Mark,
When you get your car home, and it is still hot, pull up the hood
and take a look.  Maybe you can see smoke.

Oil leaks from the valve covers can drop onto the hot manifold
and really smell bad.

Maybe some rubber hose or other part actually is in contact
with the manifold and is melting.

Pulleys can freeze, causing belts to screech, melt, stink.

Take a good look, especially for oil leaks, and tell us what you
find.

Drive 5 miles, stop and open the lid.
Feel the belts. Smell. Feel the tires. Smell.

Get back to us with your results.

Brian Whatcott     Altus OK

Could be an oil leak, although the smell is not quite the same.  Also
if it is a manual transmission it may be the clutch, or it could be a
dragging brake pad.

nate

Have you had your oil changed or added oil lately?  Sometimes oil gets
spilled onto the engine and burns.

Don
Kansas City

"Mark-T" <mark-t2@lycos.com> wrote in news:1130257800.085251.146940
@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

There are many, many ways you can have a burning smell.  The only real
way to diagnose is follow your nose.  It is probably most noticeable
at rest because the wind is not taking the smell away as it is at
speed.  An oil leak from the valve cover, for instance, can drip onto
the exhaust manifold and smell without you ever seeing a drop on the
ground.  A very small leak can make a lot of smell. Belts can smell if
a pulley seizes, but that is usually followed after a short time by a
whap as the belt breaks and a thunk when it hits some sheet metal.  If
they are loose, they usually squeal during acceleration.  You check
them by inspection.  All the possible conditions and belt types (vee,
surpintine, cog) make a long list of appearances which are hard to
describe.  Find a friend who has some experience and can look.  
Another classic source is picking up some plastic or rubber trash from
the road and having it lodge by, or melt onto, the catalytic converter
or muffler.  Mostly you just start by sticking your head under the
hood, under the car, or wherever and follow it till you find something
untoward.

"Mark-T" <mark-t2@lycos.com> writes in article <1130257800.085251.146940@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> dated 25 Oct 2005 09:30:00 -0700:

There are several characteristic smells you might get from a car:
rubber
brake pads
oil
transmission fluid
coolant

Or maybe if they were very badly aligned, or if the parking brake was
locking up the back ones :^)

Look under the hood first with the engine still running and then immediately
after you shut it off.  Look for smoke, and sniff for it too.  Also look for
items which are touching hot surfaces -- loose hoses and wires for example.

If you find out the smell is coming from your exhaust, it's some kind of
emissions failure.

Slipping belts are usually very noisy, like a squeel.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

It probably is rubber. Try not to start and stop so fast on those runs
Mark. The law sayw they can't make you deliver those pizzas in under 30
minutes.

["Followup-To:" header set to sci.electronics.misc.]

no, it usually smells like hot oil.

slipping belts make a horrible squealing noise
not unlike a dry bearing.

To check them press agaisnt the back ot the belt in the middle of the span
with your thumb, more than abput 12mm movement is probably a sign of a loose
belt.  (to check them properly you need the service manual for your car
it'll give proper details...)

It could be that one of the rubber thingies that suspend your exhaust
system has come loose and is touching the hot exhaust pipe.

Bye.
  Jasen

Try looking at the engine while it is running
(being careful around the moving parts, of course).

  Stick or automatic? If stick, could be a misaligned clutch.

  Mark L. Fergerson

Is the odor specific to the cabin of the car?  If so the source may be in
the cabin of the car.