new cx-9, strange smell after snow driving

[josa2009]

I bought a brand new '09 GT Cx-9 about a week before the heavy snow fall that hit many parts of the east cost.

I live at the top of a rather steep hill (about half a mile long). After the snow fall, the road up the hill was not properly plowed resulting in most of it being covered in very patchy sections of snow and ice. These large patches of snow are about 6-10" deep at their deepest.

Thanks to AWD, the Mazda covers the terrain easily, however the very uneven and often slick surface does make for a very bumpy ride. Going up or down the hill requires slow speeds and lots of brake usage.

When I get to the bottom or top of the hill, I have noticed a strong burning-like smell coming from under the wheel arches. similar to burning rubber, only more mechanical in odor. Maybe brakes or clutch? As you can probably tell, I have zero mechanical experience, so I can't even venture an educated guess as to what the smell might be from.

There is no smoke, and the smell is not totally overpowering, however it is strong enough for me to smell through the air system inside the car when I come to a stop at a traffic light.

The smell seems to disappear after I have been driving on smooth roads for 5-10 minutes after reaching the bottom of the hill.

Before the snow came, I had several occasions to stretch the car's legs on 2-4 hour road trips. During one of those trips the car was totally loaded with luggage. Not once did I notice any odor on any of those long journeys on normal roads.


I figure that the car is just having to work extra hard. Maybe I am just wearing in the new brakes??

Has anyone else encountered anything like this?

Dos anyone have any possible explanations?

 

[ceric]

If I had to entertain a guess, I would say it is the brake pad smell.
The traction control (any lights blinking in the dash at that time?) must have been working like crazy. The TC applies braking to regain traction of each wheel if its traction is lost. The brake pads contains metal fragments (metalic or semi-metalic kinds). When it is applied against a metal rotor, you could get the smell you described.

Just a guess, of course, based on what you described.

 

[KVV]

I've noticed the same kind of smell two or three times (rubber-like, but more "metal" and "mechanical") coming from the right rear wheel. It was not strong, but enough to smell in a fresh air. The left rear wheel didn't have it. I was not driving on ice and snow, just maybe a little wet, some hills or even normal conditions. Once I touched both left and right brake disks and they were about the same temperature. Don't know what else to check. Traction control light never showed up.
Like you, I wonder if this is a problem and I need to give a visit to the service department. My car is '09 CX-9 touring.

 

[tonyj]

I live in a hilly area as well, and when we had snow hits us about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I "tested" the 9 out, travel up a service access road w/ ice adn snow. It did very well, and I noticed the "rubber" like smell as well. I just summed it up to new vehicle and rear differential being activated during my climb. I have 09 touring awd, and the hill was a very steep grade, VERY steep. after driving a little further, smell dissapated and that's that.

 

[Davicho]

Definately not coming from the rear differential because I have noticed the same rubber/oil smell from the right rear wheel area and mine is a 2007 CX-9 Touring FWD. I though it was only me or my car...apparently is a mass production issue. Anyone that may know where this strage smell is coming from please chime in. Thanks!

 

[benben01]

Got the same burning smell in the big storm as well. However, my wheels (all 4) were embedded with snow and ice. Once, I cleared some of the ice and snow off the rims, the smell went away even some intentional hard snow driving.

 

[langdon43]

Smell it also from 07 cx9. Not rubber smell but close. From wheel area???

 

[zoomzoomcx9]

Just picked my 2008 cx9 3 days ago had that same rubber burning smell from rt rear only 27000 miles on it I thought it could just be the 95-100 degree temps any tsb's on this or did anyone find anything wrong?

 

[Nuzy]

Has anyone figured this out? We have it happening with our 09 AWD now for the last couple weeks. We have about 20K on it and it has never happened up until this point. I popped the hood open and do not see or smell anything in there. There are no leaks on the garage floor. My wife says she smells it every time she pulls into the garage. We don't smell it anywhere else (i.e. wasn't there when dropped kids off at school this morning). It seems to be coming from the rear wheel area and is a burning smell. It goes away after a few minutes. I'm under warranty, so I guess I'll be taking a trip to the shop, but you know how that goes, after having it there all day..."sorry, we couldn't find anything wrong." Thought I'd check with you guys before I make that trip since I'm not the only one that his having or has had this issue.

P.S. I should add, no snow right now , just dry or wet pavement...

Thanks!

 

[KVV]

burning smell, but different

I haven't noticed that smell for a while, maybe since the last winter. Although this summer we were driving over the mountain pass and after some 2000 feet of elevation gain we started to notice quite similar strong burning smell inside the cabin (not just me, three of us). I pulled over, opened the hood, check each wheel and everything around, but couldn't find any traces of it. I also touched each tire and they were not hot at all. It was a warm sunny day, but not really hot. After couple of minutes we continued to drive, and the smell has never come back. It was very strange, and it was was the first time it smelled inside the cabin.

 

[Nuzy]

I was reading somewhere recently, I think in this forum, that a person had a slight coolant smell in the cabin after driving at high altitude for a period of time. I think it might have been posted by Lindy. Perhaps that's just the car reacting to additional stress...

A neighbor of mine down the street who is a Toyota mechanic said one of the most common causes of the smell many of us have encountered is running over a plastic grocery bag. He said they stick the the exhaust and the smell is the plastic burning. I didn't look close enough to see if that might be the case...I'll have to look closer when I get home tonight.

 

[Nuzy]

I canceled my service appointment...I had some time to look under the car this morning and found a piece of plastic stuck to the passenger side rear exhaust pipe, which is where the smell was most prevalent. It was kind of up on the top of the pipe, so it wasn't obvious at first glance. More of a thicker piece of clear plastic, not a grocery bag. It was easy to pull / scrape off since it was cold...thought I'd update in case anyone else has a similar situation and does a search here.

Not related, but just an observation...boy is there a lot of heat shielding under there!

 

[JMS0430]

So has anyone had a garage identify the issue? I have a 2010 Touring AWD, purchased in January, 5800 miles. About a month ago, I started noticing this putrid rubber/belt/oil burning smell when I pulled into my garage after a 20-25 mile drive. It has happened off and on since then, and I just picked it up from my dealer for the second time tonight with no result. Today, as I pulled into my parking garage at work (after a 6 mile side street drive) the smell was overpowering and people were staring like I was driving an 80's Oldsmobile. What is wrong?? Technicians have checked EVERYTHING (so they tell me) and have driving it 30+ miles both times it has been in the garage, and can't recreate it. They even called the Mazda technician line today, and they had no recommendations. I'm so frustrated, and honestly, am a little worried about driving the car. I'm taking it in Tuesday again and the Service Mgr is going to drive with me on the route in which I've smelled it most often. However, I'm resigned to the "sorry can't recreate it" answer.

 

[mihalis]

This will happen to just about every car/SUV/Truck, etc. when pushed hard. People who experience this in the snow, I would recommend getting some snow tires, this will allow the Cx-9 to work less as it will have more grip. Vehicles that are not designed to work hard all the time get this smell when they are pushed hard. For example, when I had my Corolla, the smell would be there anytime I pushed it hard. Constantly revving the engine, etc. My Accord does the same thing. My BMW on the other hand, I would run lap after lap on the track (NHMS and Lime Rock) and the car would just keep asking for more, no smell. If you drive the car "normally" and still experience the smell, then you have a problem in your hands, b/c something is working too hard and the smell is letting you know that it is. We've never had a problem with our cx-9 (knock on wood), and I've done donuts in a snow covered parking lot, we've take the car to an autocross/skidpad school, and still nothing...

 

[JMS0430]

Update to my experience...after taking my '10 CX-9 in 3 times, including a ride along with the svc mgr, it was finally determined the axle seal was leaking and the smell was a result of the oil leaking on the exhaust. On my fourth visit, the seal was replaced. About a month later, the smell returned and I called and angrily demanded they figure out the source immediately (this was the 8th time my car has been in the shop since Jan 19th (8K miles!!!). Anyway, after they called the Mazda tech line, rather than replace the axle seal again, they advised them to replace the entire transfer case. 2 months - no smell!!

 

[ceric]

I would suggested you to find another dealership, but the problem is solved.
It seems like the transfer case issue still exists with 2010. I thought the problem was mostly associated with 2007 models.

 

[XOver9]

Does anyone know if there is a new design/part number for the replacement transfer case? Seems like this was happening on some with really low miles. There isn't a lot a folks on this forum so it's hard to understand the failure rate or years affected. I wonder if synthetic gear oil would help with prevention.