Just recently, everytime I get out of my truck after driving home from work, I notice a burning smell. Seems to be coming from the rear of the truck. It smells like burning rubber or chemical. Any ideas what it could be?

 

If you've been in mud lately it could be the mud still burning off the exhaust and surrounding areas of your truck? Just a guess? If not then I have no idea.

 

Mine has EXACT same problem...smells worse the harder i drive. I just moved here and have been running around trying to get things situated so its last on my list of things to do, but im gonna try and find a Ford dealership to take it to later this week to get checked out...I'll let you know what they say...hope its nothing too bad


Pauly

 

when I had that smell it was the seal in the rear axle housing due to the diff being to hot cause of lack of fluid, although i never noticed any leaks

 

Check the e-brakes for being to tight. Whether they just shift a bit or whatever, They have a tendency to rub, heat up and stink. May also cause vibration when they get hot. Do a search. You find this a common problem on the 04.

 

cat converter?

my truck smells like **** after a long drive...

 

Just took my truck in and they replaced my right rear caliper under warranty.

 

My right rear caliper is leaking. Took it apart and the piston has a nice crack in it. Im 11,000 out of warranty though

 

I have had 2 times in the last month that when I ran the heat and fan i could start smelling an awfull burning smell in mine. it was a weird smell , not really wiring burning , not really the catalitic converter.
I opened the hood today to take a look. As soon as I opened it a bunch of mice terds fell out from under the hood insulation. then it dawned on me. Its the baby mice falling on the motor and getting burned up that stunk so bad when the fan motor was on inside the truck, it was pulling the stink in. Thats a first for me, im glad I solved that one. maybe a mouse trap on the airbox would help out now.

 

How about plastic bags?! Those things can get caught on the hot exhaust components and melt... then finally burn as the exhaust temp rises.

Happened to my '99 a few times... had to get a metal putty knife to scrape it off the cat converter, and twice on the muffler. Hasn't happened to my '07....... yet. It's just a pita to get it off.

 

This is a common problem, the e-brakes hang up and do not release all the way generating heat. Just my guess, next time you are out for a ride, check the rear rotors for excessive heat, and as mentioned it can also cause a bad vibration. It's a pretty poor set up since levers rust up and won't release all the way. I have read several instances where this was the culprit.

 

This is how the e-brake is set up. There a few that believe the brake pads are used fir the parking brake when actually there are brake shoes inside of the rotor.


But remember there are other things that can cause this burning smell. Crawl under and look for any fluids that may be leaking

 

This shows it better with the rotor and how it all comes together. Good luck finding the cause of the burning smell. Something like that is never good and won't go away by itself. I work my parking back and forth several times in hopes that it will keep it from freezing up on me, so far so good.