burning smell...long post

[syang1983]

So I had searched the web, on the fourm and could not find an answer. I have a 2002 camry xle v5 135k. I've notice a plastic or grease burning smell from vent. It only smell when the heat is on and when the car is stopped or parked. You can't smell it when the car is moving. I don't smell anything under the hood when I proped the hood up.

I took it in to the shop yesterday and they suspect that it was coming from the valve cover gasket that has a little leak and assure that it was oil that's being burned off while the engine is running. There was some oil but it's nothing like the smell. So they changed out the valve cover gasket and put in new plugs so I don't have to deal with the ones in the back. I drove home and the smell was still there. I took it back and they said that the oil need to be burned off. Drive it for another 1,000 to burn off all the oil.

Ok so when I look into the problem, it came to me that could it be the blower motor?? Heat still works in all settings but I only smell it when the heat is on. I turn on the AC and the smell goes away. Where is the blower motor located so I can check to see if the fan is starting to melt or something. Suppose to be in the 60's in Wisconsin soon so I can maybe clarify that with the AC on the smell is gone.

[gdanaher]

It's not the blower motor. It would smell bad for about 10 seconds befoer it failed. Are you losing any coolant? Even just a little? More likely candidate is a leaker heater core.

[syang1983]

Originally Posted by gdanaher

It's not the blower motor. It would smell bad for about 10 seconds befoer it failed. Are you losing any coolant? Even just a little? More likely candidate is a leaker heater core.

It doesn’t seem to be losing coolant unless it's kind of hard to tell. The reservoir is to the correct marking.

It could be the heater core. Although, doing some research on the symptom, I don't have a wet passenger floor, it's not overheating, I don't smell coolant, and my windshield does not fog up. Unless it's still early in the failing process. Not even sure how burning coolant smells like. Also, they say that you can smell it when the defroster is on but I can smell it with any heat settings.

I will do some more digging. I also found that there is a very faint burning smell coming from the rear of the motor. Mostly around the rear passenger side close to the firewall.

[Agent556]

im curious, since you have a V6, did you start to notice this burning smell after an oil change by chance?

[syang1983]

Originally Posted by Agent556

im curious, since you have a V6, did you start to notice this burning smell after an oil change by chance?

Now that you mention that, I think it did happen after the oil change.
I bought it not so long ago and did the oil change like 2 weeks after owning it. But, if you are wondering, I didn't drip any oil around the motor
and I didn't change the filter since the dealer changed it before I bought it and I didn't have the tool to turn the filter out.

I've been trying to solve the issue ever since.

[BlackCamSe]

Check for a plastic bag melted on the exhaust. Smells like all hell when the exhaust gets hot.

[syang1983]

Nope not plastic bag. It was the first thing I checked. Can't smell nothing from the outside.

[gdanaher]

It doesn't smell with the air conditioner on, but do you have it set to recirculcate the air or to bring in fresh air. If the latter then it is operating just like the heater except the damper is blocking off air to the heater core. If the odor is not present with the a/c operating and blowing air from outside the cabin, then I vote for the heater core. Even if you have oil burning off the exhaust, how is it going to get to the air inlet in such quantity to notice? Look up at the cowl area where the air inlet is located. It is sealed off from the engine, or should be. I had a 1985 Jetta at one time that began leaking at the core. Very small leak but it smelled bad. Lost maybe a cup of coolant in 2 months time. Repaired under warranty but they showed the core to me and I could see how it had been bleeding out around the seal. Just enough to smell. I would not say it smelled like burned oil, but every nose is different.