How can i post a smell on the internets?

[Jehu]

Took the 540 to the store just now.The heater core problem of which i expected more to see wasn't in the same state as yesterday due to the fact the blower was working tonight.No fog on the windshield but still a smell of coolant though after running the blower thru the vents for a few moments the smell subsides.If i shut the blower off i can smell the faint trace again after i start the blower again but it fades pretty quickly and i can drive with the heat and blower going high with no fogging and no smell,i figure there's a very small leak somewhere and I'll have to replace it eventually but maybe i can get by thru Winter and do it next Spring.. Now the reason for this post.I'm not sure if it makes a difference but i forgot to shut my hood all the way after i opened it to fill the washer fluid.I thought i had a bottle in the trunk but must have forgotten i finished it and i shut the hood but not all the way.I drove off and headed up onto the highway to run the heat and blower at high for a while and see the true state of the thing.In this stretch of highway there is one exit in between the two points of my round trip.I exited at this point on my way back to get back on so i could run thru the gears getting onto the highway.It was dark and i was as usual concerned about Police so i wasn't paying very close attention and may have miss shifted because i thought i heard the engine rev high as i floored it when i believed i had shifted either into third from second or into fourth from third.It may be that i floored the gas before i got the thing into the next gear but whatever i did, when I got to the bottom of the final offramp about a mile past this event i smelled what i thought was burning plastic.It didn't smell like what I've come to understand is clutch plate burning when i am slow with the clutch release .It almost smelled like new brake pad smell but i don't have new pads.I wondered if when you open the hood there is some degree of automatic,coupled engagement of the Emergency Brake but when i got home and opened the hood the smell was strongest near what i think is the brake Master Cylinder but also strong on the other side back near the Code Pod and + Battery terminal outlet.I saw no smoke at all,when the car was off the smell subsided but when i started it again it returned.I drove off again to see if getting it hotter would make something smoke,not a thing you usually hope for but i thought at least it would show me where the smell was from.No smoke but the smell was still present, strong like burning plastic.I noticed one other thing. The usual growl of the engine wasn't as apparent,with windows open, blower and stereo off it sounded muted.This made me think i had blown up the Cat.Could that be the smell?

[Karl]

The smell generally associated with the cat is the rotten egg smell that comes from running too rich -- it starts to put out hydrogen sulfide.
Burning plastic smell may be one of those classy plastic engine cover bits came adrift and is resting on the exhaust. Or maybe wiring got hot someplace, but then you should see electrical malfunctions too.

[Jehu]

The smell generally associated with the cat is the rotten egg smell that comes from running too rich -- it starts to put out hydrogen sulfide.
Burning plastic smell may be one of those classy plastic engine cover bits came adrift and is resting on the exhaust. Or maybe wiring got hot someplace, but then you should see electrical malfunctions too.

Good thought,maybe driving on the highway up to 70 MPH with the hood open something not usually in contact with anything that gets hot was pushed there by the force of the wind at that speed..I'll have to take a closer look in the light tomorrow... Thanks.

[winfred]

possible burnt clutch hard to say without getting my hands dirty, hot brakes is the same general smell as a burnt clutch. the hood has nothing to do with the running of the car, on 540s the master cylinder is right behind the headlight, the cat usually makes a sulfur smell when it's overheating, possibly with some rattling at idle if the brick is broken

[Jehu]

possible burnt clutch hard to say without getting my hands dirty, hot brakes is the same general smell as a burnt clutch. the hood has nothing to do with the running of the car, on 540s the master cylinder is right behind the headlight, the cat usually makes a sulfur smell when it's overheating, possibly with some rattling at idle if the brick is broken

Would the clutch not neccesarily slip if the burnt smell got that bad?It wasn't so i wasn't thinking that and it didn't smell the same as i've smelled it before when i smelled it after sloppy clutching..

[winfred]

i am just going on what i picked up on from a couple times reading through the book you wrote :D, if you have burn the clutch before and smelled it and this smelled different then it's probably not the clutch, i hate diagnosing stuff i can't touch, figured id touch on a few of the things mentioned in said book


Would the clutch not neccesarily slip if the burnt smell got that bad?It wasn't so i wasn't thinking that and it didn't smell the same as i've smelled it before when i smelled it after sloppy clutching..

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

mushrooms

[SharkmanBMW]

mushrooms

seriously!
I can barely look at that block of characters... it was a tough read;)

[Jehu]

The smell generally associated with the cat is the rotten egg smell that comes from running too rich -- it starts to put out hydrogen sulfide.
Burning plastic smell may be one of those classy plastic engine cover bits came adrift and is resting on the exhaust. Or maybe wiring got hot someplace, but then you should see electrical malfunctions too.

I think i have to give you the Award for best insight in naming the cause of the smell.I drove the car today for a while and the burning plastic smell didn't reappear.Before i took off ,with the engine running i opened the hood to see if i could detect any smells as they may have started and smelled nothing .I did find the Little throttle arm that pokes itself thru a notch in the Plastic Engine Cover and when i pulled up on the cover it came up.Clearly with the hood open in the front and going highway speeds the air ram effect could have lifted that cover and moved it onto the head causing some melting.I'll hopefully see just that next time i take the cover off to change the plugs and coils.So you should congratulate yourself Karl, Sherlock Holmes would be proud!
http://www.wasie.de/image/sha50.jpg

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

phone camera picture...

I was just giving him the benefit of the doubt.......