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Q: Red lined engine by accident and now the engine idle is higher than normal. Smell something burning like rubber.

asked by on January 09, 2017

This morning I was starting my car in gear, first gear to be exact. I had my foot on the clutch posing it all the way and i thought my other for was on the brake pedal. I don't know how I ended up doing this but it was actually on the gas pedal, depressed fully. The car started right up and all of a sudden was revving high. I didn't realize my foot was on the gas pedal immediately. As soon as I realized what was going on I took my foot off immediately.. I am sure I completely red lined and I smelled something burning, I'm assuming it was the clutch pedal. The smell was similar to when a vacuum cleaner rubber belt breaks. My car seems to be revving higher now that it happened. Did I do serious damage? I'm very worried. I've never done anything like that before and we haven't had this car long.

My car has 30800 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.

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Hi there. The engine revving up higher than normal could be caused by the idle air control valve (IAC). The valve could have gotten stuck when the engine was throttled rapidly when first started. Check the IAC and see if the valve is working properly. Unplug the valve and plug it back in to see if the engine idle drops. If the engine idle does not drop, then there could have been a vacuum line that got burnt which would cause the engine idle to go higher than normal and smell like a burned rubber belt. Check all of the vacuum lines for any burn marks or any holes that could cause the smells and idle issues. If you need further assistance with your engine smelling like rubber and the idle higher than normal, then seek out a professional, such as one from Your Mechanic, to help you.

Kia
Soul
2014
Rubber
engine idle
L4-1.6L
Odors
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