Scary smell on steep hills! Help!

[inuvik]

I am inclined to agree with you...

The smell is very brief and fleeting (I always have the windows open, I avoid the AC when I can) It does smell like burning a bit, but not in the "pull over, this is an emergency" kind of way. I have never noticed it lingering while the car is parked or once I'm home; it's just during or immediately after those periods of a steep climb and then gone. I have been told that "clutch smell" is rather strong and distinctive. So I'm hoping it isn't that!

I have not noticed anything weird with RPMs not matching up or adjusting irregularly. I am hoping someone can just take a look at my clutch, say "this looks fine!" and then I can accept that TB just smells like that sometimes!

Ahhh, in that case it's most likely just a hot catalytic converter. Although I push my engine to 6000 rpm's for hills occasionally the CVT will rev the motor between 3500-5000 rpm a lot on cruise control on hills. I haven't noticed any smell ever but I haven't babied the motor either at any point. This motor likes rpm's and as long as your oil levels are good and you change it appropriately I'm thinking this is nothing to worry about.

[Sprinterx29]

Do what now? The intake manifold doesn't give off an odor just because it is plastic. Unless it is cracked or broken and is letting vapors from the PCV system escape, it would not have any way to give off a smell at all.

The smell to which I am referring (kind of a sulfur-y burnt hair smell) is common to the exhaust of every car I've owned when running it hard, regardless of make (I have had Hondas, Toyotas, a Mazda, a Subaru and a Ford) or intake manifold material (plastic or metal). The thing about the Mirage is that it has modest power -- while it can get out of its own way, you might have to put the accelerator to the floor to merge into fast traffic where a Civic in the same situation might only require 50%. My Civic Si would definitely smell if I ran it out to 7000+ RPM at WOT in gears 1-3.

When you floor it, it runs rich/goes into open loop and dumps in a ton of fuel.

I really hope that's all it is! I am thinking it's no further issue, since I don't have any other "symptoms"

[gone.a]

Does it smell like rotten eggs?

[cinder]

The odor from the plastic intake manifold is nothing to be concerned with . I have pulled several cars off to the side of the road when the the odor started coming through the vents , then lift the hood and followed my schnoz to the intake manifold with all of them . All cars that it happened to are running fine then and now .

[adrew]

Could you please explain how you think the intake manifold could be generating a smell? I am genuinely curious

[cinder]

Plastic is known to give an odor when hot .

[Sprinterx29]

Does it smell like rotten eggs?

I would not describe it like that...it's like a burning or just a general engine smell, strong for just a minute then goes away. It sounds like this is what indicates to several people that it could just be engine effort causing the smell.