Smell of burn

[V40addict]

I noticed a rather strong smell of burn after 2 short drives and it's not the tyres, once 10 days ago and then again today after I washed the car (I don't remember the circumstances of the first instance, maybe I had also summarily washed the car). The smell comes from the engine bay and fills the inside via the airco I think, anyway very noticeable once you get back into the car. Each time I popped the bonnet open , and I could smell burn there as well, although no smoke or anything going on in there. There seems to be enough oil, same for coolant. So what gives ?

Just concerned something serious may be developping. Any idea ?

[Dippydog]

A difficult one to guess at without knowing what it smells like[oil on a hot exhaust/a burning rubber type smell/something else?] as you mention it's not the tyres[a burning rubber type smell]could it be one of the belts slipping caused by a seized or seizing pulley or just because they've got wet?

[V40addict]

Each time I looked inside the engine bay, and could not see any smoke, and it didn't even smell stronger than inside the car. But it's got to produce some fumes for it to travel inside the car. I hope it's some tree leaves or debris that fell in the engine bay and got stuck where it's really hot. Otherwise I thought about a wire making contact with something hot. That's what comes to my mind from the type of smell. Didn' t think about the belts, those were just recently changed (last year) , could something go wrong ? Now I noticed a smell of burn before, once or twice maybe, a long time ago, everytime it was a one off event and I just hoped it would go away. But this time, there were at least two occurrences in 2 weeks.

[Fabi05]

Do you have the heaters on? I'm no expert nor too familiar with this issue but we've had a similar problem in a different car before where it ended up being dirty/clogged vents and if you turn on the fans (especially on heat) it always made the inside smell of burning. This is a bit of a guess but just wanted to mention it as it could be something to consider looking into as it's happened with me.

[V40addict]

I don't use the heater these days, but the airco acts up a bit in the sense that when I turn it on , it starts hot (especially if the car just started) and stays that way for a couple minutes before cooling and providing fresh air.
But if that was indeed the heater (I think I had that issue as well in the past, maybe not on that V40 though), how would that account for the smell of burn inside the engine bay ?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by V40addict

I don't use the heater these days, but the airco acts up a bit in the sense that when I turn it on , it starts hot (especially if the car just started) and stays that way for a couple minutes before cooling and providing fresh air.
But if that was indeed the heater (I think I had that issue as well in the past, maybe not on that V40 though), how would that account for the smell of burn inside the engine bay ?

Air con doesn't work instantly. Like when you turn it on, don't expect instant cold air... It takes a while. If its really hot outside, it could take a few minutes to actually start to feel cool inside the cabin. If it takes ages to get cold or it doesn't feel as cold as it should be, then the air con may need a regas.

As for the smell you're experiencing, its really hard to say. There's lots of moving parts in the engine... it must be coming from somewhere in the engine and through the air vents for you to smell it in the cabin. Or it could be coming from a clogged filter, then through the air vents.

Have you checked the pollen filter to see if its clogged up?

[V40addict]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Have you checked the pollen filter to see if its clogged up?

No it needs to be changed, I haven' t done it in ages"