Smell After Towing
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 149
Likes: 1
From: New Mexico
I tow a 2009 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited behind my motorhome. After I tow the Jeep something smells like overheating or burning. The Jeep User Manual says to disconnect the negative terminal when towing. A number of members of my 4x4 club just pull fuse J13 (white plastic surrounding 60 amp fuse) to the second position. I have tried both ways and the Jeep still stinks - like burning rubber or brakes or transmission. Everyone seems to have the smell and they say not to worry about it. Anyone have any answers??? The Jeep is always towed with the automatic transmission in park, the control lever in neutral, and a dummy key in the ignition. The dummy key is a Home Depot copy which will unlock the steering wheel and start the Jeep for a few seconds - but then kills the ignition because it does not have the chip in it.!!
JK Newbie
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: Palo Alto, CA
Smells when towed
Welcome to the forum-
I also just towed my JK unlimited Automatic from the San Francisco area to Portland and back over the last week and it does stinks like burning rubber for a few startings. I also read about this on another sites, so I am less concerned however I did like the new car smell for the month I had it prior to this towing.
Good news is it tows like a dream behind a diesel pusher coach, bad news it you have to keep the windows down each time you start to drive it again.
The Blue Ox tow bar system worked out great, I have air over air brakes from Roadmaster so the air brakes from the coach drive the brakes in the Jeep.
The front plastic pan is sliced to accomodate the bracket, looks good once complete.
I am going to iinstall a Moroso Battery disconnect, pulling the fuse is a pain and will cause wear to the fuse box eventually.
Interesting detail: If you tow with the white fuse in place, you will rack up miles on the Odometer.
Did you find any additional info on the smell?
Hondo78
I also just towed my JK unlimited Automatic from the San Francisco area to Portland and back over the last week and it does stinks like burning rubber for a few startings. I also read about this on another sites, so I am less concerned however I did like the new car smell for the month I had it prior to this towing.
Good news is it tows like a dream behind a diesel pusher coach, bad news it you have to keep the windows down each time you start to drive it again.
The Blue Ox tow bar system worked out great, I have air over air brakes from Roadmaster so the air brakes from the coach drive the brakes in the Jeep.
The front plastic pan is sliced to accomodate the bracket, looks good once complete.
I am going to iinstall a Moroso Battery disconnect, pulling the fuse is a pain and will cause wear to the fuse box eventually.
Interesting detail: If you tow with the white fuse in place, you will rack up miles on the Odometer.
Did you find any additional info on the smell?
Hondo78
JK Freak
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 737
Likes: 0
From: Nor-Cal
Welcome to the forum.....
Not knowing exactly what you're smelling but you're smelling rubber.....
About the only thing I can think of is the jeep aint being towed 100% straight. Like maybe a little off and causing the tires to wear wrong
Sounds funny- but sniff your front tires RIGHT after towing her next time and see if that's the culprit. If that aint it then I'm with the others....... good luck finding out what it is--And PLEASE report back here what it is!
Not knowing exactly what you're smelling but you're smelling rubber.....
About the only thing I can think of is the jeep aint being towed 100% straight. Like maybe a little off and causing the tires to wear wrong
Sounds funny- but sniff your front tires RIGHT after towing her next time and see if that's the culprit. If that aint it then I'm with the others....... good luck finding out what it is--And PLEASE report back here what it is!
JK Newbie
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: Palo Alto, CA
I did find some additial info on this and thought an update would be helpful. The MFG suggests pulling the White Fuse # for any transport: Findings: The Odometer does not rack up miles but you can start it and drive it around however "everything" does not work, like the radio, stations are lost and the CD changer cycles for a while. Alarm will activate but not de-activate etc etc.
So I found a Battery disconnect switch that I will install this weekend on the negitive side of the battery.
I do not know how to embed a photo here so below is my cut and paste from Harbor Freight Tools- The disconnect is of supprizingly good quality, and all you have to do is twist three or four turns to disconnect entirely.
I will test this and update the thread.
BTW the jeep continues to smell of burning rubber several days after the last tow, with the AC off.
Battery Disconnect Switch- From Harbor Freight Tools-
97853-3VGA
$3.99
So I found a Battery disconnect switch that I will install this weekend on the negitive side of the battery.
I do not know how to embed a photo here so below is my cut and paste from Harbor Freight Tools- The disconnect is of supprizingly good quality, and all you have to do is twist three or four turns to disconnect entirely.
I will test this and update the thread.
BTW the jeep continues to smell of burning rubber several days after the last tow, with the AC off.
Battery Disconnect Switch- From Harbor Freight Tools-
97853-3VGA
$3.99
JK Newbie
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: WF, TX
I know my reply is dated, but I just came upon the initiating post in this thread.
The source of the burnt rubber (as some describe it) smell is not the Jeep, it's the exhaust from the MH pouring into the engine compartment and invading the ventalation system of the Jeep.
I tow an Unlimited Sahara (2007) behind my diesel pusher and have the same experience.
We've been towing our Jeep for three years, roughly a total of +15, 000 towed miles (40+ round trips and a couple of 4k mile vacations) and have NOT had any issues the Jeep (ie, the smell is NOT indicative of any issues with the Jeep - it's the MH's exhaust fumes).
The source of the burnt rubber (as some describe it) smell is not the Jeep, it's the exhaust from the MH pouring into the engine compartment and invading the ventalation system of the Jeep.
I tow an Unlimited Sahara (2007) behind my diesel pusher and have the same experience.
We've been towing our Jeep for three years, roughly a total of +15, 000 towed miles (40+ round trips and a couple of 4k mile vacations) and have NOT had any issues the Jeep (ie, the smell is NOT indicative of any issues with the Jeep - it's the MH's exhaust fumes).
, but you are doing it right.