Burning smell

I have a slight burning smell coming from under the hood of my 1997 4L OHV
V6 explorer with 130K miles. I smell the smell after I park in the garage.
If I open the hood while the engine is running, I can faintly see
steam/smoke rising up from the front of the engine. I can't tell exactly
where it is coming from though. Does anywhere here have a technique to
share that they use to pinpoint the location of whatever fluid it is that is
leaking and vaporizing when it hits the engine? I don't have anything
leaking onto the ground under the truck, so whatever it is isn't leaking
very quickly. Oil, transmission fluid, and radiator fluid(which I suspect
is the leak) are all normal. The truck has always used a little radiator
fluid ever since I've had it. Probably a quart every 10K miles.
Thanks.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Just a guess, but it wounds like a small water leak around the front
of the engine. Probably not the water pump as it would have gotten a
lot worse by now. Any small leaks around hoses or thermostat? Might
be worth trying a bottle of Bars Leaks.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 07:44:14 -0500, "Captain Coleman"
> wrote:

>I have a slight burning smell coming from under the hood of my 1997 4L OHV
>V6 explorer with 130K miles. I smell the smell after I park in the garage.
>If I open the hood while the engine is running, I can faintly see
>steam/smoke rising up from the front of the engine. I can't tell exactly
>where it is coming from though. Does anywhere here have a technique to
>share that they use to pinpoint the location of whatever fluid it is that is
>leaking and vaporizing when it hits the engine? I don't have anything
>leaking onto the ground under the truck, so whatever it is isn't leaking
>very quickly. Oil, transmission fluid, and radiator fluid(which I suspect
>is the leak) are all normal. The truck has always used a little radiator
>fluid ever since I've had it. Probably a quart every 10K miles.
>Thanks.

Is it a burning rubber smell? My old 97 4.0 Ranger had a burning smell for a
bit, it turned out to be the belt tensioner was dying. When it died, it took
out my idler pulley. Talk about a PITA on the highway at midnight 65 miles
from home..

Carl


"Captain Coleman" > wrote in message
...
>I have a slight burning smell coming from under the hood of my 1997 4L OHV
>V6 explorer with 130K miles. I smell the smell after I park in the garage.
>If I open the hood while the engine is running, I can faintly see
>steam/smoke rising up from the front of the engine. I can't tell exactly
>where it is coming from though. Does anywhere here have a technique to
>share that they use to pinpoint the location of whatever fluid it is that
>is leaking and vaporizing when it hits the engine? I don't have anything
>leaking onto the ground under the truck, so whatever it is isn't leaking
>very quickly. Oil, transmission fluid, and radiator fluid(which I suspect
>is the leak) are all normal. The truck has always used a little radiator
>fluid ever since I've had it. Probably a quart every 10K miles.
> Thanks.
>
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
>

Definately check your hoses for a pinhole leak...

I had that tensioner go out...mine started squealing first...took out
the pulley & knocked out the serpentine belt (which I had just replaced
6 months prior)...what a mess.

Well I discovered it is oil that is leading to my burning smell. The wife
had the truck out this evening and I noticed a small amount of engine oil on
the garage floor. The next step is to figure out where the leak is coming
from. Does anyone know of common locations of leak problems for this
engine? It's a 4.0L OHV V-6 1997 2WD 4-door explorer.
Thanks.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com