jeffrec

Great summary Dan and I often smell the scent of cosmoline and burnt tires after I drive her hard for a bit of time. I often pull into my garage after a spirited drive and smell those exact smells although the smells disipate quickly.

McCulla

Thanks Dan. I know most and I have a slight hint of clutch in my aging brain. The car is at the shop, the pedal vibration is leading the tech toward the dual mass flywheel, but he hasn't uncovered the smell source yet. I guess if he has to go after the flywheel, he'll be able to check the new clutch disc. We'll see..

Captsteve123

I agree with point about the coolant reservoir. Mine also has a small leak, and it started getting low. It would burn off on the exhaust and had an usually smell.
It's fixed, thanks to JB weld! Not, I have a new coolant reservoir, and smell is gone!

McCulla

Nah, not coolant. That one I know (don't ask, suffice it to say that I have 3 water pumps under my belt in the 50K miles I've driven over the last 4 years)
The car is sort of stumping my tech, but it's been raining here and that may limit the smell some. Still investigating. No foreign object found around hot stuff, which I thought may be the case.

McCulla

Picked up my car today. Unfortunately I cannot tell yet if the smell has gone away as it was raining again and it seems like this reduces it. Regarding the clutch pedal vibration, the dual mass flywheel and clutch release bearing were changed, and eliminated the vibration totally. The 10 month old clutch plate was as new, as was the pressure plate surface, which eliminated "burning clutch smell" as my odor source. There were no errant rubber frags caught around any hot engine area spots (for some reason, tire disintegration is so frequent in Florida, it's often an obstacle course on the freeways to avoid big chunks, so I wondered if I'd picked up a piece). So the smell source remains a mystery, but my clutch concern is put to rest.

StormRune

Wonderful news that you got your clutch fixed and the new clutch was still in good shape. Congrats!