weird smell

[civicgs-r]

when i drive...i sometimes smell like somethings burning..coming fromt the engine...my friend said it smells like plastic is burning...and othas told me that my oil might be leakin on the pipe and othas told me its my brakes..but the smell comes and goes every once in a while...do u guys know wut it might be...

[damir831]

automatic or manual?

[PoisonFangs]

you stole my question damir. IF you drive a manual it could be your clutch.

[damir831]

If not, maybe someone put some plastic in your engine, where the oil goes and when it gets hot, the plastic burns. You see, by adding plastic, it allows you to reach higher RPMs quicker. But if it's not the right kind of plastic, it'll smells weird, kind of like plastic. So make sure you have the right plastic in there or it'll smell like....plastic.

[b-dogg]

lol

"but the smell comes and goes every once in a while...do u guys know wut it might be..."

When in doubt, I usually blame the dog!

[MrCrazy]

your car might be running hot at times. check the coolent. or you might have redlineing the car and you dont know it

[Ricochet]

Mine does it too, smells almost like rotten eggs/burning oil mixed. It'll even do it while just cruising.. I know for a fact my coolant level is a tad low, but I wouldn't think that's a factor. Hmmm.

[mycivic]

Quit farting in your car guys. Just kidding.

I had the same problem. Then I read in the net that if you use higher octane rating than required by factory, it will cause that smell of a rotten egg like Ricochet mentioned. According to the site (sorry, lost the link) the smell is caused by unburned fuel and (I think) accumulates in the Cat-converter. This is I think what causes the smell. So from then on...I stepped down to 89 from 91 octane rating. After stepping down, smell was gone.

Hope this helps.

[Ricochet]

Being a jdm engine, the suggested octane is 103-105 or something though.. I always use 93-94.

[mycivic]

Originally Posted by Ricochet

Being a jdm engine, the suggested octane is 103-105 or something though.. I always use 93-94.

It is possible that its the unburned fuel that causes the smell.

Now for civicgs-r, it also may be possible that your burning your clutch. Are you a clutch driver? It could be a possibility that if you are...your burning your clutch that way. Or you might be pushing your car too hard.

[GScivic7]

Originally Posted by mycivic

Quit farting in your car guys. Just kidding.

I had the same problem. Then I read in the net that if you use higher octane rating than required by factory, it will cause that smell of a rotten egg like Ricochet mentioned. According to the site (sorry, lost the link) the smell is caused by unburned fuel and (I think) accumulates in the Cat-converter. This is I think what causes the smell. So from then on...I stepped down to 89 from 91 octane rating. After stepping down, smell was gone.

Hope this helps.

It also causes your cat to go bad. If you're getting that smell I would replace the cat on your car.

[mycivic]

Originally Posted by GScivic7

It also causes your cat to go bad. If you're getting that smell I would replace the cat on your car.

Yeah, thats why I stepped down to 89 too. A little of inbetween. I just went on with a little bit of higher octane rating to prevent engine knocking. It doesent happen to my car but just sort of preventive maintenance on my part.

[Dysfunction3k]

Hey everyone, n00b here. saw this post and know i kinda had a problem w/ a bad smell also. mine was a bit different than burning plastic and oil stuff tho.

I had gone a long while w/o changing oil or adding antifreeze/water or anything, and i ended up cracking my radiator. just a small hairline crack, took it to a shop and the dude refilled all the liquids and everything, and said he'd put the radiator cap back on, but not all the way, just to keep off the pressure and keep it from blowing and steeming.

So now everynow and then when it gets low, the fluid kinda burns or whatever, and i get this weird burning pancake/syrup smell. so i carry a can of antifreeze in the trunk and just refill it whenever it gets there, or right before it empties. maybe i should spend the 300 bux to replace it, huh? but whatever, i'm a n00b, and its a fairly new car (to me). '97 civic ex, 165,000 miles on it. l8z

[Ricochet]

Get an aftermarket Fluidyne radiator, they cost about the same as a new stock one (~$300).