Smell of insulation burning '99 Xantia HDi Exclusive

Edhertz · Post by **Edhertz** » 04 Apr 2011, 16:25

Hello,
Just wondering if anyone has had experience of smell of electrical insulation burning inside the car, with no apparant signs of smoke or fumes. Problem came on suddenly, luckily on my way home, stopped a few times, lifted the lid but no signs of burning ie smoke or overheating. As I replaced the theater fan/blower transistors recently I thought there might be a problem with the blower but cannot find anthing obviously wrong with it. I have checked the com continuity through the brushes through 360 and all readings are the same (0.4 ohm), also seems to run ok when powered up out of situ. The motor draws approx 5A in auto and rises in excess of 10A full on, which I will assume is normal until I'm told otherwise. Any ideas anyone? Thanks in advance. (ps. alternator's ok)

spider · Post by **spider** » 04 Apr 2011, 16:34

My first thought is it actually inside the car ?

A plastic bag stuck to the cat will melt rapidly and stink for ages, the smell can get inside the car sometimes too.

Post by **CitroJim** » 04 Apr 2011, 18:25

Check your battery terminals. I've seen two cases now where under heavy electrical loads the terminals can overheat due to high resistance in the crimps.

Run the engine with maximum load applied and then feel them. If they're hot, recrimp them with a very big pair of pliers.

On the blower side, check the plug into the speed module (the one you repaired) is not getting hot.

Finally, if yours has the auxiliary electric water heater (looks like a an alloy block with four glowplugs in one of the heater matrix pipes heater) check it is cutting out and that you don't have an airlock in the circuit causing the heater to run dry. They will overheat under such circumstances and get a bit smelly.

addo · Post by **addo** » 04 Apr 2011, 20:57

When the cabin fan brushes are worn, you can get an electrical arcing smell.

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 05 Apr 2011, 11:01

I had similar on my V6 Xantia... it came from within the steering column shroud and the wife noticed a small amount of smoke for a few seconds.. further examination showed a small amount of melted plastic around the indicator mechanism.

Edhertz · Post by **Edhertz** » 05 Apr 2011, 13:01

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice. I've checked all the things you've come up with but the culprit is still at large. Not sure where to go after this but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

mendedit · Post by **mendedit** » 07 Apr 2011, 17:19

Perhaps your being cremated and have chosen to drive to heaven in a Xantia.