It's interesting this came to the top again. I have had several calls on a buring smell like rubber. Have also had a call from another hummer dealer with 8 calls the last couple of days with the same issue. I have found nothing on the one truck we looked at. I thought maybe winter blend of fuel (We have had a cold snap here in rochester ny the last couple of weeks) but you guys are all over the states. I would like to find out what is going on to. My own truck has stunk a little like fuel oil when started but don't think it is the same as my customers. Steve

 

I'm also having this rubber burning smell. But only on long highway trips of an hour or more, I never smell it driving around town.
Is it possible that the rubber Exhaust mounts are heating up and causing this smell? And this odor only seems stronger from the rear section of the truck.... Weird!!!

 

I too have a "burning" smell that comes only when going up hills in my month old H3. I can drive for hours on the highways no problem, but when I get home, just going up our longer steep driveway results in a smell coming from the truck. Can't be the brakes, 'cause I'm not using them uphill! I've ignored it a bit 'til now knowing that new cars sometimes have smells coming from them till the plastics cure etc.etc. but now I'm getting a little concerned as I have over 3000 km on it and would have expected that to be gone by now. It will be interesting to see if we can fnd a common thread here to answr this question.

 

i would say brake smell if you think about it we have the traction controll and all the other goodies so the system could be applying brakes more on one corner than the rest espeacially if you were off roading. the other think that came to mind is a sticking caliper also abs sensors are some kind of plastic that rub in there as well, also i had a problem with a catalitic converter that also gave off similar smells espeacially in wet conditions when it would heat and cool rapidly this was on a different kind of car but could still be the same kind of problem.

 

I have had the smell also and I immediatly thought the cat converter collapsed, After gettting it up on the lift the smell was coming from the front exhaust resinator. My buddie put ona gibson exhaust that does away with the resonator and he has no smell anymore.

 

Is this resonator thingy self contained where as to there would be no worries about this thing starting on fire?

 

It's basically just a small round muffler in front of thebig muffler in the back...It's nothing dangerous, just smells like a new cat. the first few times it heats up. No fire to worry about.

 

My parents are also getting this smell in their H3. Said they have noticed it the past few weeks on and off. I looked at it today and could not smell anything.

 

Went to the store to get some smoke when I thought I smelled plastic burning. Remembering this post I got out real quick to see where it was comming from. False alarm it was only the Burger King accross the street.

 

I have a question about the burning smell. What do they use on the road for melting snow and ice???. It seems that a lot of cars come in my shop with the burning rubber smell and might be somthing they are mixing with the salt. Steve