Low idle / burning smell

[jonolach]

Hey all
I'm new to the forum so I thought I'd ask a question !


2001 GRAND AM SE V6

When at a red light sometimes my car almost stalls and I can smell a powerful burning from the vents

Any idea ?

Was thinking spark plugs and wires
Alternator going bad
Or serpentine belt ?

Anyways when it does that the service engine light also flashes a few times

It's happened once before
I pulled over and added a quart or oil and all seemed well after that ....
I'm sure that is not the problem though


Thanks in advance

 

[melsg5]

have your computer scanned for codes, autozone does it free. You have to look under the hood for the source of the burning smell, you may have an oil leak.

 

[jonolach]

Thanks
I'm in Canada
Guess I can check if part source does free scanning

 

[jonolach]

Any good places to buy OBD II Reader ?

______________________________

 

['03 Grand-Am GT]

Well, if you're in Canada, Canadian Tire has the OBD II reader. There are 2 or 3 different models I think and Walmart has it too. That's where i got mine.

 

[richardgriese]

As stated there are cheap models of OBD-II scanners that can be purchased. I even picked up one for my iPhone. It works fairly well - verified it was pulling correct codes with another scanner. The apps were free but the cable costs about $80. I bought it for the charge capabilities and it had live readings.

3400 is a fairly hardy engine. What do the fluids look like? Why are you having to add oil (mel suggested oil leak)? See if you can find the source of a leak.