Is it important to smell a burnt smell while driving a car? Can we continue driving?
 
Be more careful when smelling abnormal odors while driving, and make a rough judgment to ensure that the vehicle is not in danger before continuing to drive. If the judgment is not accurate, it is best to stop and check to avoid causing major faults. There are generally several types of odors that can be smelled during driving: foul odor, gasoline odor, and burnt odor. The key thing to note is the smell of gasoline and burnt smell. If there is a sudden smell of gasoline, it is definitely not possible to continue driving, mostly due to oil leakage from the inlet and outlet pipes at the gasoline pump. Today we will focus on discussing the burnt smell. Under what circumstances will burnt smell occur? How should I check?

 1. The burnt smell is not emitted by the car itself, it is an external smell that has been introduced into the car.

This situation is very common, and many people have encountered it. Sometimes, they suddenly smell a bad smell, which is also introduced into the car from the outside. This is easy to determine. First, lower the car window for ventilation, smell the outside air for a burnt smell, continue driving forward for a distance, and then close the car window. If there is no odor inside the car, it indicates that it was not emitted by the car. If there is still odor inside the car, it indicates that it was emitted from somewhere in the car. At this point, it is necessary to stop the car for inspection. Check where the odor is emitted and whether it is serious?

        
2. If the car emits a burnt smell, the most common occurrence is when the exhaust pipe is stuck to a plastic bag.

There are those light and thin plastic bags on the road that vehicles ride over. Due to the high temperature of the exhaust pipe, the plastic bags will melt and stick to it when they come into contact with the exhaust pipe, and then continue to melt, emitting a burning smell of plastic. Although the origin of this odor is at the bottom of the vehicle, it can be found around the entire vehicle. When driving, it enters the car through the air conditioning intake, and a strong burnt odor can be smelled. So if you think the smell is strong, find a safe place to stop the car and first lie down and check if there is anything on the exhaust pipe. Generally, it is located at the front or middle of the exhaust pipe, and there are also a few cars at the rear of the exhaust pipe. Upon smelling the odor, the plastic bag was checked and it was not yet fully melted, as it could be seen at a glance.

        
3. Pulling the handbrake while driving, the handbrake pads have a burnt smell.

This belongs to improper operation and abnormal driving. The handbrake is not loose, and the handbrake pads are constantly in a frictional state. Friction will generate a large amount of heat. If the heat is too high, it will burn the handbrake pads and produce an odor, and even the handbrake pads will be directly scrapped. This situation generally occurs on automatic blocking vehicles and is a novice driver, with a relatively low frequency of occurrence. At this point, there is not only a burnt smell, but also a constant beeping alarm sound inside the car. The car is heavy when driving, and there are various prompts and displays, making it easier to detect this error.

        
4. After starting on a steep slope, I smell a burnt smell when manually blocking the car. There is no need to do too much inspection, it must be caused by the clutch plate.

Starting from a steep slope, the throttle applied in a semi clutch state is very high, and the clutch is released slowly or not fully released, causing severe friction between the clutch plate and flywheel, resulting in high temperature burning and the clutch plate emitting an odor. The vast majority of drivers who experience this situation are novice drivers, and of course, occasionally the clutch plate will not be significantly damaged, and the burnt area is only shallow on the surface of the clutch plate. Continue driving and feel that there are no abnormalities. If there are no abnormalities, it can be used normally. If there are any abnormalities when starting, the clutch plate may have been damaged and needs to be replaced.

        
5. The engine leaks oil somewhere, and the oil droplets onto the exhaust pipe emit a smell. And the smell of the engine or the wiring inside the cab burning.
This is the most serious situation and requires immediate shutdown, otherwise there is a risk of spontaneous combustion. Older cars should pay special attention to the possibility of burning out the wiring due to aging, short circuits, and improper use of electrical appliances. Before self ignition, there must be an odor first, and if you don't continue driving, it may ignite. The smell inside the car is very strong. It is necessary to immediately stop and turn off the engine, check the source of the smell, and check both the driver's cab and the engine compartment.

From: WONDEE Autoparts 2023-10-7