Burning smell out of vents

[Keatsmageats]

Looking for some advice on a burning smell coming out of my vents. Smell comes through vents even with the engine off, and there is no smell running and driving with the blower turned off. The blower seems visually to be in fine condition, with no knocking sounds or huge amounts of dust. Tried taking it to a mechanic and he quoted me over $800 to fix an oil leak that could've been burning off onto the exhaust, but I know there are no major leaks and it doesn't make sense that the smell comes on even with the engine off. I live in a small town and don't have many options for a different mechanic, any ideas on other things to check/ try?

 

[BLACKJKU]

$800 sounds like a awful lot to fix a oil leak, is every gasket on the engine leaking? Sounds like the Mechanic knows he has everyone by the wallet.

It could be a oil leak smell have you shined a bright flashlight around looking for a leak? Maybe put a piece of cardboard under to see if any drops fall.

 

[Keatsmageats]

Definitely no drips, and a light underneath just showed slightly more than average road grime. I got a heavy degreaser and cleaned around the oil pan about a week ago and I haven't noticed any new signs of leaking since then.

 

[BLACKJKU]

Doesn't sound like a oil leak to me there would have to be signs of wet oily areas or drops on the ground. Has your coolant level dropped any lately?

 

[Keatsmageats]

Nope, coolant levels seem just fine. It's really just out of the vents, could there be wires or connectors heating up out of where I can see?

 

[BLACKJKU]

A leaky heater core will put out a smell along with a wet floor is the reason I asked about coolant.

 

[Keatsmageats]

Update in case anyone looks this up in the future: I took a long drive out of necessity about a week ago. I'm fairly confident that the heater core wasn't the problem, and I still can't think of anything else that it would've been. On the bright side, the burning smell dissipated after about half an hour of high-way driving and I haven't smelled anything since. On the downside, I still don't know what it was and what to do in case it ever comes back.

 

[BLACKJKU]

Thanks for updating this some don't take the time to do this it can help others later. My guess something was spilled on the engine and was burn't off when you took your drive.