Hi! I drive Millenia S with 84000. It smells like a burned rubber when AC is on... Any ideas?

 

pull the blower motor and check it. could be a small animal crawled up there and died. it is a really easy job, remove the lower panel below the glovebox, and i think 3 screws, 1 connector, and the motor assembly comes out. if the blower motor dont smell, then it is farther in, towards the evaporator/heater core. you can almost see in there, with a mirror and a strong lite, you should be able to inspect inside the evaporator case.

 

I am going to have to try the same thing. I noticed that sometimes when I ahve the AC or even the vents on, that after sitting at a stop light for 2+ min I smell a rubber or belt burning smell. I've had the engine looked at numerous times for it, but no one ever could find anythign rubbing or burning. Now if I can figure out this pesky oil consumption problem I will be all set :P

 

Is the smell only in the inside or can you also detect under the hood?

 

I usually only smell it while inside the car. I have never walked by my car after it was on and smelled it. I took the plastic guard off tonight and was going to give it a shot but it got too dark. It looks like I have to unhook 1 additional wiring harness just to get accress to the 3rd screw. This wont post any problems will it? I assume I can unplug and replug stuff without "resetting" or "messing" anything up.

 

removing the blower is really easy. i have done this on both our cars. takes like 15 minutes, i also have a screwdriver with a universal joint on it to get to that one screw. both blower cages were really dirty, and i also cleaned up as far into the housing that i could.

 

Just thinking that a burning smell might not be from something trapped and dead in your vents. The smell is very different. Thought that there might be some issue with the belts slipping or burning oil on engine being drawn into external vents. I have had the experience of both odors and they are quite distinct. Burning smell from inside may also be coming from a fan resistor getting cooked and giving a burning odor.

 

You were right babyhuey. I spent about an hour and a half last saturday taking the blower motor out (what a pain if you dont have the right tools) and only found a few choice twigs 2 leaves. Blew it out and put it back in. Its a little bit quieter now but the smell is still there. Some sort of rubber burning smell. Exactly the same smell as when you roast a belt in a vacuum cleaner. I've had all the belts looked at before and even replaced and they couldnt find anything. You said possibly an engine leak? Any tips on genreal places to look? I might not be a hella wrench but can follow instructions well

-Hadrien

 

The valve cover gaskets are the most common place to leak oil. More so on the 2.5 engine but 2.3 does as well. (Not as often thank heavens as they are a bear to replace on the miller engine ). Left bank can check ok from above but right is easier to inspect from below unless your head is the size of a tennis ball. Front camshaft and crankshaft oil seals also leak over time. Best to just get under there and see if you see any oily areas, expecially ones that might drip onto the exhaust. Only takes one drop on a hot exhaust pipe to smell for quite a while. Also give the whole exhaust a check looking for something melted on it. Have scraped and cleaned more than one plastic grocery bag off exhaust pipe that got run over but melted to exhaust pipe. That really smells bad!!!
You might even try leaving the heater on recirc instead of fresh for a while. That way you won't be drawing any outside air in and can better isolate. If smell is still the same in recirc mode then may well be something inside such as a blower resistor or a wire.

 

The valve cover gaskets... that is exactly why it smells, CEL shows the same code. What would you recommend: change the gaskets asap or keep it as it is? I check oil level frequently - it's normal, but sometimes my car has problems with acceleration (I push gas but the car responds in a couple seconds).