Burn smell after cleaning wiper blades and windshield?

Depends on if you were applying fluid just like it was raining. The constant flow acts as a lubricant and coolant as it goes over the glass. Clean glass and blades will have friction that generates heat. The heat makes the blades smell like hot rubber. It won't hurt anything unless you keep doing it. That could damage the wiper blade's edge.

So it wouldn't be the wiper pump going out? I just don't understand why a burning smell would occur after a simple wiper fluid squirt onto the windshield. I tried with my other car and nothing like that happened.

You wouldn't smell the pump; it's buried behind the fender. It is just the blade friction. Just don't keep doing it, the heat can damage the blades. The other car likely has different blades and some dirt on the glass.

That's the thing. The other car has the same exact blades and was cleaned as well. And the cars are practically same make and model one is a 2022 forte the other a 2023. So that's what's weird to me.

And also, the windshield was wet because I held down the lever, so a lot of fluid was squirted into the windshield. Shouldn't that be sufficient enough to allow it to glide without having a burn smell.

There are still a lot of differences you don't see. The blade pressures, the actual angles on the blades, the blade composition, the wiper fluid itself. There really isn't anything to worry about.

What do you mean by that? I'm a little confused because we have the same exact wipers installed by the same mechanic and use the same wiper fluid to top off both m car and the other car.

I mean it is nothing to worry about. The wipers are not the same, there are springs that hold them down that can be different, the angles of the blades on the glass can be different. Even the temperature of the glass can cause differences.

I have an appt at the dealership to make sure but I thought wiper fluid lubricated wipers enough to prevent things like that from happening.

It should but it depends on the washer fluid, most of it is just water and alcohol and neither really acts like lube. But let us know what they find.

So I went to the dealership, and they said it was mold build up inside the reservoir, so they flushed it and then ran it and the smell was gone. Would moldy wiper fluid cause burning rubber smell?

Well mold smells strange and combined with the alcohol and water it could smell worse. If the smell is gone then it might have been mold. Without smelling it myself, I can't really say. But as it's gone now it's possible.

Just weird because I wouldn’t expect it to have a burning smell.

Guess it depends on the species of mold.

Yeah it's just weird I thought it was something electrical not mold.

Scents can be tricky to pinpoint. Sound and smell are both like that as your mind is only familiar with certain ones as you grow up. Both can fool you.

It was just odd because it was a weird burning smell almost like burning rubber and popcorn combined an indescribable burn smell that’s why I thought it was something electrical, but the dealership swore it was mold. I don’t think they’d intentionally misdiagnose so they don’t have to replace a part.

They cleaned the mold and the smell is gone? If so, it was the mold. I figured it would be the blades because of the rubber smell, now if you were parked down the road from a race track or a place where there was street racing you could have smelled that, but in those cases your nose would have said, ok ears hear a roar and nose smells burnt rubber, that is from the street racing. For me I need to think about what could cause that smell and what was happening at the time. There is no real rubber in the system other than the hoses and blades. If it was electrical or even overheating you would know it, that smell isn't anything you would forget, and it doesn't smell like rubber at all. It is an acrid stench that just hangs in the air. In this case the mold removal removed the smell. If that wasn't the cause it would still smell.

I just was surprised mold can smell like that. And the smell went away after about 30seconds it didn't linger. It was hard to pinpoint what it smelled like, but I'd say more like rubber or burnt popcorn. I was just afraid maybe it was a pump or hose going out. But if it were the pump would the wipers work, or would they not run at all? Because when I ran it on different speeds it was fine no lagging or weird behavior just the smell.

Would an overheating pump be indicated during a dealership inspection?

Sounds about right, the smell would dissipate quick because there isn't a lot of mold coming out. The only time I've seen mold in a washer tank was when people ran some of the oddball washer fluids that were scented. The common stuff you get is water, alcohol and dye. Some of the other ones that deice or contain something like rain-x could have other ingredients.
There is no rubber in or around the motor that can overheat, the only rubber like item is inside the pump itself (the impeller) and it is surrounded by washer fluid so there is no way it can get hot. Generally the washer pumps are not connected to the wiper pumps any longer. Instead the wiper motor is smaller and lives under the cowl. The washer pump(s) are mounted right to the washer tanks, usually buried behind the fenders. With those you wouldn't smell anything, they just fail because of the tiny wire used to wind the motor. So you go to use the washer and they just don't work. That commonly happens in my area when folks fill the washer bottle with "southern" fluid IE the stuff that isn't rated for extreme cold. Then it either turns to slush or freezes solid. You hit the switch for the washer and the instant high load of the locked pump causes the winding to act like a fuse. Even then there isn't any burning rubber smell, it would be an instant tiny pop and you might smell the acrid smoke if you had the pump in your hand. Once you smell it you would never forget it. Between working on vehicles, welding, painting and being a firefighter-EMT for 20 years my nose can tell me a lot about whatever I smell, unfortunately some of those scents also haunt you because of what they were caused by.

Thank you for all your insight it's really helpful! And by acrid smell would it smell like burnt popcorn or is it different.

No it is much different than pretty much any other odor. More like a sharp burnt plastic with heavy ozone mixed in. Not easy to describe, but once you smell it you will know.