Burning smell

[muzzle]

I have a 2004 impala ls with a 3.8 v6 with 103000 miles on it and recently i have smell a burning smell. its not really strong but its strong enough to notice. my car runs fine and no check engine light come one but it bothers me. any ideas? the only thing i can say that is kinda bad is that i started with a half of tank of gas on the beginning of the week and by the end of the week its almost on empty but i only went 85 miles. any suggestions.

[spooney25]

My 2004 impala is doing this too. I am taking mine to the shop this afternoon. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks.

[SpinnerCee]

I don't think one problem has anything to do with the other.

You didn't say what the odor smells like? The exhuast system under the car, in particular the CAT, is notorious for catching plastic grocery bags and like stuff that will immediately melt and stick when they come in contact with the exhaust hardware -- these typically smell like burning plastic/vinyl, which is also the smell of a burning wiring harness. This odor can be pulled into the passenger cabin through the HVAC vents.

[Iflylow]

The gas gauges in these cars are not very accurate sometimes. Note the mileage next time you fill your tank, then the next time after that, note the mileage again, and how many gallons you put in. Divide miles by gallons, there is you average mileage for that tank. You should be getting about 22-26 miles per gallon, depending on how you drive and how much highway or city driving you do.