Help Burning Smell From Vents !!

[Drooby]

as i drove home from a long day today i noticed a burning smell.
it was cold so i had the heater ON all day today.
first i thought it was a fire nearby (that how bad it was) bt then i realized it was coming from my vents .
i tried to troubleshoot but with no luck - there is virtually no smell in the engine compartment - and when i turned on the AC the smell went away .
On turning the AC off and just the fan ON - the smell cam eback

Any help is appreciatted

[Drooby]

One more thing - this "smell" was present even with the blower off and even with the circulation on .

i am having a hard time breathing after being insinde it for the last 30 minutes too.

[Drooby]

comeon can anyone help please

[CrimsonBrian]

I think your starting point would be to look at the micro air filter. I would bet that some dead leaves or some dry materials got sucked into the intakes by the windshield wipers and and is now smoldering somewhere around in there. I would also take the car to a car wash and vaccuum out all the leaves, if there are any, off the intakes near the windshield.

If you are unclear on where the air filter is, its behind the radio in the most colossally inaccessable area. I wont describe the process to get it out, you can do a search of the boards to find that or look in a Bentley manual. Good luck!

Brian

[andyman32]

Is any identifiable stuff coming out of the vents? Steam/condensation? Smoke? Or is it clear, and just smells like burning?

[Drooby]

Is any identifiable stuff coming out of the vents? Steam/condensation? Smoke? Or is it clear, and just smells like burning?

i changed the cabin filter myself about 4 months ago
there is no smoke coming out of the vents - just the smell
i noticed some leaves under the wipers but none were inside the grill under there .

also noticed that the smell is there EVEN WITH THE BLOWER FAN OFF .
just the slight air coming from the vents has a burning smell - i'm freaked it could be electric but i cant find anything electrical not working.

[rickm]

Change out the cabin filter....vacuum that area out well. Now get to the fans under where the wipers are. Lots of times crud can - and will - be in there. Vacuum it out. I think you can take the blades out, sniff around. You might have something, er, dead in there too (like I did). I wiped it all down with hot soapy water. Once it's all clean open up the hood, start up the car. Crank the heat on high, open all of the vents....then spray some Lysol are freshener into the fresh are intakes (near the wipers). Let it run for a bit, then shut it off. That helps on my car, I do that every 2 weeks.

[Drooby]

Change out the cabin filter....vacuum that area out well. Now get to the fans under where the wipers are. Lots of times crud can - and will - be in there. Vacuum it out. I think you can take the blades out, sniff around. You might have something, er, dead in there too (like I did). I wiped it all down with hot soapy water. Once it's all clean open up the hood, start up the car. Crank the heat on high, open all of the vents....then spray some Lysol are freshener into the fresh are intakes (near the wipers). Let it run for a bit, then shut it off. That helps on my car, I do that every 2 weeks.

thanks for the reply -
how do you get to where the fans are?
is it near the cabin filter?
one question that boggles me is - WHY DID THE SMELL STOP WHEN I TURNED ON THE AC TO COLD - AND CAME BACK AFTER I TURNED OFF THE AC?

i see from the replies that this isnt a serious problem - can the car be driven - or should i first make sure that by finding something in there ?

i didnt smell anything in the engine compartment or even under the windshields - it looks clean with a small flash light but of course i cant see well @ night under the street light

[andyman32]

Yes, I would guess the car is driveable. Unless you have a Check Engine light, some other computer code, overheating, smoke from the engine compartment, etc., it should be fine. The worst case is, you can't use your heat until you get it fixed.

[Drooby]

Yes, I would guess the car is driveable. Unless you have a Check Engine light, some other computer code, overheating, smoke from the engine compartment, etc., it should be fine. The worst case is, you can't use your heat until you get it fixed.

THANKS i'll post what i found
hopefully its just something in the filter

i looked up where the blower motor is in bently (turns out to be right under wipers in center of rear engine compartment ) i think i will also open this up and see if anything is in there)

[50 fiver]

I have the same thing all the time, I park under some trees and leaves get in there constantly. I have actually had mine catch on fire, smoke pouring out of all the vents so bad that I parked the car and left it thinking it would catch on fire and burn the entire car. I try to keep them clean, but it is impossible, I am thinking of putting some fiberglass screen under the intake to keep the leaves from dropping in there all the time. The only way I could figure you don't smell it when you turn on the ac is that the recirculation is on and not allowing any fresh air in that pulls the smoke smell into the cabin. I can always hear leaves getting blown around in the fan and I just wonder if the thing will ever catch on fire big time and burn the entire car up. Everytime I smell smoke, I roll the window down to see if I can smell smoke in the air to try to figure out if it is the blower or someone burning.

[Drooby]

I have the same thing all the time, I park under some trees and leaves get in there constantly. I have actually had mine catch on fire, smoke pouring out of all the vents so bad that I parked the car and left it thinking it would catch on fire and burn the entire car. I try to keep them clean, but it is impossible, I am thinking of putting some fiberglass screen under the intake to keep the leaves from dropping in there all the time. The only way I could figure you don't smell it when you turn on the ac is that the recirculation is on and not allowing any fresh air in that pulls the smoke smell into the cabin. I can always hear leaves getting blown around in the fan and I just wonder if the thing will ever catch on fire big time and burn the entire car up. Everytime I smell smoke, I roll the window down to see if I can smell smoke in the air to try to figure out if it is the blower or someone burning.

thanks man .

can you clean these out from the cabin filter or from the vent openings under the wipers? i really need to do this bnut i parked the car because i cant stand the smell and i can work on it in the rain !

[rickm]

Clean them out from under the hood...you'll see the area where leaves can and will build up. Also pull the cabin filter AFTER you clean the intake area so you can get a shop vac in there and vacuum all of the little bits out. Be careful, there are fins on the left side that you won't want to gouge if you can at all help it.

[Drooby]

Clean them out from under the hood...you'll see the area where leaves can and will build up. Also pull the cabin filter AFTER you clean the intake area so you can get a shop vac in there and vacuum all of the little bits out. Be careful, there are fins on the left side that you won't want to gouge if you can at all help it.

OK i cleaned out everything i coul from under the hood - although its pretty tight -maybe i should remove the blower cover to really see if anything is in there .
i also took out the cabin filter - it didnt look dirty at all BUT IT SMELLED LIKE BURNT - paper .

I couldnt find anything that was burnt though - i wonder what burned and where did it go ?? I doubt it disintegrated ???

i dont want to put a new filter in for a temporary solution f i didnt get the burnt material out ? - any suggestions?

[50 fiver]

I don't have filter, so I don't know what to suggest. I know they aren't too cheap. I would get one from patrick at bma if I needed one. The build up of crud against the fan has blown fan fuse once. I just put the windows down and turn the thing on high whenever it starts acting up and drive pretty fast to force alot of air down into it and it usually blows any crap out (into your interior though) and it is still hanging in there. Never have a prob when it is raining, I guess some of the rain gets in and keeps the stuff wet so it doesn't burn any.

[Drooby]

I don't have filter, so I don't know what to suggest. I know they aren't too cheap. I would get one from patrick at bma if I needed one. The build up of crud against the fan has blown fan fuse once. I just put the windows down and turn the thing on high whenever it starts acting up and drive pretty fast to force alot of air down into it and it usually blows any crap out (into your interior though) and it is still hanging in there. Never have a prob when it is raining, I guess some of the rain gets in and keeps the stuff wet so it doesn't burn any.

that is very strange , my problem occured the day after a whole weekend of rain - it wasnt raining at the time but i am sure it was somewhat humid

[632 Regal]

that is very strange , my problem occured the day after a whole weekend of rain - it wasnt raining at the time but i am sure it was somewhat humid

[walt525tour]

I was getting a burning smell too. I finally traced it down to a leaking valve cover gasket at the back of the valve cover the gasket allowed oil to leak down the head and on to the exhaust header. Each time I would start it up the oil would take a few minutes to burn off. when I checked the plugs there was oil in them too. classic sign that the valve cover gaskets are shot. Mine is a 95 525ita. It was a rather easy fix and I changed the plugs and plug connectors while I was in there. Photo directions are on the pelicanparts.com website. http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-valve-cover/E36-Valve-Cover.htm same as a E34.


as i drove home from a long day today i noticed a burning smell.
it was cold so i had the heater ON all day today.
first i thought it was a fire nearby (that how bad it was) bt then i realized it was coming from my vents .
i tried to troubleshoot but with no luck - there is virtually no smell in the engine compartment - and when i turned on the AC the smell went away .
On turning the AC off and just the fan ON - the smell cam eback

Any help is appreciatted