Overheating/Cooling Fans/Rubber Smell
 

I have had an intermittent problem the past few months. Occasionally I smell something like a faint burning rubber (no, it's not something on my exhaust). When this happens, I notice my water temp rises, and radiator fans remain off.

Normally the water temp is somewhere around 188F. When this issue occurs - usually while stopped at a light - the temp will rise pretty quickly to around 195F (it never normally runs that hot, even in traffic). BTW, this is measured via the OBDII port - the idiot light bar never budges (it sits at the 2nd LED below middle).

If I switch on the A/C, the radiator fans kick on and the temp quickly drops back down to around 188F, even while stopped. The smell also seems to fade.

While 195F may not be too hot, I haven't tried to see how high it will go, or if the fans would eventually kick on. I have run the self-test, and fan control operates as expected.

The smell is what has me curious. While 195F is not exceptionally high, it smells like there is a hose somewhere that is much hotter.

My thinking is that it is not a thermostat or water pump issue, since the forcing the fans on with the A/C quickly gets the temp back down to normal, so it seems like water is flowing through the radiator properly. Btw, instead of running the A/C to kick on the radiator fans, running the heater also will drop the temp.

Ideas?

Thanks,
-Greg

I would say fan controllers, but if they were bad it would be a burnt electrical smell not burnt rubber. Turning on the A/C bypasses the controllers and turns on the fans. Maybe someone else here has some more input on this.

True, but definitely not an electrical smell. The only thing I can think that it might be is the serpentine belt. Although I never hear it squeal, Also, no signs of a slipping belt since my battery is still charging, the AC compressor works, and if the water pump were seized so that the belt can't turn it, I wouldn't expect the fans (when I turn on the A/C) to do much cooling of water temp since not much water would be circulating.

So I'm still baffled. The smell has occurred a few times since my first post. Maybe coincidence, but it seems to be after I accelerate pretty hard. And no, it's definitely NOT my tires.

Hmmm.

Oh wow, I was having the same problem. It wasn’t the smell of coolant it was something else but now the car has overheated and now won’t start after cooling.

Get an OBD tool and see if any DTCs have been thrown. If the car won't start, there should be at least one DTC.