Hello all,

I drive a 2000 A6 2.7t 6spd and this past weekend I was returning home, about halfway though a 3 hour drive, when I was hit with a very unpleasant odor. It smelled like a burning crayon/chemical smell and caused me to feel lightheaded and my arms to tingle a little (very scary!). It was a warm day out Saturday and traffic was cruising at around 90mph. To avoid the smell i had to drive with my windows down the remainder of the trip.

I though it may have been an exhaust leak so i pulled over at one point and gave it a look and listen and found nothing to make me think that could be the problem. After doing some research on other forums I've came across a problem that seems to be common on Volkswagens and I was curious if this is what i could be dealing with and if anyone else has had this same issue.

What I've found is that the sound/heat dampening material that is used under the carpet and on the cabin side of the firewall can break down and release the previously mentioned odor. Has anyone ever heard of this/had this problem?

Here's the link to the forum where i was able to find out the most info about this:

http://forums.automotive.com/70/6371...dor/index.html

Any information at all would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

 

Haven't heard of this one, but it would make sense to get under the car and look at the entire exhaust system to see if something has been getting toasted. It could come from a missing, misplaced or deformed heat shield underneath, overheating insulation inside the car. It could also come from a damaged exhaust, either leaking onto something or too close to something. It could be part of the front valence panel is dislodged and touching the exhaust. I would look closely, it could cause a fire.