Bad Burning Smell

[mollyshark]

Thought it was my imagination, but today was far beyond my imagination. My brother was in town and I let him take the Z for a quick ride. He came back saying there was a bad burning smell and is thinking it might be the clutch plate. The clutch never slips, acts weird, etc, but he's pretty savvy with high end cars so I'm thinking there might be some legitimacy here. Even after he got back I sat in the car and the burning smell is really evident. Only other issue is when he started the car, a mouse jumped out of the engine compartment and made a mad dash for behind the freezer. It doesn't smell electrical, it smells friction.

Any thoughts? Other than drop it off at the dealer first thing!

[thegunguy]

Take the Big Green Egg out of the trunk!

Seriously, did it smell right away or after driving?

[KenZ8]

It sounds like you're the first on the block with a big red egg. I had the same experience with my SL, and there was a mouse nest above the catalytic converter out of sight without a lift. They use all sorts of debris to line the nest, and when the cat reaches operating temperature, you've got a little barbeque:eek: . This is especially likely if you hadn't moved the car for a week or two. I personally prefer this scenario over the thought of your brother cooking the clutch.

[mollyshark]

You could smell the burning before he was out of the driveway...and it was a slow drive up the driveway. I'll take it over to Autobahn and have them check it out. Hope it is just a mouse nest. I had one in my Porsche once. A lovely family in an old flight suit of my ex's in the trunk. Takes forever and a ton of Febreze to get that smell out of it.

[mollyshark]

Good news. Mouse in the air filter (half eaten air filter) was the burning smell. Called an exorcist and Miss Mouse has been evicted, Febreze sprayed, new filter on order, and things are better.

And Autobahn Ft Worth has not heard anything about "THE ISSUE" although he mentioned vaguely in some older Z's (I am thinking Z3) there was something that occurred in a similar fashion. Bottom line he said he wouldn't pay for "The Fix" either!

[jawz]

Good to hear that's all it was and that it didn't cause any other problems. Can you imagine what it must've been like to Ms Mouse when you took the car out! Like standing in a windtunnel! :eek: Could this have been the cause of one of the problems you reported in an earlier post? (Sorry - Can't remember what that was.) Not sure if this type of thing could affect the MAFs or not.

I guess that's just another good reason to invest in a "bubble".

Happy Motoring!

[KenZ8]

How would that create a burning smell? Was some of the filter material drawn into the combustion cycle or was it the air filter for the cabin air?:confused:

[mollyshark]

Ken, I imagine that little compartment gets damned hot when the engine is running. Baked mouse, mouse dropping, mouse yuck, and mouse house don't do much at room temp. At engine temps, it was astounding and does, incidentally, smell exactly like a torched clutch plate. Just fyi!

[thegunguy]

BMW - The Ultimate Mouse Trap:D

[Z8doc]

help to redesign "the Fix" to include a mousetrap for Mollyshark! ;)