95 Altima - burning smell at stop

[pnoman]

** (Edit - Sorry - I should have posted this on the Repair Forum. I've copied the question over to the Repair Forum, so if you know the answer, please look for me there. Thanks!!) **

I have a '95 Altima GXE sedan I bought used (very used!) last year with 138K hard miles on it. I had the trans rebuilt because the output shaft bearings were shot.

The past couple of months, I've noticed a slight burning smell occasionally when I come to a stop. After looking under the hood, I found something unusual (maybe). On top of the transmission (the 5-spd manual), there is a hard rubber hose, like a vacuum hose, shaped like an upside down "J", about 1/2" or 5/8" diameter sticking up about 6 inches and going nowhere. It seem to be a vent tube, and I thought it would attach to the intake tract at some point, kind of like a PCV system, but no luck. I thought this might be the source of the smell, with hot gear oil fumes being vented under the hood and sucked up into the ventilation.

Any help on whether this tube really does attach to something? I have looked through the library repair books and cannot find a vacuum hose diagram. I called the trans shop and they said it's probably supposed to be an open vent. I'm doubting it, though.

Thanks!

pnoman

Modified by pnoman at 6:35 PM 2/7/2008
Modified by pnoman at 6:39 PM 2/7/2008