Strange burning smell after snow excursion (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 12, 2008
Threads
54
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350
Location
Newberg, Oregon
We had a good amount of snow here in Portland and since then I keep smelling a strange burning smell from front passenger side. Not oil though, smells like plastic or something...
 
We had a good amount of snow here in Portland and since then I keep smelling a strange burning smell from front passenger side. Not oil though, smells like plastic or something...

You're probably smelling some deposits cooking on the catalytic converter unless it really is plastic then check the wheelwells and inside of tires to see if something's rubbing. HTH. :cheers:
 
I have the same thing. No worries. Ditto the deposits and road grime burning up on the cats. Hose everything off around there when the truck cools down and the smell should go away. Mine hasn't been noticeable since things dried up around town.
 
BTW, welcome to IH8MUD.:flipoff2:

You should come to the Cascade Cruisers meeting in January. It would be nice to get some more 80 guys active in the club.

Steve
 
Hose everything off around there when the truck cools down and the smell should go away.
Oh will it :D ?

One of my runs resulted in 2 month long smell of cow ****. No amount of power washing and detergent could remove it.

:princess: force me to park truck back in the woods she could not stand smell
:cheers:

Here that was my problem a cow pie with mud terrains print in it
:bang:
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I smelt the same type smell. Almost smelt like a hot brake or something to me.
 
yeah must be from the snow because I cant think of anything of anything else. Your rigs still smelling?
 
I would be really interested in coming to the meeting how do I get a hold of you for the information?
Thanks for the welcome.
 
It can really be rain or snow; anything with alot of deposits dropped from cars/trucks/snowplows etc. Hosing it off is the temporary fix but I just live with it whenever we have rain or snow. HTH. :cheers:
 
I too had that weird burning smell. I first noticed it when I parked up at Government Camp on a trip over Mt. Hood. It was a lot like brake smell, but I just finished climbing, not going down any grade. It must be road grime burning off the exhaust, like others have mentioned. I don't really notice it anymore.

Maybe it's just a northwest thing.
 
I think its a southern thing as well, this past weekend I went up a steep climb on a trail that had just been freshly dozed and then had over an inch of rain fall on it. I was pretty much the first vehicle to go back on it and it was as soft and muddy as anything I have ever seen, almost like wheelin' on real deep loose sand. It took alot of throttle just to move around at all and you could really feel it tax the 1FZ. When I got out on the top I immediately noticed a hot smell that I had never smelled before. Didnt smell organic in any way but could not pin point where it was coming from.
 
I got the same smell from mine after the snow and running around in the melty stuff. I just figured it was something new I would have to look into, now the smell seems to be gone. WIERD...
 
I just noticed it again today, long after our snow has melted, but after driving a bit in the rain. Thing is, it took a few minutes for it to appear after sitting parked in the garage.

Now I'm guessing that some kind of deposits or something must collect and then drip down onto the exhaust after it sits. Most likely from above the cats area. Everytime I've smelled it, the rig has sat for a few minutes before anything appeared.
 
I had the same thing a couple days ago when i got home. I looked all over the place worried that I had a burning wire that would start a fire. I really thought it was plastic burning. Maybe they are putting something in the Salt/Ice melting material they are using now.
 
My truck has a quarter inch thick coating of sand/road grime baked onto the down pipes that go through the wheel well. It's what's making the smell on my rig. I'm going to go for a drive today, 2.5" of rainfall ought to wash anything off the undercarriage that's not painted on.
 
My truck has a quarter inch thick coating of sand/road grime baked onto the down pipes that go through the wheel well. It's what's making the smell on my rig. I'm going to go for a drive today, 2.5" of rainfall ought to wash anything off the undercarriage that's not painted on.

Ditto... 5 months a year, I drive 4 miles of snow floor everyday (my driveway), round trip, to town and back, minimum, and usually more when the road to town has a snow floor, which is now the case. The pic is what my garage floor looks like, almost 5 months a year. I have also determined that the smell is coming from the "stuff" in the snow and ice, which flings off the right front wheel onto the heat shield of the down pipes which pass thru the wheel well. I've stuck my head in there, after parking in the garage, to sniff out the source of the smell. Only fix I can think of, might be an additional non-metallic heat shield over the existing heatshield, but it's not that big a deal to me cuz after the moisture dries on the shield, it stops smelling.
20090101_0242.jpg
 
I did a lot of driving during the big snows we had in Seattle, and then down in Portland over the holidays and I got the same smell. On my way down to Portland from Seattle on the 23rd, I saw a Jeep Cherokee on the other side of the freeway with flames dripping and puddling under the engine bay (yes FLAMES). Luckily they were scrambling out of the car and had cell phones out, but this image was fresh in my mind when I started to smell the hot burning on my own rig just 3 days later!!!! I've only owned the truck for 3 months and this was the first snow, so of course I was concerned.

I'd kind of figured it was all the dirt from the roads burning off the exhaust, but this thread certainly puts me more at ease. That being said, I should probably get under there with the hose to clean off the grime. It just seems pointless as long as I'm driving up to the mountain weekly to go skiing.

On another note, I have never in my life driven anything as fine as the 80 in snowy conditions. The weight balance, torque transferring and grip (stock Michellins) made steep, snowy hill climbing and more importantly, descending, a fun, safe and in-control experience.

After these winter experiences I will be buying two things ASAP: A fire extinguisher just in case, and a tow strap so that I am more able to help people who've run off the road.
 

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