Burning Rubber?

[RnDM5]

I'm not describing the smell of heating up the fronts on the 5 unfortunately. Sorry if I got you excited about laying a strip in the nearest parking lot.

Instead, I have noticed the smell of hot rubber from the left rear wheel well after driving up a lengthy steep incline. I have looked under the vehicle for the source and have found nothing. I also had the Stealership take a look and they too found nothing. Has anyone else experienced this? I have made another appointment to take a service tech on a road test to show him the circumstances that is required to reproduce this problem. I'm afraid of some sort of catastrophic failure in the future while on a mountain pass or freeway. Thanks.

 

[Davicho]

My CX9 does it and has been doing it since I bought it. Never found out what it was but at 93k miles now there is no ill effects. I honestly think its the aggressive suspension geometry in all Mazdas that perhaps heat up the tires and produces the smell. Zoom Zoom baby don't forget it. It's in all Mazdas blood. LOL!

 

[RnDM5]

Had my Honda Mechanic buddy come over today for another issue with my 5 when we got to talking about this question I had. (He owns a Mazda3). He said it's due to the close proximity of the muffler to the left rear tire and that the same problem comes up on the CR-V but its on the right side with the muffler. You would think that the 3" gap would provide enough air flow to keep things cool. Hopefully it doesn't lead to premature tire failure!

 

[flcruising]

I've never noticed this, but I'd imagine a heat shield could be creatively fabricated to help.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Had my Honda Mechanic buddy come over today for another issue with my 5 when we got to talking about this question I had. (He owns a Mazda3). He said it's due to the close proximity of the muffler to the left rear tire and that the same problem comes up on the CR-V but its on the right side with the muffler. You would think that the 3" gap would provide enough air flow to keep things cool. Hopefully it doesn't lead to premature tire failure!

Hmm, if this is true then we can all anticipate this, especially during summer for those in TX and southern states, which I image we'd hear a lot more complaints. Btw, how did you notice it was coming from the rear left tire? Did you smell the odor as you walked by the tire after driving for a bit? Was it an unusually long or hard drive? Did you idle for a long time?

In the past year of ownership, I had two occasion of smelling something like burnt rubber but coming through my vents while driving (not the surrounding environment and no cars in front). I let it aired out and never able to track it down and haven’t though of it since.

 

[DKaz]

This happened to me just last week. Weird. I thought maybe my A/C belt finally crapped out, almost four years after my wife drove over a parking curb and damaged the A/C belt cover.

 

[Silentnoise713]

I just drove a good 30 min HWY and the rear left does smell like rubber, where as the rear right has no noticeable odor. You'd have to stick ur nose in it to smell it but it is there.

 

[DKaz]

The real question is, why are most of us only noticing this now? All of our vehicles are about the same age.

 

[RnDM5]

Hey DKaz, I see that I live just down the road from you. The drive I am talking about is up Johnson from Guildford to just above Hazards Golf Course at the top of Westwood Plateau. A 5-7 min drive at most. Maybe you should try and see what happens with yours?

I wonder, and this is a long shot, but based on the fact that i am only noticing it on this particular section of road, due to the incline does the exhaust system shift just a little so that the muffler is that much closer to the rubber? Most exhaust system have a bit of play in them. Thoughts anyone?

If I have time i might stop on the steepest pitch and measure the spacing to see if it changes. It is somewhat comforting that i am not the only one experiencing this oddity. I will ask next week when I go into the service department.

 

[Silentnoise713]

@ RnDM5 - was the burning smell obtrusive, hence it lead you to sniff closer or did you poke your head into/near the wheel well to smell it?

In my case, I had a 30 min mostly flat highway drive. I would not have notice the odor if I just went about my business but since this was brought up, I went closer for the sniff test. Nonetheless, I don't think it is anything of concern with premature tire failure. Hot rubber stinks and the exhaust could very well make it stinky. Then again, we might be talking about two different things.

 

[RnDM5]

Silentnoise713 - the smell was very obvious when I got out of the vehicle after driving up the hill. I originally thought it was originating from under the hood. Upon opening the hood there was no evidence of smoke, smell or leaks. Then I remembered that it became more obvious when I opened the drivers side sliding door. I investigated the side and back of the vehicle eventually ending up at the drivers side rear tire. I think what happened is that opening the slider made the smell waft up and into the interior when I let my kids out. I drive the hill once a week on average so hopefully nothing will result due to heat exposure to the tire. If I lived at the top of the hill and was up and down several times a day I may have a different opinion.