Taking care of your car permanently is the best thing you can do. Although standard routine service is designed to keep your Buick Regal running smoothly with time, some unpredicted breakdowns can add heavily to your annual car budget. In this article we’re going to speak about your sense of smell, and the clues it can give you about a possible malfunction, that’s why our team has created this article to help you in the event that you notice a burnt plastic smell caused by your Buick Regal . To help you verify that it is nothing severe, first we will highlight the different things that can create a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to locate the cause of this burnt plastic smell on your Buick Regal? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Buick Regal
So we begin our article with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Buick Regal . In general, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is hardly ever a good signal. In truth, modern vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a significant malfunction. Down below we will review the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the main possible source of such an odor. In truth, the objective of gear or transmission oil is to lubricate the different components of your gearbox so that all the gears and pinions are not broken, it as well has a second objective as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, over time, the oil will lose its effectiveness and will not lubricate the auto parts and control the temperature as well, which will bring about the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Buick Regal. You risk pre-wearing your gearbox if you don’t take care of it.
- The accessory belt: Although rarer, it is possible with wear and tear that your belt, which is principally done of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate entirely on its axis. With the friction that this will bring about the plastic will heat up and burn out, this reaction will generate a strong smell of burnt plastic or rubber in the engine block of your Buick Regal.
- Faulty hose wear: This case arises especially on Buick Regal that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In reality, storing your vehicle contrary to what you might think will bring about the plastic auto parts to wear out more quickly. Hoses are the first to be affected by this phenomenon. The rubber will disintegrate little by little and with the rise in heat of the fluid that circulates in it, it might melt. The risk of this problem is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less general, especially present on Buick Regal’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body auto parts that might have been bent might rub against one of your wheels and give off that burnt plastic smell. This may as well pre-wear out your tyres.
How to identify where the smell of burning plastic originates from on a Buick Regal?
And now, to finish our article, we’re going to try to help you locate the source of the smell of burnt plastic on your Buick Regal . Now that you know the different possible roots of this smell, we’ll just have to do some checks to get rid of the tracks that don’t concern you and resolve your problem quickly. If your Buick Regal smells hot, don’t think twice to browse our article on this topic.
- Transmission oil: Nothing could be easier, open your transmission oil cap (when cold) and verify that your oil is reddish in colour and fluid enough. If you see debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to change it. Do not think twice to seek advice from our article to identify how to change the gearbox oil on a Buick Regal.
- Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor state, it might also make a whistling sound if it is in poor state. Do not think twice to change it.
- Hoses: For hoses, you will need to visually verify all your hoses to see if any are frayed or melted. If this is the case, replace them.
- Body auto parts: Last but not least, the last element that can bring about the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Buick Regal, a body component, verify all wheel arches, that no component rubs against
If you need more guides on the Buick Regal, go to our Buick Regal category.
