What could this smell be?
 

I have an '03 WRX with 115,xxx miles on the clock. I have noticed as of late that I get this burning smell coming from the vents. It's kind of like an oil/plastic type of odor. When I pop the hood there is no trace of it...only from the vents. Checked my oil and it still reads full on the dipstick. I have not run over any plastic bags or anything. I do have a kevlar timing belt...could the smell be coming from that? I did an engine degrease the other day, but it did not help. Any thoughts?


:tia:

CV boot?

I don't know enough about cars to have even thought of that. Is that a comon problem on cars with that many miles? Can you please tell me more Paul?

CV joints connect the axles to the transmission / hubs. It's reasonably common for them to have issues in all cars with mileage. Take off the wheel and inspect the things that look like the rubber things in these pictures:

[url]http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25340844[/url]

If there is grease all over the place or one of them looks malformed, then that's a CV boot issue.

Inspect your CV boots it's not hard.

[QUOTE=WRX409;2872030]Inspect your CV boots [B]it's not hard[/B].[/QUOTE]

That's what she said!

So I took off both front wheels and did not see any sign of grease splattered anywhere on the brakes, inside the wheels, or underneath the car. From what I could tell, the boots looked intact. Any other thoughts?

have u done any oil/tranny fluid change/top off lately?
Any leaks? How's ur rack & pinion?

Took it to LIC today...turns out it's a leaky valve cover gasket dripping right onto the uppipe.

[QUOTE=Tele-Viper;2874057]Took it to LIC today...turns out it's a leaky valve cover gasket dripping right onto the uppipe.[/QUOTE]

Intrusting those guys definitely know their stuff.
Since you lost motor oil you got an oil change right?