1999 Mitsubishi Montero sport

While driving my Montero sport last week, I began smelling a burning rubber smell from the air vents. At the same time I noticed, on the dashboard, that both the brake, and, battery indicators had lit up. There was no smoke, mist, or off sounds, coming from the engine, and, the engine seemed to be running no differently than before this occurred. I drove home, parked the car for 5 days, and, yesterday visually inspected what I could see, which was almost nothing unusual. I started the engine and let it run for about 10 minutes in park. The engine ran normal, no noticeable knocks or pings, no shaking of the engine, the belts ran smooth, no noticeable leaks of any kind. I checked all fluids and they were at normal levels, only the power steering showed a slightly lower than mid level of fluid, not anywhere near low.line. But, as soon as I started the engine, the dashboard indicators lit up and stayed on. There was only a very faint smell of rubber at the end of the 10 minute running of the engine, barely noticeable. The only thing that I did different recently was about 2 weeks ago I added a quart Pennzoil high mileage motor oil 5-30 instead of the usual GTX high mileage motor oil 5-30 that I usually put in the engine, as there was none available at the store.

Any ideas on what is the problem, anybody? The auto has ran very well for the past year.

Thanks,
Scot

By the way there is 159,000 miles on the vehicle, currently.

Either the alternator is failing or belt is slipping. Apparently valve cover leaks on alternator on Monteros.

+1 to knfenimore’s comment.
The combination of the warning light for the charging system and the warning light for the e-brake
normally= a failing alternator. However, since there is a burning rubber smell, it is probably more likely that the serpentine belt is slipping, thus leading to an insufficient charge going to the battery.

The OP needs to immediately check the tension and the condition of the belt that drives the alternator. If everything in that department checks out okay, then he needs to have the alternator’s output checked.

The need for speed in this situation is to take care of things before he kills the battery
and/or before he becomes stranded as a result of a snapped belt or an alternator that dies.

Thanks guys