CVT smells like its on fire driving up Mountians

[flotownj]

So I have a 2015 Mirage ES with only 2k miles on it. I just returned from over seas and decided to take a vacation in the N.C. Mountians. Bryson city is the town we are in at some beautiful cabin rental.

Well on the way here the hills were far more than I would have expected driving up to the cabin. On the highway and I-40 coming here we didnt have any problems at all. I tried to keep the RPMs below 4,500. When we got off the highway and on the side roads leading up to the cabin that was another story. I am 99% sure the smell is coming from the CVT. Burning rubbery smell. The hills are so steep if it had rained I would be afraid we would not have traction!

Pic attached shows a small part of the driveway. This is by far not the worst hill.

[inuvik]

So I have a 2015 Mirage ES with only 2k miles on it. I just returned from over seas and decided to take a vacation in the N.C. Mountians. Bryson city is the town we are in at some beautiful cabin rental.

Well on the way here the hills were far more than I would have expected driving up to the cabin. On the highway and I-40 coming here we didnt have any problems at all. I tried to keep the RPMs below 4,500. When we got off the highway and on the side roads leading up to the cabin that was another story. I am 99% sure the smell is coming from the CVT. Burning rubbery smell. The hills are so steep if it had rained I would be afraid we would not have traction!

Pic attached shows a small part of the driveway. This is by far not the worst hill.

Most likely it was just the plastic intake manifold getting hot. The Mirage's CVT uses a metal belt and if it was overheating you would get a flashing "D" indicator. Leave it in "B" if you are going up really steep hills and staying 40 mph or under although I've downshifted into "B" at 70 mph and it will rev up to around 4500 rpm. Don't worry about the rpm's. As long as your oil level is good you can run @ 4500 all day long. Torque peak is @4000 rpm anyway so don't worry about that part. I utilize "B" quite often. The Mirage is pretty peppy if you leave it in "B" and stick your foot into it!

[flotownj]

IDK, I definitely smelled burning rubber!

[Eggman]

How's your transmission fluid? Any noticeable change, such as color or smell?

[kalifornia]

usually hilly means declines as well as inclines.... probably cooked some brake fluid

[flotownj]

usually hilly means declines as well as inclines.... probably cooked some brake fluid

This day we were coming here. It was all up hill. No down hill. I have an app on my phone that shows pitch and roll. I am going to use it to see how steep the grades are coming up here.

[flotownj]

I measured the degrees of the hills going up to our cabin. 22°. If it had rained I dont think I would have been able to go up.

After I got to the Cabin the first time from then on out I drove in "B" had no issues

[inuvik]

I measured the degrees of the hills going up to our cabin. 22°. If it had rained I dont think I would have been able to go up.

After I got to the Cabin the first time from then on out I drove in "B" had no issues

Wow, 22 degrees is pretty darn steep! Good to hear, "B" is definitely your friend on steep inclines. I think that due to the ultra aggressive economy programming in the Mirage's CVT once it upshifts into the higher range at about 11 mph it will remain in the higher range unless you floor it. Of course this isn't helpful in steep low speed conditions like you described. Thinking about the burning rubber smell I'm wondering if it was the rubber coolant hoses that attach to the CVT to run coolant through the stack CVT cooler mounted on the CVT itself. The Mirage uses engine coolant water line to keep the CVT temps in check. As long as you didn't get any "flashing" of the indicator while it was in "D" then it probably just got hot enough to get the rubber hoses stinky where they attach to the CVT but not hot enough to cause damage.

[MetroMPG]

FYI, I definitely recall a couple of other new owners detecting a "burning" and/or hot plastic smell after driving a new Mirage in mountains...

Yup, very similar:

Thread: burning rubber smell after uphill drive


Also

Thread: Uh Oh That Smell

[Daox]

Yeah, others have noticed that smell too. They never reported back after that though... so it must be okay... or they met an untimely demise. Best of luck!