Auto Tranny Clutch Smell Anyone????

[Bretm1]

read a lot about clutch smell in the 5m's-i swear i have smelled a clutch (not brake or oil) smell after "spirited" driving using manual mode. i'm happy with the performance of the 5eat. with 15k miles (i bought a demo with 3k on it) it seems to downshift quicker than upshift which doesn't bother me too much.

 

but anyhoo i notice a clutch smell when pushed

[Guest *Jedimaster*]

In for responses.

[boris]

Never smelled anything on my 5EAT. No clutch lining, just a torque converter and AT fluid, right? I guess if you are doing a lot of brake torque launches (foot on brake, foot on gas) you could heat up the AT fluid and that might stink, I'm not sure what it smells like. Would definitely get an AT fluid cooler if you are going to be doing much of that.

 

I had a WRX with a stick shift before this car and smelled the clutch stink on it a few times when i slipped the clutch for high RPM launches. It was a pretty distinctive smell, it smelled expensive and seem to linger much longer than you would expect... i always felt bad after doing that to my car. anyways, nothing like that at all with the 5EAT.

[mwiener2]

You don't have a clutch. Your probably smelling your cat, or you have a cat stuck in your engine bay somewhere.

[gt_ltd]

i have smelled something quite strong a few times after i pushed it very hard. not sure if it's something from the street or my car though.

[arcsine]

Techically you have several "clutch packs", but they don't work exactly like manual trans clutches. I've noticed several unsettling "burning electronics" smells, but nothing bad has ever come from it. I figured it's just poor solder jobs that are torching substrate as they heat up. Not many mechanical metal on metal or fluid burnoff smells, a few noticed shortly after buying the car but have subsided.

[REM87O]

I have smelled it too. It does smell like a burnt clutch. Burnt cat? Smells like chicken.

 

I don't do a lot of power braking so that's not it. I don't geardown using the step-tronic.

 

Not sure what it is. At first I thought it was the brake pads or a stuck caliper, but I have ruled that out.

[Bretm1]

You don't have a clutch. Your probably smelling your cat, or you have a cat stuck in your engine bay somewhere.

 

Not an expert-but having burned through several turbo hydramatic 350 gm trannies in the day, as well as thrashing many manual trannies, things are signifigantly different now with the advent of electronic transmissions and even more so with what I will call auto-manual(like the 5eat)

 

Torque still needs to be converted and gears need to be shifted, but now in the 5EAT trannies it is done through a series of clutches, gears (I believe this is correct terminology) and electronics versus mostly vacuum/hydraulics ,bands and that famed big round (and heavy) torque converter.

 

The unforgettable burning tranny fluid smell is etched in my mind as is the seperate smell of a slipping burning clutch.

 

I am not proud of this, I know that no one else drives their cars hard at least once in a while.(yeah right)

 

I remember trying to get a six speed s2000 honda (with no traction control shutoff) to spin. This was while the sales rep was with me.( he was trying to tell me how to get em spinning!!!!) No luck , but it was kind of funny waiting ten minutes before pulling in to the dealer while the acrid clutch smell went away.

 

What prompted this was his sales manager arrogantly explaining to me why there is no need to be able to turn off the traction control. He said " There is simply no need". I'm not Mike freakin Scumacher and I could use some lessons,but give me a break. I want to be able to do donuts if desired.

 

I guess I rambled a little

[gt_ltd]

hmmm it looks like only silver 5EAT has the problem...

[Enlight]

I think I know what smell your talking about, but I can't identify it. This is usually after I brake (notice i spelled *brake* correctly, for those that forget) torque and drive hard.

[gt_ltd]

by "brake torque" did u mean "power braking"??

[melayout]

I think I know what smell your talking about, but I can't identify it. This is usually after I brake (notice i spelled *brake* correctly, for those that forget) torque and drive hard.

 

Hard being the operative word, yes you should smell something, especially that you have a red hot cat and turbo in the engine bay that are bound to give off a smell, which isn't bad.

 

Before a "spirited" drive, I would turn off any music, turn off the A/C and switch it to outside vent mode, so that I can hear the boxer rumble, smell that addictive smell and feel the hot air everytime I go WOT.