5 Types Of Burning Smell From Car and Why Burning Smell from Car When Accelerating

Last updated on July 28th, 2023 at 05:12 pm

It’s because cars and trucks operate with a range of different fluids, an electrical system and, in some cases, a gas-powered motor. This simply means that the potential for your vehicle to generate smells is actually pretty high.

Most of the time, bad smells in the car are caused by real problems that can damage the car. Note that there are several reasons behind a burning smell from car that we might not know yet. However, these stinky burning smell often create an unpleasant sensation for the drivers, and above all, might be a dangerous warning directly to the person who control the car.

What Burning Smell From Car Heater Indicates And Solution

Anytime you notice a burning smell coming from the car heater, this could be due to dust or debris in the vents which smoke or heat up, which causes a burning smell. Sometimes, it could be that there are problems in the heater system, including a bad motor, bad heater core, or other problem that can cause antifreeze to leak into the system and burns.

The solution to these problems is to run a system check which includes servicing the heater core, and ensure you stick to your vehicle’s service schedule. But in case the heater core goes bad, the average cost to replace it is about $500 to $1000. So ensure you go for a heater system inspection before it gets too cold outside.

Why You Might Notice A Burning Smell From Car When Accelerating

In case you notice a burning smell when accelerating, the problem could be your brakes. Once your brake pads or rotors are not aligned properly, an unnecessary friction can cause this burning smell. Another thing is that if your brake pads are extremely worn out, they can still cause friction in the engine, and causing the burning smell. However, in case you’re driving a manual car, and you notice the burning smell when accelerating, it’s likely there is problem with your clutch.

Below we are going to show more causes of burning smell from car.

Reason Car Struggling To Accelerate And Burning Smell

Dirty or Clogged Fuel Filters

Indeed, a dirty or clogged fuel filter is one of the reasons for a car not accelerating like it’s supposed to when required to do so. Once there is a dirty fuel filter, your engine can not be getting enough fuel which simply means that the vehicle won’t be giving the acceleration performance that it should. So replacing the fuel filter will be the solution.

A Clogged or Dirty Air Filters

The same way a fuel filter provides the engine with clean fuel, that is how an air filter provides the engine with clean air to be used in the air-fuel mixture which will be sent to the combustion chambers to burn. Meaning that if an air filter is clogged, then the engine won’t get the right air-fuel mixture which result in slow acceleration. Make sure to replace the air filter as soon as possible.

The Malfunctioning of TPS

One of the basic principle of the throttle position sensor (TPS) is to detect the throttle valve opening angle that is controlled by the accelerator pedal. This means the TPS will send the data to the ECU. In case the TPS malfunctions, the engine speed cannot be controlled again by the accelerator pedal and the engine speed will increase or decrease without anyone pressing or depressing the pedal.

Why The Burning Smell From Car But Not Overheating?

Well, this could be coming from a radiator or heater hose, a failed intake manifold gasket or a cylinder head. This can also be coming from a leaky radiator cap or your car radiator itself, especially if you smell it outside your car. Sometimes a strong smell inside the passenger compartment probably means a bad heater core.

5 Common Types of burning smell from car

Your Car Brakes

Indeed, your car can also develop a burnt smell from the brakes. Sometimes this occurs if you are riding the brakes or braking very hard.

Anytime you are going down on a very steep hill and riding the brakes, then the friction can become very great that your brakes smoke.

Though this is not an issue if it happens once in a while. But anytime you notice a burning smell from the brakes during regular driving, then there is a problem. It could be that a caliper piston in the brakes may have seized which could cause the brake to drag.

Car Gasoline

Another common type of burning smell from car is from sloppy refueling. However, this can also mean there is a leakage in your vent hose or fuel injection line.

Make sure you get it checked immediately and don’t light up anything in the vicinity until after it’s diagnosed and repaired.

Car Clutch

Sometimes, common type of burning smell from car may come from the clutch having problem. This occurs whenever you shift gears and the burning smell is usually similar to that of a burning paper or the burning rubber smell from a car.

If this is the case, then the clutch’s face burns off when it slips. This smells rubbery because the surface of the clutch has a paper mesh.

But to avoid this, it’s important to learn using the clutch properly. So ensure you don’t ride the clutch; doing this often leads to replacing the clutch entirely.

The Electrical Short

Sometimes burning can also occur when there is an electrical short circuit. Note that the plastic around the wires, connection, or fuses will melt or burn which can produce this smell.

However, if you don’t get the electrical system fixed, then you can have a serious issue running your car. The best thing to do is to have a mechanic fix it as they can hook your car up to a computer system which will then quickly tell the operator where the electrical problem is.

Car Oil Plug Damage

The oil pan has a plug in it and once it gets damaged, then liquid may leak. This means that oil leakage into the exhaust system will create the smell of burning oil in the car.

Also, this will create a puddle when the car stops and parked at any point. Make sure you correct the situation immediately to prevent the oil to run out of the engine.