2015 BRZ: Strange smell after shifting and when driving in 1 gear for a while
 

I just got a new BRZ around a month or so ago, it has just over 1k miles, and it is my first manual car. I've noticed for a few weeks that after I shift or when I have been driving in the same gear for a while. sometimes I will smell a thick almost sweet smell. I don't think it is me burning the clutch because I have been very careful with waiting until my foot is entirely off of the clutch before giving any gas when I shift, and it still happens. When I am just driving along, I will hear a very faint hiss sound for a second or 2 coming from the passenger side of the cabin and then I will smell the smell for a second, and then it disappears.
I brought it into my dealer to get checked because I have the warranty still, and they told me nothing is wrong and that I'm probably burning the clutch. I thought that was the problem, but it wouldn't explain it happened when I'm already in gear. Does anyone have an idea what it could be?

new cars have weird smells. that's all I really know about your problem, lol. I think it's just part of the new car experience.

either that or there actually is something wrong lol. sorry I couldn't help you out more than that

btw, just double checking but you are not resting your foot on the clutch pedal when not shifting, right? that's a bad habit that some people have.

I heard about that before I got the car, so I have been very careful to not get that habit, so I keep it on the dead pedal when not shifting :)
But thank you for your help. I'll keep the idea of it might just be a new car thing in mind!

Hello @hosfordbrandon and welcome to ....... The Gang .......:clap:

So, you "hear a very faint hiss sound for a second or 2 coming from the passenger side of the cabin and then I will smell the smell for a second".

I sometimes hear and smell that when I'm cruising along in one gear, at about 4,500 - 5,000 rpms. The sound comes from mrs humfrz, because she knows I'm cruising past the torque dip, about ready to mash it to show off ....... the sweet smell is from her perfume, when she gets steamed ..... :iono:

OK, really, does the sweet smell smell like coolant .... ??

If it smells sweet, I doubt it's burning clutch. A burning clutch doesn't smell like anything else ...... except another burning clutch.

Come back.....??


humfrz

I'm not sure what coolant smells like, sorry. Could I find out by just opening the cap and sticking my nose in there??

If so, I'll try that out in the morning and get back to you.
But if it was coolant leaking or something like that, wouldn't the mechanic notice that or I'd see spots on the driveway?

At the risk of stating the obvious, don't open the radiator cap. Just flip open the reservoir cap. You can do that when the engine is hot and the sweet smell will be more obvious.

It might not be coolant but you'll learn to recognize the smell. Remember, coolant circulates through the heater core inside the cabin.

Okay thanks for the help! I'll do that tomorrow morning after driving for a bit and report back

I see @Ultramaroon got it covered there.....:)

In addition, a coolant leak could be just a pin head leak in the heater core and it wouldn't leak enough to puddle up.


humfrz

:cheers:




Made us some popcorn. :popcorn::popcorn:

Is your A/C on? I have had 3 Subaru's and all of them had a random smell from the hvac while the A/C is on.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

Yeah pretty much every time I drive, I'm running the A/C. If this is the cause of the smell, are there any fixes?

I smelled the coolant this morning after driving for about 20 minutes, and I didn't smell much of anything, but what I did smell didn't smell like what I've been experiencing while driving

Before assuming it's the A/C, try going without it for a while. This includes the windshield defog mode. That secretly kicks in the A/C.

Then, if it indeed turns out to be related to the A/C, no biggie. I know that smell. Fix is to run fresh air without A/C before shutting it down after a drive. That's supposed to help dry out the evaporator and prevent mildew.

Meh. It kinda helps, I think, maybe. I quit worrying about it.

I thought the Ms's had grounded you or something.

I agree with you can't be the clutch if it smells sweet (burnt clutch stink)
and the only thing in a car that I figure would smell sweet is coolant, everything else smells like death and rotten things