Burning smell from heater

[kokyaw]

Hi all,
I am a newbie and have a 1998 Camry V6. I recently noticed a burning smell from the heater. It is like 'comes and goes'. When that smell comes, I let the air circulate in the car (I drag that circulate/not-circulate notch to the left). It stops the smell but I know I am not solving it for good.

May I know where the smell is coming from? Will it need major fix (how much will it be?)?

Thanks so much,
Rob

[1993Camry_V6XLE]

Originally Posted by kokyaw

Hi all,
I am a newbie and have a 1998 Camry V6. I recently noticed a burning smell from the heater. It is like 'comes and goes'. When that smell comes, I let the air circulate in the car (I drag that circulate/not-circulate notch to the left). It stops the smell but I know I am not solving it for good.

May I know where the smell is coming from? Will it need major fix (how much will it be?)?

Thanks so much,
Rob

I have 93 Camry and oil was leaking from the oil filter mount onto the exhaust pipe right underneath it. It doesn't smell when i drive but when I come to a stop or let my car idle it would smell really bad. All I did was change the O ring in the oil filter mount and cleaned the area. The oil leaked stoped and the smell went away. It cost me $8.00 for the part. I don't know if you have the same problem.

[Retrospekt]

It's very possible that you are just drawing in smelly air from outside (from other car's exhaust/fumes). The Gen 3/4 Camry's don't have a cabin air filter, so whatever you draw in, you're breathing in that form.

[kokyaw]

Thanks a lot for the responses.

Actually, I smell that only when I turn on the heater. I don't smell anything when I stop or let the engine idle.

[TCam01]

yea i have the same exact problem with mine it smells like sausages and my friends always complain i wonder what it is too. it only happens when the heats on and i don't have to be in idle an its deff comin from my car not outside air

[kokyaw]

Originally Posted by TCam01

yea i have the same exact problem with mine it smells like sausages and my friends always complain i wonder what it is too. it only happens when the heats on and i don't have to be in idle an its deff comin from my car not outside air

yeah, that exactly is my problem.

[Dave's]

You may want to pull the heater blower resistor and see if there's any visible damage. They can produce a burning smell as they start to go bad. They can go bad for no apparent reason or possibly because the cabin air filter is too clogged on models which have the filter.

[kokyaw]

Originally Posted by Dave's

You may want to pull the heater blower resistor and see if there's any visible damage. They can produce a burning smell as they start to go bad. They can go bad for no apparent reason or possibly because the cabin air filter is too clogged on models which have the filter.

May I ask where the resistor is? I saw on google said it is under the passenger's side dashboard, near the firewall (I don't know what firewall is). Is it hard to take out?