BURNING SMELL? (HELP?)

I have a 2005 Toyota Tacoma (2wd, 4 cylinder), got an oil change a few months ago and recognized the icky burning smell (didn't last longer than a day, dad said it was normal). For some reason the burning smell came back (inside and out of the truck) not sure what it is, any troubleshooting tips? (note: I live in Arizona, eventually everyone's car f#cks up here)

 

Can you see anything dripping under your truck? Can you see anything leaking in your engine bay, coolant or oil? Any smoke?

 

Oil leaking on the exhaust? Have you looked under the truck?

 

This happened a few months ago and you're just now addressing the issue? Obviously you don't care about your vehicle.

 

Obviously, you didn't read the entire post.

 

sometimes crap falls in the gap between the truck bed and cab. i recently had a piece of paper or cardboard or something fall in that gap, was resting on my exhaust, and caught on fire. be careful about putting stuff near that gap.

 

Maybe a long shot. But I noticed a burning smell with my truck awhile back. It seemed like it only presented on longer trips. Long story short; a plastic grocery bag had gotten caught under the truck and was melted onto the exhaust pipe. May be worth taking a peek at your exhaust system to see if you picked something up.

 

No smoke, nothing looks like it's dripping but I'll have to stick cardboard or something under the truck since the driveway is gravel.

 

Whats the smell 'smell' like? burning oil has an acrid, sulfur like smell.

Is the truck a manual or auto? A clutch going out can start to burn and smell like burning paper.

electrical burning has it's own smell...to me it smells like sage which is why it drives me nuts when my wife burns sage in our house lol.

 

On mine the valve cover gasket was leaking towards the back of the engine and oil was making it's way down and at or very near the pipes. It being fairly close to the fresh air vent I could sometimes smell it inside the truck also outside too. I have a 2007 4cyl.When the engine was cool, I would wipe the oil off and the smell would go away for awhile, it helped until the gasket was replaced.

 

It's really hard to say, could be anything. As long as your oil level is good, coolant level is good, I wouldn't worry too much.
As @eon_blue asked, if it's manual could be your clutch.
As @Tacoma07ridgerunner said, possibly your valve cover gasket leaking oil slightly.

Any knowledgeable friends you could have take a peek at it?

 

I had an 08 4cylinder. Two similar symptoms other than oil slop from the oil change:
- highway speed in very hot weather for long stretches, I'd smell "hot oil" smell. Never could figure that out.
- later in its life, the engine developed a leak at the valve cover gasket toward the rear, a quick replacement fixed that.

 

Gravel sucks. But you’re going to have to crawl under there an do a good visual inspection.