Smoke, burning smell from under hood

[tippy6]

I've got an '08 MS3, 7900 miles, totally stock, no mods.

I have noticed a burning smell coming from under the hood, and can see a little smoke coming from underneath the intercooler. Looks like white smoke, smells kinda like burning paper. I can't tell exactly where the smoke is coming from, and its not very much, but of course I'm concerned...

This is the first turbo vehicle I've owned, so I'm a newbie to all things turbo.

Any ideas? Thanks guys...

 

[Sport6]

Well its only 2 nuts that hold the intercooler cover on and 3 more nuts and a few clamps that actually hold the intercooler on so probably wouldnt hurt to check it out.

 

[coyfish]

Maybe a piece of paper back there . Take off the intercooler and see.

 

[tippy6]

OK, thanks... I guess its not a big deal to take the intercooler off? I hope it is something as simple as a piece of trash that got stuck.

 

[GoFast]

it could even be the whatever cleaning/dressing was used by whoever was selling the car. Maybe even a little spilled oil during an oil change?

 

[nutsac76]

welcome to the world of the smoking ko4 turbo! Dont get a downpipe because it will be coming out of the exhaust too. Sorry to ruin your day.

 

[tippy6]

Thanks... from what I've read here so far, nearly all of the smoking issues were for vehicles with exhaust mods, and that a stock set-up wouldn't necessarily smoke. True?

 

[Bravnik]

Under the IC is your Coils. I burned a coil so bad on my MS3 that it fried the wiring harness. However, you will get a CEL for miss-fire in what ever cylinder it is on so unless you have a CEL it is probably something else.

However, if you don't see anything then be sure to check the wires coming into the Coil. Pull the sleeve back as my wires looked fine until you pulled back the sleeve and in there they were all fused together.

 

[coyfish]

Yep takes like 10 minutes to take the intercooler off. Socket wrench to get the cover off. 3 bolts hold the IC down. Undo them, unclamp the 2 hoses . . . there ya go.

 

[UHATEIT]

When I installed my ETS tmic it was touching the wiring underneath so I put some washers on the mounts to lift it up so it wouldnt touch as I was affraid it would get hot and melt the harnesses. Maybe one of your harnesses for the plugs is touching the ever so hot tmic. If so, just put some washers on the 3 mounts to lift it up. But if it's smoking it might be some oil burning off after an oil change. Burning oil smells terrible and smokes fo sho

 

[Jasnall]

Dunno why noone has said this...08, still under warranty I assume? Take it to the dealer. You have no mods, its free, let them do all the let work. Plus they will give you a car to use if they have to keep it a few days.

 

[tippy6]

Thanks, everyone, I appreciate your comments.
I don't think its oil, since I changed the oil over two months ago... unless something is leaking.
I should have mentioned that the closest dealer is 60 miles away, so I need to try and resolve this myself, if possible.

 

[dandydaniel]

didn't even think that mazdas would even sell in kentucky. guess you learn something new everyday. if the smoking does persist your best bet is just to bring it to the dealership. 60 miles can be covered in less than an hour so its really not THAT bad.

 

[coyfish]

Yep but hes at least trying to figure out hte problem himself before driving over there. Maybe its something very simple and he will save himself a trip. Most dealers make you wait a good hour for warranty work as well.

 

[SubieKiller3]

yea 60 miles is quite a trip. i would see if i could figure out the problem first. because most likely for something like that they're gonna either make him wait all day just to check it out, or they will want to keep it over night and give him a rental car and that means he has to drive all the way back home then all the way back and return the rental car with the same amount of gas as when they gave it to him.

 

[tippy6]

Under the IC is your Coils. I burned a coil so bad on my MS3 that it fried the wiring harness. However, you will get a CEL for miss-fire in what ever cylinder it is on so unless you have a CEL it is probably something else.

However, if you don't see anything then be sure to check the wires coming into the Coil. Pull the sleeve back as my wires looked fine until you pulled back the sleeve and in there they were all fused together.

So, what caused the wires to get fused together? How did you fix it?

I still haven't had a chance to pull the IC off yet... will do that tonite.

 

[Bravnik]

$3500 in warranty work. They had to replace both the upper and lower wiring harness. Not sure what caused it but excess power got sent through the wires and fused them together.

 

[08cosmic3]

So, what caused the wires to get fused together? How did you fix it?

I still haven't had a chance to pull the IC off yet... will do that tonite.

Tippy, I'm in Bowling Green and have had my IC off several times. If you want to come over, I'll help out. I thought I was the only MS3 in the area. PM me and we could meet up and compare cars. I've done some light modding and can show you what I've done.

 

[tippy6]

Thanks, I appreciate that. Yeah, i'd like to see what mods you've done. I think we must have the only two MS3's in BG, 'cause I sure haven't seen any others.

I did get the IC off and saw that the plastic sleeves covering the wires looked like they were getting hot and became discolored (turned from beige to dark brown). But the plastic hadn't melted, and the wires inside looked like they were intact. I'm wondering if I should wrap some heat-resistant tape around them just to be sure.

 

[clos561]

Dunno why noone has said this...08, still under warranty I assume? Take it to the dealer. You have no mods, its free, let them do all the let work. Plus they will give you a car to use if they have to keep it a few days.

yea i never understand why people come on here(completely stock) and ask about problems...take it to the dealer.