detubbs

thanks guys for the input. i think i may have narrowed it down, there's an electric clutch in the a/c condenser right? and it's on when teh defroster is on? we smell it from teh outside of the car when the defroster is on from teh driver's side (same location as the condesner). when the defroster is off we don't smell it. at all inside or out.

my fiancee has a 2001 subaru legacy limited gt auto 2.5L we just purchased. last night upon driving around town she noticed a funny smell when she stopped. immediately she calls me. it smells alittle like brakes or clutch or sumthing along those lines, but there's no slippage in the drive train, the brakes don't seem to be sticking the wheels aren't hot or anything. i took it for a spin and didn't smell anything until we were accelorating hard then we noticed a the smell. we have a little snow so things may have been a little slick and salt everywhere. at one point she felt the smell was comming from the heater, i didn't notice this though. it has a small exhaust leak sumwhere under the drivers door sumwhere i think, i haven't really been able to crawl under the car, but that's where it seems loudest. my buddy said it may have been exhaust from the leak pre cat or just post catilytic converter or sumthing. i guess what i'm worried about is i don't understand the drive system on teh subaru's. is it like a truck where things are all gear driven?or is there clutch plates and stuff in the differentials? i hope it's not more. thanks for any help you can give!