something smells burnt?? what can it be??

[speedmaxx]

okay just to clerify Im not quite sure where this belongs so please move this thread it need be.


so I just got back from doing a little race with a few of my buddies,
I raced a done up cobalt and I happen to win

Now I did push the car pretty good, I power breaked slightly off the line and took it right up to redline in 1st (its an auto) I also did 2 or so quick passes at around 6k in first gear then I let the trany shift.

pulling out of the parking lot my friend was behind me and told me my car smelt like something was burning. So about 5 minutes later after filling up gas I poped the hood and everything smelt fine, my motor was at its normal operating temps the whole time, I did smell a slight electrical smell coming from my alternator but it was very slight and I didnt think much of it.

what could this smell be? my motor and trany are both the original and my car does have a little under 130k on it. the entire car runs and drives perfectly. its is also constintly maintaned.

so what should I be looking for? where could the smell be coming from?

tahnks

[mexicanzero]

first of all check aalllll fluids
i see plenty of cars with oil or coolant or tranny or p/s fluids leaking on the exhaust causing from extremely faint to unbearable smells.

but when a car is pushed extra hard it will strain and weird things might happen mostly with an older car.
so if everything is full and there are no leaks on the exhaust i wouldnt worry about it as long as you dont smell it driving normally.

-Alex

[evolutionmovement]

You didn't smell anything burning yourself? What kind of smell? Does your friend know what unburned fuel smells like? My guess is rich fuel mix when brake standing or oil burning off the exhaust from a leak (likely valve covers). Anything else you should have smelled also.

All automotive burning smells are pretty distinct. Coolant is sweet, sugary. Oil smells like...I don't know, it smells like burnt oil (unhelpful as that is, it's pretty familiar to most people). Brakes are an acrid smell that irritates the nose. Gear oil is the foulest shit you can smell, only beaten by burnt gear oil mixed with water (like in a messed up boat outdrive). I'd seriously take a dead thing on a sun-baked road in summer over that!

[speedmaxx]

sweet thanks

I just got back from checking my oil and everythng is good. nothing seems to be leaking. when I was coming home I was driving normaly and my motor is quiet and smooth, nothing seems wrong at all. and the transmition is still super smooth.

I have probably hit redline with my car about 6 times this whole year, how honestly bad is this? am I greatly decreasing my motor and transmition life span? The car is normaly driven at a nice calm pace between 1800-3000rpm. just every now and again I go out and have a little fun with it.

edit* no I do not smell anything inside the cabin, nor did I smell anything coming from my car while I was filling up gas. whats odd is at wot and high rpm's my car is loud!! with the intake and exhaust, seems like it is running lean at the high end to me.

[evolutionmovement]

I ran mine to redline in the first 3 gears every day for years pulling on the highway to go to work. Also heel and toe downshifts and holding high rpms while cornering nearly every time I drove it. Over 100 mph through entire state of Nebraska in summer with the A/C on while driving across country. Those are just a few of the things. Burnt an exhaust valve at 247k miles. Took engine apart and the rest of it looked nearly mint. J-turns are not recommended for the transmissions as that blew mine at about 170k miles (though that was a manual). A top speed run probably didn't help either.

[speedmaxx]

So i would assume my car should be fine
it realy dosent get beat to often, just the ocational spool up to about 4800rpm

by the sounds of it Subaru motors and transmitions seem to be pretty strong along with the rest of the car. How many miles should I exspect to get out of my stock tranny and na 2.2l?

[RJ93SS]

all u can do is take for a rip, hop out check your exhat ect to see if u smell anything and go from there

[kleinkid]

How about a cv axle boot torn and putting a little grease on the exhaust? Or one of a million other things, or nothing at all.

[soobrdad02]

+1 for the axle boot. It's the first thing that came to mind. It's happened ×2 in the past few months to my wagon...

[ericem]

haha 6 red line runs a year. I do more like 6 a day if i feel spirited LOL.