Urgent Help!! R33 GTR, burning rubber smell inside the car and smoke form engine bay

[judasentinel]

This has got me stumped. A few days ago, I started hearing a strange grinding noise from the engine bay that would turn into a rattling sound at times and then go away. Today, I started the car in the morning, and could hear the grinding again, which slowly turned into the rattle, and then suddenly went away, only to be replaced by a very loud whistle/shrieking noise. I had the heating on in the car to thaw out the ice on the windshields. The loud noise freaked me out, so I went back into the car to turn it off when I sensed a very strong smell of burning rubber. And then I saw some smoke come out of the engine bay.

The idle is great, the temp gauge seems fine and so does the oil pressure. Rad fluid is clear and the car revs as it should, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why the burning smell. I almost want to say it is related to the PS pump. Seems the smoke was coming up from the driver side of the engine bay. What is there that could burn with a rubber smell? Any ideas? All belts on the outside are also fine. If there were an issue with the timing belt or idler/tensioner, there would be no burning smell or at least the car wouldn't even start. CAS can't be to blame as again the car wouldn't even run. Water pump doesn't burn like rubber. Could it be the alternator? The alt/battery light would come on if it were, wouldn't it?

I dont know what could be burning or what is causing it. One idea I have is that the rear of the PS pump, which controls the rear tires (HICAS) failed? The steering wheel is not stiff, so I am totally stumped.

Please help.

Thank you.

Munib

[dustyGTR]

The burning rubber smell is almost certainly from an accessory belt as you suspect, if belt was shrieking and smoking one of the accessories or idlers is likely starting to seize up, usually when bearings start to fail they don't get quiet again. I suspect concern could be with your A/C compressor and or clutch/hub (assuming your car has A/C) this would explain the coming and going of the noise, you also said that you had defrost on to try and clear the windshield, almost all vehicles with A/C turn the compressor on with defrost position to help remove humidity from the air and clear the window faster. Try turning A/C on and off and see if noise comes and goes. Noise you described sounds like possible compressor on it's way out. You could also try unplugging A/C compressor clutch connector if the hub and bearing are still ok you could still drive until you fix.

Good Luck hope this helps

[judasentinel]

Hmm...thank you for the insight. I hope for my sake that it is the AC and not the timing belt/idler/tensioner, or for that matter the water pump - my last GTR was a permanent guest in my garage for over a year because the waiter pump seized up on me while driving and the shaft broke into a bajillion pieces, flying into the rad, along with the clutch fan.

One thing to point out is that as soon as I start the car, there is a fan-like ticking sound inside the car, pretty much like the one we get in local cars where the fan continues to run even after turning it off, or starts off on its own....but then it goes away in a few seconds.

I am also noticing that the smell starts to get stronger in the engine bay as soon as I start the car, even without any AC or heater running. The fan is blowing it towards the firewall, right? In addition, I can see a bit of smoke come out from the intake side of the engine bay. That has got me worried, thinking what all could be possible. In this cold weather, I cannot even make out the location of the burning smell and the smoke, as it is also windy and the car is parked outside (there is no indoor garage). Could the smoke be due to transmission/clutch? I doubt it, as the clutch seems fine.

Another thing to think about was the starter. Is it possible that the starter is burning up due to cold temperatures and is not retracting fully after starting the car? I am bringing this up because the starter is located on the driver side in the engine bay. The only moving parts in that area are the alternator and the starter. Alternator maybe?

Could the timing belt or the idler/tensioner make that loud shrieking noise or the water pump itself?

How does one disconnect the AC compressor and loosen it so I can take the belt off?

[bobbo]

Take timing belt cover off and take a look to make sure your timing belt isn't the culprit.

[louis110]

Check the AC compressor. Mine had seized and did the exact same thing except the belt snapped while I was driving.

[den80]

If alternator failed,you would have battery light comes on.

[dustyGTR]

If the starter Bendix drive is failing the starter could be the cause, usually has more of an electrical burning smell and starter gets really hot and eventually self destructs can damage teeth on flywheel ring-gear as they are smashing together at higher then designed for speeds. You should probably not drive car until you figure out if possible to be safe and prevent possibility of doing further damage.
let us know what you find

[judasentinel]

Got it fixed!!

It was the freewheel pulley next to the AC compressor that had jammed up. We cut the belt out, and everything was fine. Due to excessive cranking in the cold, the combustion chamber had flooded up and the plugs were all black. Changed the plugs to Iridium (couldnt find the copper ones), and she fired right up, took off the AC belt and now everything runs great.

Thank you guys, for all the support and help.

I wonder how much I can push her without breaking anything else, hehe. Some questions:

1. Is there a way to visually know what turbos I have on without removing them?

2. Anyone have any idea as to how to tune the old old version of the Apexi AVC Type R? This is the flat one, with only two buttons on the left hand side, and not the one with the larger screen up front.

3. Assuming I have stock turbos (the car is Mine's tuned, apparently, not sure though), can I run 1 bar all day on them? Was there any difference between the sotck R33 GTR turbos and the R32 GTR ones?

Munib

[Skym]

Good to hear.

1.) Compressor housing on turbo has the part number and match to GTR stock turbo part mumber list (search the web).

2.) Boost controller = tuner and dyno with wideband to tune properly. Otherwise leave it on factory settings and drop the boost level to wastegate spring pressure (lowest boost level you can run) until you can get it setup via using a dyno, tuner. Or with some you might need to follow the manuals (search online).

3.) Depends on age, condition as to how much play there is. More play = less rpm / boost level you can run before it chews up the oil seal and fails.

As far as I know, R33 GTR has slightly larger turbo's and slightly larger intercooler to suit (better than stock R32 GTR intercooler), revised exhaust, intake with tune to suit on ECU and I think slight cam timing changes (cams). I think produced around 330hp at factory for R33 GTR (non N1 GTR) vs 320hp for R32 GTR (listed as producing around 280hp at engine to not excede what was known as the gentlemans agreement).