Morris Minor Owners Club

when the car is warm and being used, i can smell a warm rubber smell when driving. could this be the brakes? tyres? gasket warming up? vintage hoses? vintage fan belt? it sort of smells "familiar". but can't put my finger on it. no leaks and no apparent problems. everything checks out ok and seems to run fine.

Fan belt slipping ? Is it hot??

My money would be on the radiator hoses, especially if they're a bit new

As well as agreeing with the above two possible suggestions, perhaps you have a water leak? You could be smelling hot antifreeze, or possibly an oil leak from the rocker cover gasket dripping and burning on the manifold.

Depends how good your sense of smell is, as smell is one of the more subjective senses. Old cars do tend to have their certain smells.

chickenjohn wrote:perhaps you have a water leak? You could be smelling hot antifreeze, or possibly an oil leak from the rocker cover gasket dripping and burning on the manifold.

just changed the water pump and not losing water now, smell still there. could well be some oil, can't see any from the rocker cover gasket but some lower down near the sump.

Clutch operating okay?

It seem fine, but this could be the smell!

Is there some free-play in the clutch pedal ?

Does it smell worse when in heavy traffic?

i notice it more when going along at a fair old rate, 50 mph?

Driver "Can you smell that?"
Passenger "Smell it ? I'm sitting in it!"