The past couple of nights in Ottawa have gotten down to -30C and I've noticed that when I start my Protegé 01 there is a brief burning smell. It only happens when I start the car, and only when it's that cold. You can smell it outside only, not in the cabin, and it lasts for only a few moments when you first start the engine.

Any thoughts on what is causing this?

 

That happened in my old car, only when it was cold. Didn't do any damage...car had 280,000 KM when i sold it, and the engine was in good condition.

Does it smell like burnt rubber?

 

does it smell like burnt toast?....

 

Blades, yes it does smell a lot like burnt rubber, but not quite the same. Over the weekend it wasn't as cold (only -20C ) so there wasn't anything. Took it in just in case it was the alternator, but it checked out fine and they couldn't find any other obvious culprit.

 

I never did figure out why it did it in my old car. My latest theory was that is was from cold hard belts somehow slipping and heating up giving that burnt rubber sort of smell. Once the belts warmed up in a few seconds the smell went away.