Somethings burning. Okay, so there are few things as disturbing as an electrical burning odor in a car. Hot brakes have a unique odor, as does hot, steaming antifreeze. There's also burning rubber/plastic, which comes close to this, but it is distinctly a electrical wiring type of smell.

Step 1: Review everything I have done with the car. Besides constantly, obsessively washing, detailing, polishing, claying, waxing... the one thing that stands out: mounting a battery trickle/float charger harness. The harness is standard, attaches under the post clamp bolts, and only exposes a negative side connection, which also has a cap. The charger itself is a 2 amp Schumaker design resold with "Die Hard" labeling, has operated flawlessly and I have had on observable issues with the harness or charger. It's the only electric component that has any relationship to the smell over this time period.

2. Review user reports of similar smells, looking for root cause, solutions etc. One post spoke of a plastic inner fender/fender liner coming in contact with a tire. Last night I was on the shoulder with my phone flashlight, checking wheel wells for any friction contact situation. Nothing.

3. I haven't checked fuses so far since a properly functioning fuse would blow before letting a circuit burn - which gives me an idea. I will check that there are no over-rated fuses installed, that would allow a circuit to fry.

4. I have, whilst cleaning the front seats used the seat motors to raise, lower and otherwise move the seats, headrests etc., around more than normal operating conditions. I do not use the "Automatic Entry/Exit" mode that powers the seat, pedals and steering column to their furthest position to ease entry and exit every single time you unlock and open the door. While its a lovely way to pamper the DRIVER, it's a horrendous way to treat the high amperage seat motors, introducing wear and tear equal to 1121.37 years of regular usage. Approximately.

5. Start a new thread on Jaguarforums.com, and expose myself to being questioned... "where were you on Friday the 24th between 11 and midnight?"

Seriously though, this is not an overpowering, strong burning smell, but obviously new, and has been observed over a half dozen local trips. Does anyone have ideas on where to even begin troubleshooting? Mechanical things are manageable, if sometimes expensive and labor intensive. This is something altogether different.

One last potential clue, however unlikely. 2 months ago, I swapped out almost liters of Lifeguard 6 transmission fluid, installed a new pan/filter and replaced the Mechatronic Valve Body bridge seal and the 4 clutch fluid tubular seals in the 6HP26 transmission. There are no leaks, and shifting is spot on perfect. Mentioning because its the only notable work done on the car besides the trickle charger. I have probably not even driven 500 miles since the work was done.

Sorry for long post. This is all I have to go on. If anyone who has resolved a burning smell can tell me what their cause was, I will gladly check my car fir similar issues. I don't want to see my 2nd X350 burn on the side of the highway (this post is already too long to explain) Thanks for ANY tips, clues or suggestions!

Be careful out there!

 

I hope the 'smell of death' does NOT surround you!!!!!

Keep searching with your nose?

 

Is there any way you can narrow the smell down to a specific area of the car, engine bay, cabin, rear? Can it be smelled just while driving, or stationary, is it a strong smell or just a whiff. Is it there all the time, or does it just show up, when , for instance, it rains, or it's icy, or it's hot, etc, etc. It could be like you say, possibly a motor somewhere being over stressed, or jamming, or even a sticky relay. check the electric blind in th erear parcel shelf, they tend to stick if not used. Hopefully it's nothing serious and the cause is found soon.

I sometimes get a whiff of an electrical burning smell which I'm sure is coming from the engine bay, as I occassionally get a Cooling Fan fault code, and the car can sometimes get close to overheating while stationary, I thought maybe it could be related to that, I am at the moment in the middle of trying to trace this intermittent fault, I have removed the fan, cleaned the radiato pack, and chekced the fan for damage, operation, and tomorrow I intend to check the wiring for possible damage/chaffing.

 

Oxygen sensor wires are in that area.