I went up to the blue mountains the other day, car full of camping gear and 4 people.... maybe too much for the small engine, but well on the drive up the car started smelling like burning rubber, we stopped and the smell faded fairly quickly. but since the smell comes back whenever i drive more than 10 minutes. doesn't really depend on how and where i drive i have the feeling, just 10 minutes anywhere and i can smell it.
I have no clue what's causing it. Was guessing missing transmission fluid, but naa that's not it. There is no smoke and I couldn't see anything unusual around the engine.
Any ideas?

Nothings rubbing against any belts etc? maybe idle the car and you (or someone else) looks around and looks for anything that is where it should be or listen for noises. I had an idling noise and eventually found the radiator splash guard caught up and was rubbing against the air conditioner compressor.

Nothings rubbing against any belts etc? maybe idle the car and you (or someone else) looks around and looks for anything that is where it should be or listen for noises. I had an idling noise and eventually found the radiator splash guard caught up and was rubbing against the air conditioner compressor.

I already had a look while idling, but couldn't see anything, but will have another look tmr. to make sure. But pretty sure that there is no unusual noise.

I already had a look while idling, but couldn't see anything, but will have another look tmr. to make sure. But pretty sure that there is no unusual noise.

Burning rubber is usually easy to spot, lots of smoke.

Sure you are not smelling hot oil? Check rocker cover for leaks onto the exhaust manifold.

Check the front wheel wells for any damage in the plastics, I had a similar problem with the Ralliart in the front left, turned out the wind was pushing the wheel well lining into the tyres.

Burning rubber is usually easy to spot, lots of smoke.
Sure you are not smelling hot oil? Check rocker cover for leaks onto the exhaust manifold.

There is definitely no smoke. Just checked again today. I am fairly sure that it smells like burning rubber, and all my mates described the smell as burning rubber as well when I asked them for help. But we could also all be wrong... I do remember slightly over filling the enging with oil 2 weeks ago, the dipstick was a little above max. I tried to see if there is oil leaking anywhere, but I couldn't find anything...


Check the front wheel wells for any damage in the plastics, I had a similar problem with the Ralliart in the front left, turned out the wind was pushing the wheel well lining into the tyres.

Checkd the wells, the radiator and everything else under the bonnet, couldn't see anything, which could cause the smell.

But what I noticed today was that the smell quickly faded away after stopping, although I kept the engine running. The smell seemed to be a bit less intense in general.

Burning rubber such as a clutch doesn't spill out smoke. It could be the clutches in the auto transmission. Is it slipping at all?

Are you sure that the smell is burning rubber and not oil? Check for oil leaks from the rocker cover dripping onto the manifold or exhaust. Also jack up the car and see if you can if you can inspect the drive shaft - may be oil coming out from there aswell.

Tbh it sounds like a transmission issue. The manual test is press the accelerator in 5th gear and see if the engine revs up like a slipping sensation, not sure how to do that in an auto but if you put your foot down enough before it shifts gears you should simulate the problem.

Other possibility are your breaks. Check your pads for wear because if you have a pad that's in permanent contact with the disc it will smell like burning rubber. Also handbrake's if too tight will cause the same issue. These produce a similar burning rubber smell.



My money is on transmission or brakes.

Burning rubber such as a clutch doesn't spill out smoke. It could be the clutches in the auto transmission. Is it slipping at all?
Are you sure that the smell is burning rubber and not oil? Check for oil leaks from the rocker cover dripping onto the manifold or exhaust. Also jack up the car and see if you can if you can inspect the drive shaft - may be oil coming out from there aswell.
Tbh it sounds like a transmission issue. The manual test is press the accelerator in 5th gear and see if the engine revs up like a slipping sensation, not sure how to do that in an auto but if you put your foot down enough before it shifts gears you should simulate the problem.
Other possibility are your breaks. Check your pads for wear because if you have a pad that's in permanent contact with the disc it will smell like burning rubber. Also handbrake's if too tight will cause the same issue. These produce a similar burning rubber smell.
My money is on transmission or brakes.

Thanks for your advice.
The clutch doesn't slip at all and shifts super smoothly.
I can't jack up my car, but I'll try to get underneath and have a closer look with a torch.
Breaks might be a possibility, I will give that a closer look. Handbrake isn't too tight.