Has anyone come across where you were parked and all the sudden you smell a burning oil/rubber smell and see smoke coming through the vents into the cabin? Came across this yesterday for about a minute and then it all the sudden stopped. Going to make a service appointment today and will keep you all posted. Thanks
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Smoke in cabin & burning oil smell
- Thread starter mppolo9
- Start date
Apparently not disturbing enough, as I can't get an appointment until 2/11.
eleceng1979
Well-known member
If you have an attached garage, I would not park it indoors. If parked outdoors, I would park it as far away as possible. A friend of mine had a Chevy suv that malfunctioned after a remote start event, it burnt to the ground and almost lit the house on fire. It was parked outdoors and melted all siding off the house, he was lucky.
If it was me, I would be looking for any wet areas/sources of oil leaks, dipstick missing, oil fill cap missing, transmission/brake fluid leaks, transmission cooler/brake lines, etc… if you smell it in the cabin it is clearly in the engine bay/transmission area and getting onto the exhaust. Engine/transmission oil or brake fluids on a hot enough exhaust can and will start a fire. Once lit, the amount of plastic will fuel it to a total loss. Check fluid levels to see if any are low, this will help narrow down areas
It is normal to smell a slight burning/hot smell on a virgin exhaust system when pushed hard. This is usually within the first week of ownership, I’m sure the manual states something somewhere about it. What you described sounds far worse than this. Visual smoke is clearly some oil/fluid burning somewhere
If it was me, I would be looking for any wet areas/sources of oil leaks, dipstick missing, oil fill cap missing, transmission/brake fluid leaks, transmission cooler/brake lines, etc… if you smell it in the cabin it is clearly in the engine bay/transmission area and getting onto the exhaust. Engine/transmission oil or brake fluids on a hot enough exhaust can and will start a fire. Once lit, the amount of plastic will fuel it to a total loss. Check fluid levels to see if any are low, this will help narrow down areas
It is normal to smell a slight burning/hot smell on a virgin exhaust system when pushed hard. This is usually within the first week of ownership, I’m sure the manual states something somewhere about it. What you described sounds far worse than this. Visual smoke is clearly some oil/fluid burning somewhere
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Thank you @eleceng1979 , great advice. Wish when I called the service department yesterday that they would have given me similar advice. They acted as if this was normal and nothing to worry about.
ChitownJGCL
Active member
I posted a burning plastic smell through the vents in another thread. No smoke coming through. Have 2800 miles so it can’t be a break in smell. Brought into device this morning and they said it was a plastic bag that was on the exhaust that was burning off. Still smelled it on my way home.
I highly doubt that it's a plastic bag under the car. It's been going on since i purchased the car back in September. Took it for the first oil change in January and they didn't mention anything about a plastic back being under the car. I never brought the smell up to them as i also thought i was due to break in period, but now that spoke is coming through the vents it has me worried that it's something more serious.
ChitownJGCL
Active member
Oh durrr, you @mppolo9 replied to me in the other thread lol. Yes, it was a bit suspicious to me at Jeep today. I pulled out the air cabin filter when i smelled the burning again after the service appointment and didn’t smell a hint of anything burning. The car was also in park. We don’t notice the smell while driving, but only after parking it or after acceleration after idling at a red light. Nothing leaking underneath the car nor in the engine bay. Idk wtf is going on?!
I would call service again to see if they can get you in asap. The mysterious smoke that you and possibly your family are inhaling can’t be good.
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eleceng1979
Well-known member
understand exhaust tubing temperatures are proportional to engine load + duration at load. Floor it and it gets hot, hold to the floor for a few minutes and even hotter. Could be as simple as rust preventatives or coatings burning off which is to be considered normal. Understand this should go away quickly. The catalytic converter will have excess carbon and other nasty gunk if only idling or putting around and a smell will be noticed when flooring it, but this smell comes into the cabin for brief periods under heavy engine loads.
Smoke is a totally different animal. If smoke is visually being seen by the naked eye that is significant particulate matter coming from somewhere. Above I spoke about exhaust fumes which is equivalent to a fart, you smell it but don’t see it. Visible smoke in the cabin is a clear indication that it is more than that, hence my cautionary words.
My GCL had a plastic cover missing bolts from the factory laying down/flipping around while driving underneath (covers HVAC lines to rear, under drives seat area). It is plastic in nature and your problem could be as simple as something loose touching the exhaust. Nothing should touch exhaust tubing or be closer than a few inches away. It is worthy to let it cool down and use a flat piece of cardboard to slide under her. If you have Quadra lift, manually raise it all the way up while running, let it achieve OR2 height, then shut off and exit vehicle. If you have enabled easy exit/auto lower in settings it will come back down fyi. Always use a jack stand for safety. If no QL, hopefully your skinny and slide under or use a jack. A tire shop of local mechanic will put it on a rack for $20-40 or so and do nothing for you and let you look up her skirt, assuming they’re not busy.
Smoke is a totally different animal. If smoke is visually being seen by the naked eye that is significant particulate matter coming from somewhere. Above I spoke about exhaust fumes which is equivalent to a fart, you smell it but don’t see it. Visible smoke in the cabin is a clear indication that it is more than that, hence my cautionary words.
My GCL had a plastic cover missing bolts from the factory laying down/flipping around while driving underneath (covers HVAC lines to rear, under drives seat area). It is plastic in nature and your problem could be as simple as something loose touching the exhaust. Nothing should touch exhaust tubing or be closer than a few inches away. It is worthy to let it cool down and use a flat piece of cardboard to slide under her. If you have Quadra lift, manually raise it all the way up while running, let it achieve OR2 height, then shut off and exit vehicle. If you have enabled easy exit/auto lower in settings it will come back down fyi. Always use a jack stand for safety. If no QL, hopefully your skinny and slide under or use a jack. A tire shop of local mechanic will put it on a rack for $20-40 or so and do nothing for you and let you look up her skirt, assuming they’re not busy.
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ChitownJGCL
Active member
Thank you for replying. Seems you have a lot of experience with the Jeep brand.
Should the coatings still be burning off after 2900 miles? We also rarely floor it as you know historically how bad the GCL mpg is lol. We notice the burning smell even while idling in park and at about 2500-3000 rpm accelerating with auto stop/start on or off.
eleceng1979
Well-known member
No, any coating or left over lubricants/rust preservation is usually gone in a few hours of engine running. I am unaware of miles driven until now and also info for others. I was just trying to state some smell is possible and the manual might say something about it and also differentiate between smell and visible smoke. Smoke, multiple times in the cabin is no good and not a random event, it is an early warning sign of worse things.
@Sarge has a center console so hot it will practically cook a meal, now this smoke issue. Probably unrelated but you cannot easily get smoke into the cabin unless is leaks through tiny cracks/seals or the hvac sucks it in.
Given the electrical issues and smoke in the cabin, it is plausible that it could be electrical since you mentioned the smell. Hence my concern about a burnt vehicle indoors in a garage. There are star cases, tsb’s and other issues with electrical issues for days, dead batteries, loose pins,etc… remember loose connections get hot, hot connections get more loose, a self fulfilling prophecy to a fire. The battery used to be under the passenger seat in the WK2 platform, I assume WL is the same. Also a large power distribution is under there too.
@Sarge has a center console so hot it will practically cook a meal, now this smoke issue. Probably unrelated but you cannot easily get smoke into the cabin unless is leaks through tiny cracks/seals or the hvac sucks it in.
Given the electrical issues and smoke in the cabin, it is plausible that it could be electrical since you mentioned the smell. Hence my concern about a burnt vehicle indoors in a garage. There are star cases, tsb’s and other issues with electrical issues for days, dead batteries, loose pins,etc… remember loose connections get hot, hot connections get more loose, a self fulfilling prophecy to a fire. The battery used to be under the passenger seat in the WK2 platform, I assume WL is the same. Also a large power distribution is under there too.
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ChitownJGCL
Active member
I hope @mppolo9 finds the source of the vent smoke and I hope our GCL doesn’t reach an event where we see smoke too. We have a 1 year old that rides primarily in the Jeep and obviously want to keep him as safe as possible. I really hope the Jeep service techs didn’t overlook anything and weren’t bs’ing on a supposed plastic bag being caught underneath the car given they never provided proof or a visual of it.
eleceng1979
Well-known member
Melted plastic on exhaust tubing leaves a permanent black smear. It stains the metal typically and is very obvious that this area does not look like the other areas. Due to exhaust being hot enough to melt, but not hot enough to incinerate, the stain will remain. You are not looking for evidence of the bag itself, you are looking for an obvious dark stain. Go see for yourself for peace of mind and to spot check your dealership.
So was finally able to get the car looked at by a technician. Their exact words "We weren't able to replicate the issue....without evidence that you had smoke in the cabin and or burning smell, there's nothing we can do." What a joke! So now I risk driving the car and possibly inhaling chemicals & possibly burning my house down if the car catches fire while parked indoors. First and last Jeep I'll ever purchase...now who's dumb enough to take it off my hands.
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ChitownJGCL
Active member
Man that’s horrible. This is very unfortunate. It would suck having to park outdoors but I that’ll be safer if there is a potential fire knock on wood.
We had the smell again a couple times today and it seems like it’s getting worse. I have the auto climate control on during the winter time and noticed the burning smell both times after the heat stops blowing. I have no idea still where it would be from. I was very polite to the Jeep service department the day they inspected it telling me “it was a plastic bag somewhere in the exhaust”, which is not, because I visually inspected it myself. They might be hearing from a lawyer if they don’t find a remedy to this at my next appointment.