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Burnt Rubber smell under load


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I have a slight burning rubber smell coming from my engine when under extreme load.  Basically while surfing and weighted down with the wedge and sacks.  The Chevy 350 has never let me down and it all appears to be working perfectly when just pulling a skier.  Temp is normal and the belt is fairly new.  Water pump replaced a year ago.  No blockages anywhere.  New thermostat.  Belt tension is deflecting about 1/2" midway between pulleys.  I am not really that concerned but I do not want to get stranded out on one of our remote lakes.  My best guess is that the belt might be slipping a bit under extreme load.  Anyone else have anything like this happen?  Thanks in advance

Malibu Sunsetter VLX.

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Mine new boat sometimes smell abit of engine burn.  And it happens when stopped after surfing.  

I have an opinion that it is the fact that it’s lot hotter in the engine compartment since the airflow through there is not so great when going surf speed.  I turn the blower on when I smell it.  Granted my boat new but I noticed it’s hot as hell in there 

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I'm just guessing here, but is it the insides of the exhaust hoses?  You might want to double check your water flow out of both risers. 

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@Awest: Possibly, but your engine burns a lot more fuel under load.  More fuel burnt equals more heat output.  You describe a situation where you only smell it after extended heavy load. 

Surfing sets up a situation where you generate a lot of heat but may have limited cooling flow if you are lugging your engine (prop too big, RPM too low).

Maybe get a cheap ir thermometer gun and hunt around with it when you smell the smell.  Get the gun very close to read properly.  I'd start with the risers, then do the raw water pump, then check the belts on the pulleys. 

If the risers are much over about 180*F or so, you may be burning the hoses.  Maybe someone else will chime in with readings from their boat during surfing.

Edited by justgary
Directed answer to OP.
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My 2012 247 has the same problem. But I think I have figured it out. I hope. I found the burning smell to be the paint on my starboard cat.  It was getting hot around the sensor in the top and started forming small blisters. I just bought the boat a couple months ago and have put 30 hours on it and has always done this. I checked the cooling lines and everything was fine. Last weekend we got an active fault misfire cylinder one which is also the starboard side. It put us in a limp mode only allowing about 2,500 rpm. I changed the plugs and it came out of limp mode and ran good the rest of the weekend but the dam service required keep going off. I ordered a rinda tech mate pro today so I can clear the service required and get to the lake this weekend. The unburned fuel was getting burned up in the cat creating the extra heat to melt the paint just weird it took so long for the misfire to be detected. We have 2,800 pounds of additional bags so the motor is under a big load when surfing. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is probably not your problem, but on my old boat, the engine cover doesn't stay put and  can bump up against the belts and cause rubber to burn and smell.  When the boat is weighted down in the back it can tend to  cause the engine cover to slide into the belts.  Most often the problem is people pushing the cover.  I just haven't  installed a bummer thing to keep the cover from sliding.

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