mikeloc24

Guys, this weekend my buddy and I put in a new water pump and thermostat and now after I've driven to work (because I park underground) I smell a faint burning smell after I turn the car off. I thought I smelled it when I initially test drove the car after the maintenance was done on Saturday but figured maybe we spilled some coolant (Toyota Red) somewhere and it was just burning off. So now when I get to work I popped the hood because I thought I smelled it again and I sniffed around under the hood and there the smell was, but I can't seem to figure out what the hell it could be. Any ideas? I looked in the area of the new water pump and I can see a small streak of coolant where the gasket I guess swelled up to create the seal. My car is a 92 SC300 by the way....help

SC400Dude

Mike,
It may need time to break in, drive a few more times and check over and over.
I get paranoid too when I smell or feel something out of the ordinary.

You have a 300 Mike?? I thought it was a 400.....

mikeloc24

Phuong, whassup dude? Yeah man I have a 300. I get paranoid over my car if things aren't perfect, especially mechanical things. Maybe it does need time to break in and excess crap burn off. I stood right there throughout the whole process and nothing was left undone. We even replaced the damn timing belt tensioner ($75 for a new one from the delaer), the hydraulic part that looks like a little stick with a pin coming out of it. New water pump, thermo, and tensioner.

I replaced the radiator about a month and a 1/2 ago and bought a new radiator cap last weekend. All the coolant in the car is brand new Toyota red. And last weekend I put on new front brakes. It just struck me as strange because I could smell whatever it was burning faintly and then when I popped the hood I of course could smell it even better...but I didn't see anything abnormal under the hood so I'm stumped...I can only hope it just needs to break in, I'm running our of funds for this stuff...

SC400Dude

Mikey,
Everything should be all good with all of those parts you replaced.

Did you do stock brake replacemet???

I have a set of stock SC400 front brakes just chillin in my garage that I could have hooked you up with. Tons of pad life left and cross drilled/slotted rotors. The rotors and pads have about 15K miles on them and the calipers have roughly 270K on them. The whole set up still works great. Hell, I would have just given them to you for free.

mikeloc24

Dang man, I wish I knew. I spent money that I really didn't have but I need to be able to stop my car ya know

Are the 400 and 300's braking systems the same? I mean in terms of caliper/rotor size and application? I need to upgrade my brakes but I only did the stock OEM replacement because of funding. If you do want to get rid of any excess junk and you think I may want it let me know. I know when I put my wheels on I'll want drilled/slotted rotors because my OEM ones are kinda rusty. PM me and I'll shoot you my cell, I thought I did already...

I hope everything comes out okay after replacing all that crap...

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

this topic has been dicussed before plenty of times. please do a search to find your answers.

mikeloc24

No shat? Really?

Thanks for your exceptional knowledge and insight on the topic. Phuong and I were doing fine in our discussion without your "help", thanks though.

The rotor application question I posed specifically to Phuong was a minor tangent while the burning smell question was the whole point of the thread.

AutoCoutureSC

iTrader: (8)

*sniff**sniff* do i "smell" scarcasm?

if that question was meant for phuong alone, take it to PM. if you don't want others to view your question to him, then take it to PM. otherwise, anything you post on this PUBLIC forum is subject to a response any anyone at any given time. have a good day

i can roll my eyes too

SC400Dude

Whoa Dudes,

Lee,
you are right, searching plays a big role here on CL, but searching doesn't always yield the correct answer you're looking for.
I believe MikeLoc is smart enough and has been posting long enough to understand this. Sometimes searching doesn't quite answer your specific problem.
A problem on your car could be classified as a different problem to someone else. Then again, it can be misinterpreted wrong because of wrong information and/or explanation.
It's just like trying to help someone over the phone with computer problems. It's frustrating because you pretty much have to be there in order to see what is actually wrong.

I am in no way taking sides. I thought it would be nice to help Mike out in anyway possible - even if it means repeating what I've said over and over. I'm down to help anyone.

If you both can squash it, then it would mean a lot to us.
You are more than welcome to PM me.

Phuong

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iTrader: (8)

edit: "wooo-sa"

mikeloc24

See, what you don't seem to get is that it was a sidebar question I posed to Phuong based on him offering me his brake parts (if you can look back at the initial post in this thread you'll see it's not about brakes but about a burning smell). Perhaps you skipped over that part in your haste to post "search?" Or maybe you're just looking to up your post-count? Whatever the case, take it elsewhere before I start to think you're trying to screw with me intentionally.

If it were up to you CL would just be one big search field where no one ever actually posted or communicated anything.

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iTrader: (8)

i know it's a sidebar question posed to phuong. and all i said was DO A SEARCH, and you get all pissy. and i do know what the original post was about, and as you know, most threads do get side tracked.

if you can't handle someone telling you to do a mere search, then i don't know what to tell ya. everyone will tell you i'm one of the nicest guys on these boards, BUT JEEZ, you get all pissy.

you are the agressor, not me. you took my words and thought it was a personal attack. so if i'm a newb, and someone told me to do a search, you expect me to get all pissy at you? please.....

THE_CEO

hey man did you ever replace those bald **** tires?

CEO

mikeloc24

Ha ha ha, no. Not yet. I have the stock 17's on right now and the 2 rears are almost bald. I don't want to waste the money because my 19's have tires on them already and I plan on putting those on in the next month or so

...by the way I haven't had the burning smell for the last day or so so it appears all is well, like Phuong said probably just needed to break in and such.

SC400Dude

That's good that all seems well Mike.

Have you driven in the recent rains?
The water could have cleaned out the undercarriage of your SC, leaving it free of any recent buildup of any fluids or solid objects.

Keep an eye out still though....