I can go 110?!

 

hummm..did you recently have an oil change done?

I had a light burnt smell after I left the dealer and drove spiritedly little.
But it went away very quickly. I also smelled my gasket off the Milltek
a couple times after I wot through 2nd...

not sure if it keeps coming back though...

 

I've had mine replaced SEVERAL times. The new ones still leak, BTW.

 

Mine smells when pushed hard and has done so since new. Higher boost levels from 15% and then 19% created more odor. Removing airbox and adding cowl holes hasn't helped any. :smile:

Worried me for a while but I don't even notice it any more and hove noticed that many boosted cars smell when pushed.

While I hate to ever admit that the answer "they all do that" is true I believe it is in this case.

 

Excuse me if this is a ignorant statement.

I feel pretty confident what we are smelling is the blower belt. My car makes this smell every time I hammer through 2 or more gears, like getting on the freeway.

The reason I think it's the belt, is because after having my harmonic balancer replaced, I lifted the bonnet when I arrived home. When I leaned in to see the new harmonic balancer, I could smell the same exact smell.

It was mentioned above that adding first the 15% and then the 19%, only made it worse, I suspect this is the reason why.

So if a certain amount of belt slippage, especially with a reduction pulley, is concidered normal ? Then MINI may in fact be correct this time, it's normal.:smile:

 

Take it to Prestige (Mahwah). You'll be asking yourself why you didn't bring it there long ago.

 

When you say it smells like a big truck pulls in front of you do you mean like an SUV pulls in front and floors it? I get that a lot down here in Florida (all the poor people with Excursions ) That smell is definitely the cat. The clutch smells more like a table saw when the blade us dull and it's burning the wood. I've only burnt the clutch once when I was trying to figure out how to shift the MINI at high rpm's. The best way I find is to come off the gas completely along with pushing in the clutch, change gears, and then very quickly come off (almost drop the clutch) and floor it at the same time. This may sound harsh but the shifts are some of the smoothest I've ever made. This also means there is very little time when the clutch is actually slipping so wear should be minimal. The rpm's drop just right so the clutch and sycros don't have to work overtime.

 

Here are the most common smell causes that I've run into:


Overflow tank is leaking at the seam, which causes coolant to run onto the header heat shield - a sweet smelling coolant type odor.

Brake pads from heating them up. If this was one of the first times you've really let it run, then hit the brakes to bring yourself back to normal speed, there is a good chance you were smelling the pads. This is common at a first track day or an autocross. It smells metallic and a lot like a burning clutch.

Tires - again from heating them up past the normal point. This is again common at a first track day (and subsequent events as well). It smells like, well, tires.

Catalytic converter that is going. I've only smelled a particular brand of header in the aftermarket go bad, even on the track, so I doubt it is the cause of your odor. I've seen them go bad on a stock header, but they usually don't smell. It smells really nasty, and is very distinct. You will get a Service Engine Soon light with a bad cat, so if you don't have one, this probably isn't your issue.

Mexican food from lunch and scaring your passengers to the point of needing to release all non essential body gasses - OK, so I'm joking - or am I?

As to the smell from the engine bay with an aftermarket intake that opens up the rear partition, this really is a normal smell, and it is increased with more boost. The cause is the crankcase vent pressure. Take a look at your valve cover - the part with MINI written on the top. The driver side hose that dissappears under the intercooler is the crankcase vent, and under pressure, it blows air into the intake hose between the filter and the throttle body. That air is filled with oil vapor, and smells accordingly. The smell comes through the filter element. Again, this is a normal smell. Obviously, the more boost you have, the more crankcase pressure - and so, more smell.

As far as the belt slipping making a smell, I haven't noticed that at all, and as you may have read on other recent posts, I have certainly gone through my share of belts testing out the 19% pulley.

I certainly hope that helps - let me know if you have any other questions.
Randy

 

Hmm,

Diagnosing smells over the internet is a lot like diagnosing noises.

If belts made a smell, you would certainly know.

Unless mini's cats smell alot different then the old ones when going bad,not like rotten eggs? Not likely it either.

The coolant on the MINI is probably a much different formula than the POS's I blew up years ago.

So maybe while the cars cool, I'll take a small sample from the tank. Later when the car's is hot, I will drizzle some on the heatshield.

 

I'm still in the break-in period, and had been finding the Mini difficult to short-shift (say, under 3000 rpm) smoothly. Once I revved up to 4000, shifting became a lot smoother. The gears are spaced much closer together than my VW 5-speed, so I'm learning to upshift quicker to keep the revs from dropping too far. I guess it says a lot about the car in that it's easier to drive the harder you push it!

 

I've also noticed this. During normal driving (for economy) I find it difficult to make a smooth and clean shift but once I give it a little more throttle, everything gets a lot better.

 

Got a speedding ticket in my first few months of ownership. Decided I needed to slow down, a lot. Kept thinking something was wrong with the shifter. I had developed a bad habit of short shifting, even while turning slowly. If the road was uneven, it would either jossle me, the tranny , the cables or all 3 and at times, I couldn't seem to get it in gear when all three occured at once.

Smash the shifter in gear, no problems. :smile:

 

I am sure it is not a belt slip. I keep hearing from MAG that the Mini runs rich and they smell like that.

 

What I am smelling seams a little more acrid than just being rich. Maybe a combinationation of that mixed with PCV fumes?

I said it might be a ignorant statement.

Could be coolant in my case as well. Because the dealer overfilled my tank, my heat sheild is covered with the stuff !! Need to clean it up and repeat the scenario that creates the smell. Should be easier to tell once the area is clean first. My smell doesn't have the sweet blown head gasket smell, but who knows.

Not sure why I smelled it in the the area of the belt. Just a coincedence I guess.

 

My dealer’s recommendation is to change my gasoline brand. Has anyone else received this advice?

So BP/Amaco 93 is out.

What do you guys think of this? They said it might take 2-3 fill-ups

 

Is that the best one they could think of?

Sorry but time to bring it out again:

 

Nice BS-o-meter. I think you'll find that everybody uses a different brand of gas so that's up in flames. I use Sams brand 93 octane myself.

 

one of the reasons i've held off doing the partition hole mod is exactly the scenario above. opening up the cabin air intake cowl area to the engine bay could allow CO into the cabin if you have an exhaust leak.

if i do it, i'll seal all the way around the holes.

 

Don't bother, the smell became more pronounced immediately after installing BMP CAI and increased with 15% and 19%. My box first had holes, then bigger holes and now it it gone....no difference in smell.

Enjoy it, it's the smell of POWER!

 

I am experiencing some strange smells to.
Smells like what metal smells like when it gets real hot.

I am not getting it from the engine bay, most when I step out of my car mid to rear end.

For the life of me I can't figure it out.
Then again. I get paranoid, like it smells and feels sluggish, so something must be wrong... I have 3k on my car and am starting to wonder some things. For example: how quickly do your rpm's drop once you let of the gas? Maybe I am crazy.

 

Took my service guy for a ride because he could not duplicate. After I hit the entrance ramp, I hammered it pretty hard. The roof was cracked open (vent) and as soon as I lifted the smell was really bad. He said that is definitely not normal so I go back in on the 16th. Man this is getting old.

 

buckeye, please post the outcome from the dealer... I have the same smell after heavy throttle....has a sort of "sweet" smell to it.

 

Mine is not sweet. It is more like I am following an old car. I think the sweet smell is the coolant leak?