Hello, I've noticed a hot smell in my Fiat 500X quite a few times that hadn't been there before. I've checked the oil and water and both are ok. When I opened the bonnet and felt the plastic oil cover, (sorry, don't do technical), it was very warm/hot, I could touch it though. HELP!!! :bang:

Are you sure the smell is engine area and not a hot brake disc?

misselainei said:

When I opened the bonnet and felt the plastic oil cover, (sorry, don't do technical), it was very warm/hot, I could touch it though. HELP!!! :bang:

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What do you mean by plastic oil cover?

If you mean the large black plastic cover the whole of the upper side of the engine the this will get very hot. Temperature will vary depending on location.

Which engine? If a diesel is actively regenerating the DPF at the end of a journey it can smell very hot, and shouldn't be switched off until it's finished. According to the handbook there's an indicator lamp that shows this.

That's the one s130, I just keep smelling something hot while I'm driving. I'm a very experienced driver and once had a car where the breaks got stuck on and I was driving along with smoking coming from my wheels! This isn't the problem this time.

It's petrol Trev and I can smel it when driving, no warning lights are on.

I've had the car around 18 months now and it's only started smelling hot recently. It's not the brakes, I've felt the alloys.

Could it be as simple as the climate control? Obviously it's been pretty warm so the A/C will have been doing most of the cabin air, now that it's cooled down there'll probably be warmed air coming from the heater matrix. When you notice the smell, try turning the climate control off and see if the smell stops.

I'll try that, I've not had the air con on as I've had a dog in the car that doesn't like it but it could be something to do with that, I'll experiment later. Thank you.

Is the smell a bit "cabbagey"? If so it could be your clutch. I used to get that off and on in the old 500 if I did a lot of town driving from cold for the first 10 minutes or so.

No cabbage smell in my car, lol. It's definitely something hot and it's worse when on a long journey. Thanks anyway.

Well were this me I would be now removing the engine top cover. Just two bolts and a rear central "popper" to lift off.

This will expose the full topside of the engine. Look for anything that may look odd, heated etc. Also look at the back/underside of top shield/cover you have removed.

I can't say what might be normal or adnormal as we are talking/looking at "relative" differences.

You can also go for a long drive with the engine cover off. Does this make a difference?

You may now need to be in detective "Columbo" mode.

Thanks for that I'll play detective next week.

I am going to suggest rear brakes ( again).Check that the rear discs are not hot after a long run. I had a burning smell on two previous fiats (stilo and bravo) . On both occasions it was due to the rear handbrake cables sticking inside their sleeves and causing the calipers to not retract properly. It was always on a long drive and only on one side - and we deduced it was due to heat from the exhaust which is quite close to the cables in those cars. Not so sure on the 500x as i have not looked underneath mine yet. (but I know the exhaust is different to the other cars)

I will check the heat from the brakes again, I have got a squeak going on as well that sounds like something stuck in a wheel. Maybe I ought to get both things looked at.

I have the Multiair 1.4 and and I also find that the engine gets very hot compared to my previous car.
I have now 4500 km it will probably be normal.
There is also the bottom plate under the engine what keeps the heat inside.
I do not have a smell.

What kind of smell is it? Is it hot coolant?

When the engine is *stone cold*, you can take the cap off the coolant expansion tank and have a sniff of the coolant, to get the idea what it smells like... but don't overdo it, touch it or lick/drink any, it's the most toxic stuff on the car.

I presume the temperature gauge is still on 88C/middle of the dial and not reading high... and that the car is driving as normal, not idling too fast or feeling short of power etc.

If so, then I doubt the car is actually running hotter than before since the thermostat is supposed to keep it at between 88C and 92C all the time.

On the other hand, if the thermostat gets stuck shut or there's a problem with the cooling system, then you would usually get a high temperature reading to go with the extra heat/smell. The only time you don't see a higher reading is if there is air in the radiator and that causes an air lock so that the coolant in the engine block can't pass through the radiator to be cooled down. The sensor is near the thermostat so ends up in the air lock rather than immersed in coolant, so it can even read slightly low.

This ^ is quite unusual though.. the air-lock would pressurise the system and push coolant out of the expansion tank cap (it has a pressure valve in it... - the 1.2 or 1.4 Bar sticker on the cap). If your coolant level is normal and there's no sign of any coolant being released, then it's not the problem (although if you bleed the radiator you would be 100% sure).

So.. what does the engine temperature gauge say?

It *could* just be that the cooler weather is letting hot coolant through the heater matrix... especially if you have an automatic climate control (i.e. no control over it.. ). If you can set the heater temp to "Min" then that should close off the heater and the smell will go away.

The smell is probably residual coolant that tends to seep out of any joint over time.. usually it's so minor it's not worth trying to find/cure it.. since when the heater is used frequently, it evaporates off and leaves a residue that reduces any more seepage... but check under the dash and feel the carpets in case it's more of a "leak" than a "seep". Wet/damp carpets, a pink tinge or a smell of coolant down there is less good than the absence of all those.

Ralf S.