Honda Car Forum

Hi,

This is about a 1997 Honda Civic. I just had all 4 boots replaces
yesterday but there is a rubber burning odor from under the hood. The
mechanic said to just keep driving it. My question is what could be
the cause and would there be permanent damage if I keep driving it?

Thanks,
Faith

faith20879@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This is about a 1997 Honda Civic. I just had all 4 boots replaces
> yesterday but there is a rubber burning odor from under the hood. The
> mechanic said to just keep driving it. My question is what could be
> the cause and would there be permanent damage if I keep driving it?
>
> Thanks,
> Faith


what kind of boots? driveshaft? steering rack? suspension joint?
spark plug? more importantly, what kind of mechanic and what was the
problem?

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your reply.

I believe they are for the driveshaft. A couple of months ago, I took
the car in for the 75,000 mile checkup and the dealer said the boots
were a little cracked and needed to be replaced pretty soon. I then
called around and found this garage that charges a little less. They
are the mechanic division of a well known body shop in my area.

Thanks,
Faith

> what kind of boots? *driveshaft? *steering rack? *suspension joint?
> spark plug? *more importantly, what kind of mechanic and what was the
> problem?

faith20879@yahoo.com wrote in news:ec07fd4a-28b0-42b0-a968-646f895d6137@
8g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

> Hi,
>
> This is about a 1997 Honda Civic. I just had all 4 boots replaces
> yesterday but there is a rubber burning odor from under the hood. The
> mechanic said to just keep driving it. My question is what could be
> the cause and would there be permanent damage if I keep driving it?
>


A rubber burning odor under the hood is often a slipping accessory drive
belt. Better get them checked. Your guy should have done that before
telling you to ignore it.

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

faith20879@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi Jim,
>
> Thanks for your reply.
>
> I believe they are for the driveshaft. A couple of months ago, I took
> the car in for the 75,000 mile checkup and the dealer said the boots
> were a little cracked and needed to be replaced pretty soon. I then
> called around and found this garage that charges a little less. They
> are the mechanic division of a well known body shop in my area.

ok, but this should not cause burning rubber smell.

my thoughts are that tegger is probably correct, a slipping accessory
belt can indeed be the cause of this smell. but i'm still suspicious of
the necessity of the work you had done because if it was not done right,
given that one of the driveshaft boots is near the exhaust, a driveshaft
may not be seated correctly and be touching and burning.

my caution is because the outer driveshaft boots do indeed crack, but
the inner ones hardly ever. in fact, i have 18 year old oem driveshafts
in my crx, and while the outer boots have been changed, the inner ones
are still great, and there is no reason to compromise them unless
they're broken in some way. they don't have to flex much in use so they
don't crack the same way as the outer joint boots. they never get
exposed to the sun either. for a shop to recommend the inner boots as
well as the outer is mostly inexpert job creation.




>
> Thanks,
> Faith
>
>> what kind of boots? �driveshaft? �steering rack? �suspension joint?
>> spark plug? �more importantly, what kind of mechanic and what was the
>> problem?
>

Hi all,

This is an update. BTW, I learned the boots are for the CV joint. I
could see them under from bending over the engine. Sorry about the
wrong info I gave out earlier.

I took the car back to the shop Monday morning. The guy apologized
profusely and promised to get it right. By the evening, after he put
in a new set of boots, tightened up whatever were loose before, gave
me a free oil change, and took it for a road test, he declared the car
was now problem-free.

On the way home the car was fine. But Tuesday the rubber burning
smell returned, though not as strong. I first smelled it through the
vent when stopped at the traffic light. I thought maybe it was the
residual but it persisted after 50 miles and 24 hours.

I took it back to the shop again this morning. The guy again
apologized profusely and said he couldn't think of what to say except
to take another look.

I left the car there but I have no confidence on this guy now. What
would you do?

Any opinion will be greatly appreciated!


Faith

faith20879@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This is an update. BTW, I learned the boots are for the CV joint. I
> could see them under from bending over the engine. Sorry about the
> wrong info I gave out earlier.
>
> I took the car back to the shop Monday morning. The guy apologized
> profusely and promised to get it right. By the evening, after he put
> in a new set of boots, tightened up whatever were loose before, gave
> me a free oil change, and took it for a road test, he declared the car
> was now problem-free.
>
> On the way home the car was fine. But Tuesday the rubber burning
> smell returned, though not as strong. I first smelled it through the
> vent when stopped at the traffic light. I thought maybe it was the
> residual but it persisted after 50 miles and 24 hours.
>
> I took it back to the shop again this morning. The guy again
> apologized profusely and said he couldn't think of what to say except
> to take another look.
>
> I left the car there but I have no confidence on this guy now. What
> would you do?
>
> Any opinion will be greatly appreciated!
>
>
> Faith
-----------------------

Most Hondas will dribble a bit of oil on the exhaust pipe when the oil
filter is removed / replaced. You should LOOK to see if you can tell
where the smoke /smell is coming from.

The more times you give it to him, the more chances he has of really
messing something up.

'Curly'

faith20879@yahoo.com wrote in news:e2a9316e-29bf-40f1-b253-
50e7cab4e86a@a1g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

> Hi all,
>
> This is an update. BTW, I learned the boots are for the CV joint. I
> could see them under from bending over the engine. Sorry about the
> wrong info I gave out earlier.
>
> I took the car back to the shop Monday morning. The guy apologized
> profusely and promised to get it right. By the evening, after he put
> in a new set of boots, tightened up whatever were loose before, gave
> me a free oil change, and took it for a road test, he declared the car
> was now problem-free.
>
> On the way home the car was fine. But Tuesday the rubber burning
> smell returned, though not as strong. I first smelled it through the
> vent when stopped at the traffic light. I thought maybe it was the
> residual but it persisted after 50 miles and 24 hours.
>
> I took it back to the shop again this morning. The guy again
> apologized profusely and said he couldn't think of what to say except
> to take another look.
>
> I left the car there but I have no confidence on this guy now. What
> would you do?
>
> Any opinion will be greatly appreciated!
>
>



Did he check the accessory drive belts to see if they were slipping? Did he
check any of the pulleys/idler wheels to see if they were seizing up? Those
two are common sources of rubber burning smells.

--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/