the part that is causing the burning smell. Maybe if we approached them differently they would fix this. Any ideas are really appreciated. Thank you and be well.

[tbo3060]

I have recently purchase a 2005 CRV EX and after only owning the vehicle for a week I noticed the same problem. I bought the vehicle on a Tuesday and on the way home from the dealer I purchased 4 brand new Michelin Tires (X-ICE). Now on Thursday after coming home from work when I opened the rear passenger door I could smell burning rubber. My first guess was I wonder if the new tires I just got installed are causing this. Note that here in Nova Scotia we had just had snow and the vehicle was wet, exposed to salt, water etc.. That day I didnt think much of the smell and then a few days later, same thing I drive from work a total of 17 kms, mix of highway and city I get out of the vehicle and again I smell this burning rubber smell from the rear passenger wheel. And when I say rubber burning smell, it's not a brake pad smell or exhaust smell it smells like a tire burning, squealing etc... After ruling out the tires I thought it might be the caliper sticking but the wheel wasn't hot and the odor wasn't the hot brake pad smell. After doing a google search on this problem it seems I'm not the only CRV owner with this problem. I will phone the local Honda dealer tommorrow to see what they have to say, I don't expect an honest answer or a solution but I'm curious to see if they'll say "We've never heard of this problem or if they'll blame the road salt burning on the exahaust" etc.. Any solution to this problem or information on what's causing this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[blairm]

I have a 2008 CRV that also has the burning rubber smell, the smell is also noticable after being towed behind ther motorhome so it cannot be engine/heat related, being a mechanic myself I cannot locate the cause.

[Timonium MD]

I have a 2008 CRV and noticed the same problem with a burning smell at the passenger rear side of the vehicle. It happens EVERY time I drive the car -- rain or shine, short or long trips. I noticed the brake pedal vibrating around 10K miles and was told the rotors were "rusty" so they were turned. (A little worried about having to do this @ 10K miles since I drive the car every day and would think that would keep the rotors from getting rusty.) Still noticing the smell @ 15K miles. Also, mileage is averaging ~18-23 mpg city/highway. I do not ride the brake (learned to drive on a stick so that could never be part of my acquired bad habits.) If I could just get that average down to <18 mpg, I'd trade this puppy in on the Cash for Clunkers program. Not a happy second-time owner right now.

Has anyone had any luck with reporting this issue to Honda?

[musib]

...burning rubber smell?is either the brakes/hand breaks or the tyres are rubbing the body of the car check properly.

[chuckv]

I have a 2009 CRV AWD and have been noticing the smell after shutting off the engine. It is only noticeable on the passenger side. My wife is constantly bringing it to my attention. It is hard to tell if it is rubber or the smell of oil burning at a high temp. She doesn't recall smelling it before we had the first oil change. I was suspecting a drip or two of oil hitting the cat converter and burning off at high temp but I have absolutely no oil drips in the garage which seems odd. My thought is that if the smell was coming from brakes or tires that the smell would come from both sides. I am betting on the rubber supports for the exhaust.

I made an appointment on 12/21/09 with the Honda dealer and discussed the problem in detail. I showed them samples of postings from this forum and they had indicated that the had a couple of earlier service incidents regarding the same issue. They pulled the wheel and examined all possible culprits but came up empty. No rubbing marks, no contact of rubber with hot surfaces, calipers and pads looked good. They noted the service in the event that a problem comes up after the car goes off warranty at 36K miles. When I took it in, the roads were dry and I did not notice any smell after shutting off the engine.

[mike the man]

I am in South East England and have the same burning rubber smell 2005 model. I have had the rear diff fluid changed for a noise problem on full lock but still have the burning smell. Does not matter if it is wet or dry. Surely with all these complaints world wide, Honda must be aware of the problem.I am very happy with the car apart from this and it performed brilliant in the recent snow we had. Lets keep the pressure up on Honda

[capeman]

I have a 2005 CRV with 36000 miles on it. I noticed the burning rubber smell coming from the passenger side rear while driving home from Florida last week. The dealer said it was the brakes locking up and replaced them. The next day the smell returned, also the tire started hopping and making the "flat tire" sound at 70 mph. That was in Tennessee....limped home at 65 mph. Going to see the dealer tomorrow but I have a feeling I'll be trading it in as I feel it's unreliable for long trips.

[Oldengineer]

I've got a 2010 LX model - 2 WD, and, I've noticed the burning rubber smell as well. I've got 4600 miles on the car so far. Could it be the heat from the exhaust cooking some of the volatiles out of the undercoating above it?? I can't find any evidence of rear brakes, or, parking brake dragging.

Regards:
Oldengineer

[Normros]

I just joined this forum because I was looking for information regarding the "burning rubber smell from the right rear wheel well". We have a 2006 CRV which we bought from the dealer in August. We had a 2003 Civic before that. We have smelled this odor every time we have taken both these vehicles up to a local ski hill in the Winter. We don't know what the difference is other than a slightly higher elevation and longer drive in the winter,

After reading the posts I called Honda Canada customer relations and the fellow had no information and no solution other than taking it in. I then called the dealer and the rep said that there are no service bulletins on this. Next thing I'm going to do is contact the local newspaper and see if they are interested in following up. I suggest that the more publicity this gets the more that Honda might be willing to do something. They know there's a problem and they are stonewalling.

[rhandwor]

When this happens stop and go to this side and feel if the wheel is hot be careful you may get burnt. Gradually move your hand to the center in steps if a brake is dragging it will be very hot. If the mechanic didn't clean his hands grease will smoke a lot.
If you have drum brakes and they aren't dragging a bad wheel bearing or one improperly adjusted will smoke. This is a problem you need fixed.
Disk brakes a bad caliper or dirty slides or a bad wheel bearing can cause this.

[MREDDC]

add my 05 crv to the list. right rear wheel area, regardless of weather, usually after highway speeds (which would keep things cool) then one mile slowdown before parking (which would then allow any heat to saturate). have only noticed it with snow tires on. got under vehicle & there seems to be nothing close enough to burn, including rubber exhaust mounts. did not look at the rubber hoses for the rear diff, will check that next though for the dual-drive fluid to get that hot would be very unusual. this is definitely not a brake or oil smell. i'm sure someone will come up with the answer if enough publicity is generated. honda is an honorable company & should
do the right thing.(i'm an optimist ha ha)
best regards;
ed c

[rhandwor]

Honda rear wheels need adjusted to specifications. If way out a tire will smoke. These take a SPC-69330 10 point socket or equivalent to adjust.