Burnt Plastic Smell?!

[Bluesultan]

Over the last couple of days, I noticed that after driving for a while, I can smell a burnt plastic like smell. I can smell it either in the car while driving and especially when I get out and walk toward the hood. I looked under the hood and can't really tell where the smell was coming from. Anyone else experience this?

 

[trees]

I had a bad smell not like plastic but it turned out to be my transfer case leaking.

 

[Koenig]

what does the transfer case smell like? Sometimes I can smell this smell, but it smells like...... I dunno.....just makes me think it's the heat from the turbo/engine.....

 

[Bluesultan]

what does the transfer case smell like? Sometimes I can smell this smell, but it smells like...... I dunno.....just makes me think it's the heat from the turbo/engine.....

don't know. can i even get under the car without lifting it to smell the transer case?

 

[Koenig]

don't know. can i even get under the car without lifting it to smell the transer case?

I dunno..... you said you smell it closer to the front....... get on your stomach and poke your head under the car and see if it smells "stronger" down there.... that's about all I can say..... (rlaugh)

I'm asking what the transfer case smells like cause I wanna make sure I'm not leaking, cause my smell doesn't smell like plastic....

 

[Bluesultan]

ok, so it looks like there's plastic melted on my exhaust pipe. maybe a plastic bag got caught under there and melted to it? it's a clearish yellow color and theres several blobs of it stuck to my exhaust pipe pretty much directly under the center console.

 

[gsrtype1]

if your radio has a short you will get a burnt plastic smell till it burns out

 

[Koenig]

Sounds like you drove over something..... I know I was on the highway and this guy decided to swerve at the last second (there was no one in front of him) instead of turning way ahead of time so I could see it too, so he swerved and missed the object and I swerved too but not soon enough and went over it, I looked behind me and didn't see it so immediately pulled off the road and got out and under my car, damn thing was stuck to my exhaust piping and burning/smoking

it was a stupid ass tire cover (like on older SUVs for the spare tire) and the cotton side got stuck and burnt to my pipe......... there's a good chance something got stuck under your car.....

 

[TheMAN]

ok, so it looks like there's plastic melted on my exhaust pipe. maybe a plastic bag got caught under there and melted to it? it's a clearish yellow color and theres several blobs of it stuck to my exhaust pipe pretty much directly under the center console.

sounds like a plastic bag
now quit driving through that s***... your car is not invulnerable!

 

[Bluesultan]

i don't even remember running over a bag

 

[Koenig]

i don't even remember running over a bag

you were probably going SO fast you didn't even see it (lol2)

 

[Karma_hunden]

or...probably the clutch smell. Does it smell like fish/fart?

 

[Koenig]

or...probably the clutch smell. Does it smell like fish/fart?

what exactly does a fish fart smell like? I've never had the pleasure....

I once smelled something that smelt like burned ass/s*** before......... no idea what that was.....(poke)

 

[Bluesultan]

it's not my clutch as i can definitely see plastic on my exhaust pipe

(lol) at fish fart

 

[Koenig]

I had the joy of smelling fish fart today........and BOY was it nasty......

it was pouring around here and it was 6 pm so it was congested on the roads too, I was TRYING to be "nice" to this stupid ***** in a mini cooper when I slowed down so she could get in from a left and I kept flashing my lights at her like 10-15 times.......

she never went so when I went to go it was in 5th (but I thought it was 3rd) and since my speed was like 20 mph or less I down shifted into 4th (which I thought was 2nd) and I wasn't moving so I stepped in the clutch and tried to rev it to "match" the rpms and get moving and then the smell came in and I'm thinking WTF is wrong with my car?


Worst smell I've ever smelled, 2nd to that of a rotting corpse....

 

[Karma_hunden]

yummy. I once did a nice drift in the rain, tapped the clutch as i was going on second through the curve to slow down a bit without losing boost to braking...i got home and wow, nasty.(nuts)

 

[MS6S2K]

yummy. I once did a nice drift in the rain, tapped the clutch as i was going on second through the curve to slow down a bit without losing boost to braking...i got home and wow, nasty.(nuts)

I get this from normal driving. This clutch has me very concerned regarding life expectancy. I have been driving clutch for many years, and have had 3 vehicles go over 200k miles on original clutch, and still worked perfectly the day I got rid of them. I just have this bad feeling this clutch won't even see 100k miles, no matter how much I pamper it.

Now I'm relating the smell to the clutch wearing down faster. I'd love to be wrong, but if I'm not I'm unloading this car when warranty wears off. What do you guys think? I've never had to replace a clutch in all my years of driving manual. Is my streak gonna end if I drive this car to super high mileage like I have with vehicles in the past? I've owned and driven 6 cars that have were sold at 100k miles or higher, with original clutch still working perfect. Am I wrong in thinking this Mazda clutch ain't gonna last?

 

[Koenig]

I get this from normal driving. This clutch has me very concerned regarding life expectancy. I have been driving clutch for many years, and have had 3 vehicles go over 200k miles on original clutch, and still worked perfectly the day I got rid of them. I just have this bad feeling this clutch won't even see 100k miles, no matter how much I pamper it.

Now I'm relating the smell to the clutch wearing down faster. I'd love to be wrong, but if I'm not I'm unloading this car when warranty wears off. What do you guys think? I've never had to replace a clutch in all my years of driving manual. Is my streak gonna end if I drive this car to super high mileage like I have with vehicles in the past? I've owned and driven 6 cars that have were sold at 100k miles or higher, with original clutch still working perfect. Am I wrong in thinking this Mazda clutch ain't gonna last?

I don't know, seems very weird that you get it under normal driving....... I haven't gotten that smell before or since that day I screwed up in thinking what gear I was in.......

Seems to me like your clutch itself might have been bad, did you buy the car brand new or used?

 

[MS6S2K]

I don't know, seems very weird that you get it under normal driving....... I haven't gotten that smell before or since that day I screwed up in thinking what gear I was in.......

Seems to me like your clutch itself might have been bad, did you buy the car brand new or used?

Brand new. It's just like anytime I ride the clutch for even a half a second, ya know like a simple parallel park, starting up a steep incline. And shifting in traffic, none of which have occured. Never had this happen on any of my other cars, and my driving style of clutch has proved to have never worn out a single clutch even over 200k miles on any of my past vehicles. I'll express it with the dealership and see what they say. Thanks!!

 

[LesteR723]

You probably hit a bag or something. Turbo cars in general have hot exhaust systems and the cats get extremely hot. Chances are you got a bag melted on it