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My son's 98 civic EX has a strong burning, sort of a burned rubber smell after climbing the steep hill to our house (~400 ft vertical), and after ~ 1 hr. on the freeway. Going the other way, there is a slight smell when he gets to the parking garage on the other end of the trip. I replaced the engine about 20K ago, including brakes, motor mounts, belts hoses etc, and the only fluid leak is a very slow leak from the right axle connection with the AT ( used a cheap aftermarket axle from NAPA). The smell is recent, after about 6mo. on the new engine. We did not have this problem with the old engine. I have tried tightening the belts. Passed CA emissions right after engine replacement. Any ideas on what to check, and how

 

Do a compression test, and do a visual check to make sure those belts aren't rubbing against anything.