Burning rubber smell

[eric509]

Hi,
After highway driving, I get a burnt rubber kind of smell coming from the area of the rear right wheelwell. Any ideas?

[devonp]

I just noticed mine doing the same thing but I have yet to figure out why. I do have new tires and was wondering if they threw more crap up onto the muffler which led to the smell. Anyone?

[autox02altima]

Check to see if there's anything rubbing the tires - like a plastic splash shield or something.

[igrs]

I've noticed the same thing. Can't see anything rubbing.

Ian
2002 CR-V EX

[Einstein]

I've smelled the same thing. I have no idea, except maybe tires. I thought maybe I took some corners too fast?

I have a 99 EX 4WD.

[millertheo]

I had the same problem - smell in the right rear. It coincided with an obviously badly worn right rear brake rotor (at only 23k mi). The Honda dealer replaced the rotor as defective. After doing so the smell immediately returned. I brought it back to the dealer saying, "It still smells." They said everything checked out fine, and I was just smelling ROAD SALT ON THE MUFFLER. In my 18 years of western PA driving I had never smelled road salt burning. However there is some logic to what the dealer said. The smell had been present on and off since day one, but only in the winter.

[eric509]

Interesting, I live in Vancouver and we seldom get road salt however we recently had a dump of snow and they did salt the highways.
Thanks very much for the input.

[MikeN]

There is supposed to be some adhesives on or near the muffler on the new vehicle that burn off in a week or so. Mine had the smell also.

[Ramon L. Santiago]

That could also be the smell of clutch lining "seating". Or the brake pads.

[snowie007]

I have a 2003 with 13000kms (8078 miles) and I noticed that same burning smell from the right rear. Only started noticing it when there is salt on the grounds. I thought it was the parking brake or the brakes were sticking. After looking at millertheo's post, it makes a lot sense now! Whew....