Burning smell in traffic on low mileage SR5?

rmbertoldi

rmbertoldi

New member
I finally took the plunge after scouring car lots for a year and picked up a cherry 2013 Magnetic Grey SR5 with only 38k miles on it.

3 months and about 3k miles into it later, I've noticed that while driving in stop and go traffic some days I smell a faint burning-rubber type smell which I've now concluded must be coming from my truck. No smoke, and it usually goes away quickly, and is definitely not from the brakes. Being fairly knowledgeable on cars and mechanics, I'm worried maybe the lack of driving and occasional sitting that this truck did might've dried out an internal seal or something along that line?

Has anyone else experienced anything similar in their Gen5?
 
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If it's rubber smell it's most likely your tires heating up. I remember after I bought my 17 off the lot that it had some burn in smells for a couple hundred miles
 
Almost thought I was on a Ford forum for a moment…

Burning smell = normal
Weird sounds = normal
Vibrations / Rattles = normal

Solution for all of the above = Drive faster, turn up the volume, and get Flowmasters
 
Bumbo said:
Almost thought I was on a Ford forum for a moment…

Burning smell = normal
Weird sounds = normal
Vibrations / Rattles = normal

Solution for all of the above = Drive faster, turn up the volume, and get Flowmasters
Click to expand...

I wear hearing aids. Helps a lot with strange unidentified noises.
 
Less than 1K miles on mine..the only time I noticed a smell like the one you're describing was right after I bought it and had it on the highway going about 75 - 80 for a few miles, windows were up, A/C on. Figured it was just some residual lubricant from the factory burning off..anyway, I haven't smelled it since.
 
seen pretty often.. but sometimes a plastic bag could've gotten stuck under the vehicle and melted onto the exhaust. this causes a burning smell that can last a few weeks..
 
My 2016 SR5 did this. Never figured it out. However I noticed that the harder the acceleration, the more noticeable.

My 2018 Limited doesn't have a hint of this issue.
 
Maybe they lived the driveshaft before selling it? Excess grease on the zerks, u-joints, etc...excess grease flying onto the exhaust can create this smell.
 
blanchard7684 said:
My 2016 SR5 did this. Never figured it out. However I noticed that the harder the acceleration, the more noticeable.

My 2018 Limited doesn't have a hint of this issue.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input ya'll. Definitely comes and goes, seems the harder I accelerate the more noticeable on the highway. Guess I'll keep it under 100! :P
 
Bumbo said:
Almost thought I was on a Ford forum for a moment…

Burning smell = normal
Weird sounds = normal
Vibrations / Rattles = normal

Solution for all of the above = Drive faster, turn up the volume, and get Flowmasters
Click to expand...

But toyota reliability, right?
 
I thought I read somewhere that it had something to do with exhaust hangers. I would always get the smell when driving up forest roads for miles. Not so much anymore.
 
97BlackAckCL said:
Curious what your symptoms were for the seized caliper, I have a weird grinding up front and more so when I brake, am wondering if this is my issue
Click to expand...

if you have a seized caliper, you could experience one or all of the following, pulling to one side, brake fade, burning brake smell, wheel is very hot to the touch.
 
Your truck is going to explode.

Dear God, one of these threads comes up every 10 minutes. Do a damn search. It's the exhaust hanger getting a bit warm up long hills or hard acceleration. I have no idea why our trucks do it, but I assume it's a combo of:

a) 1GR-FE getting upgrades from initial launch, so the exhaust runs warmer than it did in past Tacomas or FJs.
b) Toyota's desire to keep the exhaust high and tight in the undercarraige for ground clearance
c) said short exhaust hangers meaning the exhaust pipe heat has less distance to travel up each hanger and dissipate heat, so the rubber hangers are getting a bit warmer than typical.
d) the 4Runner's unique sliding rear window having a bit of low/medium speed aero tumble effect pulling some of the hot exhaust smell up in through the open rear window.

We can't know how many other stock cars have this same issue, because most don't let you open the rear window and/or have the same aero quirks. But I bet many other cars have it.
 
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