[Chris Starks]

I have an 07 pilot with 184k miles on it.
Recently I started getting a burning rubber smell while driving.
I thought it may be a hose that had come loose. So, while in the garage I started it up and let the engine warm up to operating temperature. No burning smell.
I drove around the block a few times and the burning smell came back. I drove back to the garage and the smell started to disappear after a while.
I dont see any smoke, I dont see anything leaking, I checked my transmission fluid and although it's not fresh fluid, it doesnt appear dark, nor gritty, nor does it smell burnt. I checked my tires and I dont see anything rubbing ( I didnt take the tires off), and I didnt see any smoke from the tires.
I'm at a loss to figure out what to do and what to check.
Any help or advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

[road2cycle]

Are there any sounds associated with the burning smell?
Have you checked the tension of the accessory belt?
Can you safely pull over to the side of the road, to look under the hood, instead of waiting to return to your garage?
Do the rims feel abnormally warm?

 

[fivermillions]

agree with Road2cycle....inspect the accessory belt

 

[Daltongang]

Crawl under the thing and checked for something wrapped around a wheel from the back side. Wife picked up a big ole' lawn bag onetime that was wrapped around the rear axle of her vehicle. Stunk to high heaven until I pulled it off. Didn't hurt anything, but that was an older rear drive vehicle and it was stuck on a rear wheel.

 

[aggrex]

Brake pads have a unique smell when the brake calipers are sticking or slow to release.

 

[Chris Starks]

Are there any sounds associated with the burning smell?
Have you checked the tension of the accessory belt?
Can you safely pull over to the side of the road, to look under the hood, instead of waiting to return to your garage?
Do the rims feel abnormally warm?

There doesnt seem to be any unusual noise associated with it. No whining, squealing, no rattling, nothing.
I thought it may be a pulley but the smell dissipates after a while once I stop. I didn't check to see if the rims were warm. I will check that tomorrow

 

[road2cycle]

Also look for an oil/fluid leak which drips onto an exhaust pipe.

 

[STMech]

Maybe parking brakes are not fully releasing. Has dash brake indicator light ever stayed on after you let off the parking brake? The cable can get rusty and bind up, and not release the brake.

 

[plplplpl]

Crawl under the thing and checked for something wrapped around a wheel from the back side. Wife picked up a big ole' lawn bag onetime that was wrapped around the rear axle of her vehicle. Stunk to high heaven until I pulled it off. Didn't hurt anything, but that was an older rear drive vehicle and it was stuck on a rear wheel.

Had that happen to me with my Blazer. Took me a long time to put 2 and 2 together, but when I finally removed the hard-to-see plastic bag from the axle, the smell soon went away. Just another thing you can check for.

 

[Nail Grease]

Is the smell coming from the engine bay is my greatest concern. A failing serpentine belt tensioner can cause the belt to smoke at a higher rpm. Or worse the timing belt tensioner pulley.

 

[ckeator]

Based on the OPs description, it only happens when the vehicle is being driven / at higher than idle RPM.

Belts are the usual culprit...increase speed = increase friction = burnt rubber.

On my daughter’s Subie the AC idler pulley completely froze - my daughter said the car smelled like burning tires for days after she snapped the belt.