boostgt2 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Ok guys I am brand new to the Subaru world. Just bought an 05 Legacy Gt Limited Manual, 127k very well taken care of. I am the 3rd owner, have a stack of maintenance paper work from previous owners. Car drives straight, runs great. It has grimmspeed up pipe, VF52 turbo, 2012 wrx tmic, perrin catless downpipe, go fast motor sports exhaust 3in, wrx single mass flywheel and clutch, mishimoto radiator, street tuned on 19psi. Now that you know about the car my question to you is when I get off the highway driving 30mins to and from work I come to a stop and can smell something of a burning smell. Its not oil or coolant, more of a rubber smell maybe. I have absolutely no leaks under the car that i can visually see. The smell only lasts for 30secs to a minute, continue driving in city limits smell goes way and wont return until you go on highway or above 70mph. You can drive all over stop and go city limits with no smell. Now I have brand new tires 50 miles on them and the smell was there before I replace them. I have not gotten an alignment as I have only owned the car 2 weeks but she drives straight as an arrow no pulls. Old tires had no abnormal wear. I have made sure no inner fender liners are loose or rubbing. I have gotten out of the car as soon as I have pulled off the highway to try and pin point the smell from front to rear and I think its more to the rear. Differential fluid? but no leaks. So I think I have ruled out the engine bay but still not 100%. Any info will help me pin point this smell (it is also very strong and noticeable) I just dont wont to damage anything. I do all my own mechanics on all my vehicles so I am pretty good with cars. If anyone has any suggestions on checking specs on parts or anything I can do so to rule out more and more things. Thank you to any that respond. Your time and help is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PtPixel Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Not clutch or brake smell? Catted or catless DP? not an unburnt fuel smell? You might not see an oil leak as it could evaporate too quickly on the hot engine parts. All of those are fairly noticeable smells though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Not sure on clutch smell but clutch doesnt slip and engages well. Its not brake fluid. Catless Dp 3in all the way and idle, cruise a/f ratio is 14.7ish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PtPixel Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 You'll always get a slight fuel smell from catless - not 100% of the fuel can be used. Fuel doesn't smell like rubber though. I was meaning brake pads, not fluid. They shouldn't smell unless you've been doing a lot of heavy braking. Could be clutch then - smells a bit rubbery with a more acrid/metallic. My clutch has always engaged well and I treat it properly but sometime you'll get the odd smell. It did this more so when I first had it. Clutch and brakes smell similar. If your brakes are engaging well and you don't have any clutch slipping then shouldn't be anything to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chato Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 fender liner or other plastic that only touches moving parts at high speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Sounds good. Doesnt really smell fuel like. Maybe it could have something to do with the brakes cause of hard braking on off ramp. Pads all look great though. No plastic are rubbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R. Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Is it your passenger side inner front cv boot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redryan98 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Could be sticky caliper? This actually happened to me yesterday. Got home and could smell burnt pads, and the wheel was hot to the touch. Have you been able to narrow down where its coming from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Is it your passenger side inner front cv boot? Bingo.... also could be the drivers side CV boot or boots ? Another thought is, if the car was not driven for long times by the previous owners, it could just be crap/dirt on the engine finally getting hot. 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Its not CV boots. Just replaced passenger axle the other day as it was split but cleaned everything up. Car never really sat for long periods of time as it was the last owners dd. I am going to do a full brake inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Capacity Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 May be check around the exhaust heat shields for something stuck up there... ? Just trying to come up with ideas... 305,600miles 5/2012 ej257 short block, 8/2011 installed VF52 turbo, @20.8psi, 280whp, 300ftlbs. (SOLD). CHECK your oil, these cars use it. Engine Build - Click Here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Max Capacity any ideas are good ideas at this point. Thank you i will check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazykorean35 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Probably your cv boot. Forgot which side it is on, but the downpipe/exhaust runs very close to the cv boot and causes it to smell like burning rubber etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 yeh even though you replaced it if it had flung grease all over that will take a while to burn off completely. i would not imagine it to not make any smells unless high speed driving. i would def. look at the sticky caliper situation. once home from your commute with the higher speeds, go around all 4 wheels and put your hand near them if 1 wheel is noticeably hotter than the rest that would def. be and indicator of sticking caliper overheating he brakes and giving you a burning smell. could be better done with a thermal temp gun if you have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob-2 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 yeh even though you replaced it if it had flung grease all over that will take a while to burn off completely. i would not imagine it to not make any smells unless high speed driving. i would def. look at the sticky caliper situation. once home from your commute with the higher speeds, go around all 4 wheels and put your hand near them if 1 wheel is noticeably hotter than the rest that would def. be and indicator of sticking caliper overheating he brakes and giving you a burning smell. could be better done with a thermal temp gun if you have one. I had to clean it off. By a long time to burn off you mean weeks to months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Well I think I have checked every possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyMonkey Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Is it the fox you ran over a few months back ? It's rotting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 ^??? What does the FOX say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FJuan Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Its not CV boots. Just replaced passenger axle the other day as it was split but cleaned everything up. Car never really sat for long periods of time as it was the last owners dd. I am going to do a full brake inspection. If you cleaned everything up, what did you use to clean the DP with? Some chemicals will linger for several days to weeks until it's burned off completely. You may be smelling some of those chemicals burning off still. My wife's balls are delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 I just used some brake part cleaner on a rag to wipe away the fresh goo and a wire wheel on a drill for the burnt on shit. I am 99% sure its not coming from there now. I want to say thanks to everyone that has chimed in with helping advice as I can not do anything about it right now because its super cold out and we just got 12inches of snow. Only thing I have notice is a very small leak from the oil filter which is coming from the oil cooler gasket that I have ordered but will have to wait to put on (it is only leaking a drop or two over night so I dont think that is the smell) till some warmer weather. I will get back to the post when I can get back under the car and do some more inspecting. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtracy Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I had a burning smell coming off the highway or at a light after being at speed in my 2005 GT with 175K. I have worked with the my repair shop for several months and finally figured it out; 1) Fixed leaking boot- was definitely leaking, but didn't solve the problem. 2) Replaced bad clips on new boot, still didn't solve the problem 3) Replaced valve cover gaskets (definitely leaking before repair) but still no joy 4) Cleaned out lines from turbo where oil sludge had collected - din't fix the smell and now not losing a drop of oil. 5) Checked all turbo lines, no leaks 6) FOUND that one of the earlier leaks (boot or valve cover) had allowed oil to run down and saturate the material in the wrap around the catalytic converters under the heat shields- cleaned the wraps and VOILA no more smell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostgt2 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Hey jtracy thanks for the check list. So far I have done all of that except the oil lines to turbo but the guy before me put the VF52 turbo on I am guessing he would have cleaned it up. I now have NO leaks anywhere and I have pulled apart the entire exhaust and cleaned every inch of it. Have about 1000 miles on it after fixing everything and the smell does seem to be getting better but its still there or maybe i am getting use to it. Glad you got yours to go away. I am not giving up yet!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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