Acrid smell

[Starachell]

Bit of an odd one - I was climbing a heavy hill the other day and got stuck behind a cyclist. Dropped down into first and crawled at about 3mph but fast enough to just rest on the accelerator while my left foot took a rest. It didn't take long before there was an acrid smell in the cabin. I immediately assumed that the person behind me was stepping on all pedals available and then, to my horror, realized that I was the cause of the offending odor. I was sure that I wasn't touching the clutch in any way, so much so that I pushed down on the rest plate to confirm. I knocked her out of gear and then back in to first to see if that was the problem but the smell lingered until I'd managed to overtake. Is this the clutch or are there some other possible explanations? The gearbox fluid was changed at the end of last year and I've just had a service. The only other note is that my coolant warning light has been coming on briefly when starting up and my service flagged a leaky rocker cover gasket.

Thanks!

 

[touring_style]

For what its worth my rocker cover gasket leaks at the rear of my M54 engine onto the cats on the exhaust and it stinks too!

Maybe being on a hill has momentarily made the symptoms worse and the fact you were crawling along meant the smell wasn't being wafted away by the free flow of air.

Have a feel along the back edge of the rocker cover nearest the bulkhead. If its wet with oil there the smell could have been caused by oil dripping onto the hot exhaust below.

(incidentally mine is booked in for replacement)

 

[cj10jeeper]

I'd say slipping clutch even though they often slip in higher gears first.

Was the smell burning oil, clutch, cable sheathing,etc?

 

[Starachell]

Thanks both - I have my fingers crossed it's the rocker cover. The only way I can describe the smell is acrid, like a clutch, and it went away as soon as I started to overtake the cyclist. I can imagine he was just as pleased about it as I was. Otherwise the revs and acceleration are all normal.