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Author Topic: Burning smell  (Read 2040 times)

Offline Ginge 35Edition

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Burning smell
« on: 28 March 2013, 05:41 »
Last night we returned from a 20 minute drive and I noticed that there was a clutch burning type smell coming from the TDi cab. When Bev turned the car off the fan was on yet the car had hardly warmed up, this stayed on for a good 5 minutes.

Anyone had this or can anyone offer a suggestion as to what it could be?
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Offline SRGTD

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #1 on: 28 March 2013, 07:34 »
Ginge, yes I've had it happen before.

Sounds like the DPF was going through a regeneration cycle to burn off soot deposits in the filter and it hadn't completed the process when you switched the engine off. The fan was running as the regeneration process happens at very high temperatures, which would explain the burning smell you noticed.

When regeneration happens on a longer journey when you're travelling at speed and it completes it's cycle before the end of the journey, you're unlikely to ever notice it. Other than the circumstances you've described, I've only ever noticed mine going through regeneration a couple of times when I've been driving in built up areas at low speeds. The gear change indicator indicates for you to change down, to keep the revs up, and when coming to a stop, the engine idle speed is higher than normal.

If you're doing mainly short journeys, probably an idea to go for a longer, faster run regularly to help keep the DPF clear.
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Offline simonpolly

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #2 on: 28 March 2013, 10:56 »
Quote from: Ginge 35Edition on 28 March 2013, 05:41
Last night we returned from a 20 minute drive and I noticed that there was a clutch burning type smell coming from the TDi cab. When Bev turned the car off the fan was on yet the car had hardly warmed up, this stayed on for a good 5 minutes.

Anyone had this or can anyone offer a suggestion as to what it could be?

Yes I have this on my sharan,its pre heating the fuel I think its called the aux fuel heater,it only happens when its very cold it took me a while to work it out  :grin:
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Offline jdjd

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #3 on: 28 March 2013, 14:45 »
Dirty diesels gotta love em  :laugh:
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Offline Ginge 35Edition

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #4 on: 28 March 2013, 17:30 »
Nice one everyone, thanks.
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Offline Big_Dave

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #5 on: 30 March 2013, 12:03 »
Regen doesn't make the engine run hotter though...just the filter. It does sound like a regen though froma smell point of view.

I imagine you turned the engine off just as the fan kicked in, so the engine was hot. It could stay on for so long as there's no coolant going round when off so takes longer to cool down. My old focus used to do this on a 10 min journey.

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Offline simonpolly

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Re: Burning smell
« Reply #6 on: 30 March 2013, 16:33 »
It will be the aux heater for the fuel,have a listen and sniff on the drivers side of the bonnet the next time it does it,it was only when i actually read the owners manual that i worked it out :grin:. When it is very cold it preheats the fuel and will continue to run for a short while after the engine is turned off.
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