Slight burning smell from exhaust when hot

[funkyrobot]

Hello all. My 57 plate Mazda 3 sport seems to have developed a slight burning smell from the exhaust. It only seems to appear when the car and the exhaust is warmed up. I can only smell it when i'm at the back of the car near the exhaust. It's not like an oily burning smell, more a sort of sulphur burning smell.

My coolant and oil levels seem fine, other fluids seem fine, and I haven't noticed any difference in the way the car drives. Saying that, i've only had the car 3 months and the previous owner only put 20000 miles on it in 3 years.

I'm also new to petrol cars as I had diesels before.

So, does anyone know if this may be a problem? Is it worth giving my Mazda dealer a ring and booking it in for a check?

When you start the car and when everything is cool, it just smells like a normal petrol.

Sorry if the above seem like daft questions, but just thought i'd check with the PH knowledgebase before calling Mazda up.

Edited by funkyrobot on Friday 24th December 08:20

[hombrepaulo]

Do modern catalytic convertors still smell of sulphur when the start failing? Could be that

[funkyrobot]

hombrepaulo said:

Do modern catalytic convertors still smell of sulphur when the start failing? Could be that

I do hope it isn't that. I do have a Mazda warranty though (hopefully this would cover it in the even of a problem).

[funkyrobot]

doogz said:

Have a look underneath.

Exhaust hangers are generally made of rubber, could be that one of them has worked its way loose and is resting on the exhaust.

The generally look like this:

Thanks, will take a look.

[Vorix]

Check you haven't got a plastic bag caught underneath. This happened on my wife's car a couple of months ago. We thought the clutch was going but a friendly local garage put it up on ramps, found the offending plastic and used a wire brush to get rid of the melted on bits.