Good evening, everybody. I recently (last week) purchased a 2006 Jeep Wrangler 65th anniversary edition with 90k miles. I wanted a jeep ever since I was a kid and saw Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman cruising together in Days of Thunder and I’ve been reading this forum since I got the jeep for tips and advice.
Today I took my first drive with the top off and noticed things that I didn’t notice in the first week of ownership (driving with top on and windows up). About a hour into the drive I noticed an electrical burning smell, as I was driving in town I concluded that maybe an electrical fire was going on in the neighborhood but when I came to the stop light a few minutes later I noticed some smoke coming out of the left side of the hood. As I made my way home I got a whiff of the electrical smell every so often and noticed the smoke one more time at a light.
I do not claim to be a mechanic so I will provide you my best observations.
1. At no point did the Jeep seem to lose power or the ability to drive. When I hit the gas it went. It’s an automatic and the it went through the gears fine.
2. I’ve noticed a slight rumbling when stopped at lights.
3. No warning lights on the dashboard or weird readings (temp was normal, battery was normal, etc.)
4. I looked underneath and did not see any plastic bags attached to the jeep.
5. All the fluid levels checked out.
6. No blatant evidence of anything leaking. I don’t see any drips on the driveway, I don’t see any burned oil or anything on the engine.
7. I don’t see any broken wires or hoses. No wires sitting on top of something that could get hot.
8. There was one wire hanging (the wire giving power to the hood light) but it doesnt appear to have been rubbing on anything.
9. The jeep starts right up and sounds normal. I observed the engine as it was running and I did not see anything leaking or smoking BUT the smell would come and go faintly. I asked another person to stand nearby to see if they also smelled it and they did.
Information that may be helpful: the dealership did an oil change and changed the brakes the day before I purchased the vehicle.
EDIT:I would like to add that the problem seemed to start after I turned the AC off in the jeep. Since I picked it up last week I’ve had the ac on and today, the first day with the top off, I turned the AC off. Don’t know if this is just a coincidence or what.
Today I took my first drive with the top off and noticed things that I didn’t notice in the first week of ownership (driving with top on and windows up). About a hour into the drive I noticed an electrical burning smell, as I was driving in town I concluded that maybe an electrical fire was going on in the neighborhood but when I came to the stop light a few minutes later I noticed some smoke coming out of the left side of the hood. As I made my way home I got a whiff of the electrical smell every so often and noticed the smoke one more time at a light.
I do not claim to be a mechanic so I will provide you my best observations.
1. At no point did the Jeep seem to lose power or the ability to drive. When I hit the gas it went. It’s an automatic and the it went through the gears fine.
2. I’ve noticed a slight rumbling when stopped at lights.
3. No warning lights on the dashboard or weird readings (temp was normal, battery was normal, etc.)
4. I looked underneath and did not see any plastic bags attached to the jeep.
5. All the fluid levels checked out.
6. No blatant evidence of anything leaking. I don’t see any drips on the driveway, I don’t see any burned oil or anything on the engine.
7. I don’t see any broken wires or hoses. No wires sitting on top of something that could get hot.
8. There was one wire hanging (the wire giving power to the hood light) but it doesnt appear to have been rubbing on anything.
9. The jeep starts right up and sounds normal. I observed the engine as it was running and I did not see anything leaking or smoking BUT the smell would come and go faintly. I asked another person to stand nearby to see if they also smelled it and they did.
Information that may be helpful: the dealership did an oil change and changed the brakes the day before I purchased the vehicle.
EDIT:I would like to add that the problem seemed to start after I turned the AC off in the jeep. Since I picked it up last week I’ve had the ac on and today, the first day with the top off, I turned the AC off. Don’t know if this is just a coincidence or what.
Last edited:
