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Burning Smell....

3637 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  maggotdecay
Has anyone experienced this in their Camry?

When I accelerate to around 75-85 or more I will get this burning smell. It will fill the entire car cabin. Theres no smoke. No leaks. And the temperature is still the same. I know its not coming from the tires.

And when braking from around 85+ mph my brakes make this loud humming,vibrating noise. I usually have to go into third to slow down to regular speed then use the brakes.
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P.S. about the excessive speed:

I drive a lot late at night. Around 11-4am. So its completely empty. I know the roads and I know where the cops are so I tend to take advantage of the emtpy roads. Only person Im putting in danger is myself and my 7 year old child......(96 Camry).
Maybe your brakes are toast? When's the last time they were checked and/or replaced?
No my brakes are working well. I changed them about a year and a half ago. (8k miles ago) And the burning smell came even when I had my other brakes. This has been ever since I bought the car. I also think that it happens to all gen 3 cams because I have a friend who has the same problem (The burning smell. Not the brakes).
i know what smell your talking about.,.. It happens in a lot of newer cars....It happens when you accelerate rapidly. It smells like rotten eggs or sulfur? It comes out of your muffler. I asked my friend who graduated from SUNY Delhi, it said that's what it was, but i can't remember what it really is....Nothing to worry about....
How's the oil consumption?
yes! finally someone with the same issue as me. same year camry, driving same speed and everything. i get that smell everyday but i drive at 5-6am well from what i smelt it more like coolant burning to me. Its not the oil for a fact. Lately i haven't been getting it maybe my car got used to going 80-95 daily. But my teacher told me to get a new raditor cap even tho i just got a new raditor, he said me might be something with the pressure and new cap would be the first thing to do. quick 5$ fit maybe. i dont have a braking issue tho. On my brakes are crap so it could be that.
Gridlyne

You probably have a slight leak thats dripping down on to your exhaust manifolds and/or pipe. Normally you won't notice it but when you accelerate or drive at a higher rate of speed than normal, the pipe heats up even more causing the oil to smoke..

Common place is if you look behind your engine towards the firewall, see if you have any oil on your pipes there. You can't miss it.
does the same go for me too amerikim ?

I duno just lately i haven't smelt it but maybe i just gotten used to it. before i really did burn coolant because that tank would be bone dry but now it seem to fit it self but every now and then i smell something burning. not oil no coolant anymore. but still smells like coolant
sometimes i get this in my gen 3 when i'm doin 70 and higher for a long period of time. usually going down to the shore and back people go 75 and higher for a long time. it smells like somethings burning but no smoke. its not a super strong smell but you can still smell it. i still have no clue what it is but usually when i slow down for a while it goes away.
yea it does. well that makes 3 gen camrys that do that but no real clue wtf is really is. aleast i feel good that their is nothing really wrong with the car on my behalf maybe on toyota's end.
The description for me went about the same..

I would be driving around town nice and slow for a few days, weekends come and I get out on the freeway. I drive faster on weekends.Exhaust heats up from engine towards cat (rear). So any oil that leaked on to the pipe starts to heat up. It very rarely smokes, but its a stinker. It's very little oil, just a light coat. I am checking oil levels often and have very few drips in my parking space. Its not a OHMYGOD typeof leak - think sweating. The oil is coming from the camcovers and its a pain to get to the rear cylinder bank. I have tightened it down best I can.

I am watching coolant levels and have not detected any leaks.

Look under under the intakes of the V6 and see if you have oil there.(shows as dark stain on pipe).,
Im not leaking anything. My levels are fine. My car dosn't smoke at all either.

But yet I still get that faint burning smell around those speeds. I think its a common Gen 3 problem.
Yeah I get that burning smell too. That's some weird shit:eek:
And then all the passengers in the car think that something has gone terribly wrong with the car and blame my driving fast.
it's not a major problem nor is anything wrong with the car it's juss emissions..
I get the same problem, too. Comes from extensive driving periods or pushing your car a little harder at times. I thot that it might be engine oil on the manifold (the gaskets are old and leaking a bit at the seams), but a friend told me that it wasn't the smell of oil. I'm still skeptical...

I'll post some pics (soon) of what the leak looks like...see if any of you Gen3 guys have the same problem.
I know that its not really a problem. I think the car was just built that way. But maybe theres a way around it. Because it kinda spoils the mood. One minute your hitting 90 and the next your worried about your car exploding.
it's juss fuel burning....happens to fairly newer cars.
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