Smell from driver side rear wheel...

I've taken my 02 out about half a dozen times now and it seems like everytime I drive it, there's this smell that I experience once I open the door to get out. It's strongest around the driver side rear wheel area. Almost like a burning smell... I thought it was the clutch at first but unless I'm burning the clutch everytime I get out of 1st gear, I don't think this is the case. Even in first I'll probably take 2-3 seconds between depressing and fully-off to get a smooth engagement. All this while engaging no higherthan 1-1.2K RPM. Is it possible I'm burning the clutch still? Any thoughts? I searched and some people say the smell is normal but is it supposed to be strong enough that I'd smell it once I open the door? Pretty sure it's not the smell of coolant...

normal... at worst, potentially leaking coolant tank... someone once suggested it was burning rubber from the negative camber of the tires. he made the point that it is worse with winter tires, than summer... more rubber to burn.

I get that, too. Thought it was the brakes. Go figure.

i get a smell too but always assumed it was just the brakes and the general heat of the engine around various bits of rubber and plastic.

And you guys are getting the smell once you open your door as well? I know some people get the smell when they literally go sniff their motor bays...I get it the second I open the door.

I had that smell once (yes, on opening the door) for a period of time, and it ended up being a busted coolant hose. I still do smell something fishy/heat related, once in a while. I'd go sniffing around the engine like a pig sniffing for truffel...no clue.

Get the smell all the time...with a cab and the top down it is very noticable. I think that there are a dozen or so theroies on what is actually causing the smell. You will get used to it; however, keep an eye on your gauges and check your fluids and look for leaks to be safe.

I have the same thing. To me, it smells like a new car engine that is hot. I bought my car at 11k and it now has 18k... Smell is still there. Funny someone mentioned to check the gauges because when I noticed it, I began religiously checking my temp. and even posted here to make sure I was in range for the car. JKC

It could be the cosmoline which Porsche applys to the underside of the car to inhibit rust.

Mine is from oil dripping on the driver side header. Usually only happens when i exceed roughly 5000 rpm. It is the blowby of the engine (at high rpm) that forces the oil out of the cam seals that need to be replaced on my engine.

Have the exact same "oh crap, what's wrong" smell from my 02' Carrera. It only has 18,000 on it. Seems to be normal considering all the posts about it here. I'm going with the cosmoline theory.

I don't drive the car hard (usually no higher than 4K) so I didn't know what was wrong! I thought I was just driving the car wrong somehow and was burning the clutch. It didn't seem like so many ppl would have the same "issue" with the car. It just sucks everytime I get out the car I "smell" like I'm not driving her correctly. Other than that though, the car has been awesome

You ARE driving the car wrong if you are not driving it hard and no higher than 4K......that's where the fun starts

Do you drive with your foot on the clutch and in between shift do you put your foot on the mat?

Believe it or not, if you are always below 4K RPM, there is a higher chance that you are occasionally lugging the engine -- which is bad. It's a good thing to rev up the engine once in a while -- it does no damage.

I vote for coolant tank

If coolant, you'd notice the "sweet" smell of the coolant. Much different than oil or rubber. I'd bet it's a small amount of oil burning off the warm engine. My RMS was replaced under warranty because it was seeping a small amount of oil, though not enough to drip on the ground. I had the burnt oil smell on occasion before the RMS was replaced.

Not a coolant smell...I don't think it's RMS either since it was checked at Porsche around 100miles ago when I bought it. Aben, I actually caught myself with the habit of hovering my foot over the clutch but I consciously put it on the dead pedal now.

I've noticed it on my 99 c2 . My wife even brought it up one dayy after she drove it. I'm betting on heat and plastics...but it is obvious it's common. And it's when I get out the door in the garage

My 99 996 does EXACTLY the same thing...and I've looked at the coolant tank. Although the tank itself is intact, I can see crusting around the base of the cap...which incidentally is the old cap and there have been MANY posts to this forum about this subject....just go spend the $24 and buy and new cap....like I should do too. Funny thing is though...the smell doesn't happen all the time. Somtimes I can be driving it hard and there'll be no smell, then all of a sudden, it will start smelling like hot .....I guess best described as coolant....then it goes away. I wipe off the crusted area with a Q tip, clean off the crusting, clean the inside of the cap and reinstall it.... and after it starts smelling again, I can see more crusting. Easy remedy...go buy the dogone cap! Me too!!

I still get that smell from time to time. It's better that than the smell of coolant and clutch which clearly doesn't smell like the "cosmoline" odor.

I believe the smell is the stuff that wears off the tires is thrown onto the muffler heat sheilds.

It's a bit odd that all our cars seem to have that smell...I guess I didn't expect a Porsche to really have strange smells after driving. It gets a bit embarrassing at times to climb out of a car like that and everyone within a 1 car radius can smell that burning scent. But even that isn't a big deal as long as this is normal

I just thought of this...Could it be brake dust burning on the exhausts parts?? I clean brake dusts all the time around the rear bumper areas.

As a newbie to a newer porsche I thought I was in the old air cool days when you turned the heater on no telling what you smell. Your right about embarrassing, but the tire and brake dust seem to make sense. To me it smells like the clutch going , brakes are pretty much the same material. I guess no one at porsche wants to admit that their 996s stink! It is embarassing how do you respond to it's a cool car, but is something wrong with it?

When I got my car I had the exact same thing, I thought that it was a clutch for sure but it continues and I have been around enough 911's now to know that some do and some don't smell. Personally I believe its a small oil leak onto the exhaust in my car but I have never seen a drop of oil and I am not nearly modivated enough to start pulling stuff off to see what is causing it.

I just got a GT3 and it has the same smell, like burning rubber, or plastic. I read other post refereing to cosmoline. I looked under my car and sure enough you could see the cosmoline coating, it has a gold color to it and is burnt black in some areas. It was on the coolant hoses, the cylinder and the entire bottom of the engine. I used engine cleaner, brass wire brushes and 4 hours of elbow grease to remove it. The smell is gone now. The stuff still covers my tranny and most of the suspension including the shocks, I guess I will get around to cleaning the rest next weekend.

The smell didn't so much bother me...it was the thought I was driving her wrong. I've been enjoying the drives more often after seeing so many replies...

And now all those aluminum parts will corrode.

This is my 5th Porsche, none of my previous cars had this on them and I have had no corrosion issues even when I lived on the east coast and drove in the snow. I live in Southern California now plus I am very meticulous with keeping my cars clean, engine and drive train included. The coating does not cover all of the aluminum so if it was going to stop corrosion Porsche missed allot. I was told that the coating is sprayed on to protect the cars during shipment across the ocean.

Well.. It states in the (old) Porsche shop manuals to replace the anti-corrosion coating on the engine and transmission casings after doing any major work involving cleaning with solvent. And the tech who replaced my RMS most recently said he can spot a replacement engine at a glance. How, I asked? Because they are not coated and and get corroded in no time. (which kinda negates their earlier warnings about replacing the coatings :-) )

I can't find any reference in my 996 manuals to replacing cosmoline coating after engine work. But if it is needed perhaps it should be replaced with the non wax based coating that does not have the smell. Here is a quote about Cosmoline: Cosmoline has been used for quite awhile by the world's military establishments as a firearm storage preservative. Actually cosmoline is still used by many commercial industries as a rust inhibitor for shipping and long term storage of vehicles, machine parts, and tools. You can purchase cosmoline from MidwayUSA as well as Brownells.

103,000 miles still smells after a spirited run.

I said older 911s, not 996.

I've only had my 996 for a month and noticed the same smell. I brought it into the shop and they said it's from the leak in my oil seperator. They replaced the hose and the smell is now less prominant. Jury still out if it's completely gone.

pobox, Keep us posted.