I have been noticing a burning smell which I assume is coming from my clutch. I first noticed it when sitting on a hill waiting for a line of cars to pull out. I was not slipping the clutch as I sat there only moving up when the opportunity presented itself. Occaisionally I will notice it when I am pulling into or backing out of a parking spot or other times when the clutch might not be fully engaged. Today I noticed a strong smell when backing out of my snow-filled parking spot. Before anyone accuses me of doing it myself, I will admit to a few stalls early on and one ill-advised drop but a have not abused my car. I have been driving a standard car for nearly 20 years without any issues. I'm hoping that the smell is just due to a poor seal that is letting normal wear smells into my interior. I have not noticed any problems with the clutch other than the smell. It still drives fine.

Any constructive comments would be welcome.

 

Is the car brand new? If so, it could be the stuff burning off. That smell is all but entirely gone after 1,000 miles or so.

I usually roast the clutch a little when leaving a parking spot after a snow storm, especially if the road has been plowed and there is a berm of snow to drive over...If you've been driving for 20 years then you probably know how to tell if you're burning the clutch or not. If you smell clutch and you don't think you're slipping it, have the dealer check it out...

 

Jaz,

If it smelled like dirty socks then it was more than likely your clutch. This is normal. It will smoke from friction and it stinks. Mine stinks all the time. I use a ACT clutch with Exedy disc too. So, the smell happens to good aftermarket clutches too. When my car was new the clutch smelled and shuddered.

Paul...

 

i've been noticing that a lot lately, i've been driving up, down, backwards, in some steep snow cover mountain roads and its been happining to me too.

 

if it's new, it's just the new clutch smell. if not, you clutch could be slippin'....

 

my car is two weeks old, and one day i started noticing a burning smell inside the car. This is my first manual car, and it was a rough start but its smoothed out a whole lot. I can't smell the burning outside the car, but its noticable inside. Any thoughts?

 

I never smell my clutch after normal street driving, but I always get the stank after a spirited drive through winding mountain roads. I'm guessing the smell is not normal when driving normally Just my 2 cents.