Keeping an eye on your car at all times is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless conventional routine service is designed to keep your Dodge Ram running smoothly over time, some unforeseen 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 content page to help you in the event that you detect a burnt plastic smell coming from your Dodge Ram . To help you check that it is nothing serious, first we will highlight the different things that can produce a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to find the origin of this burnt plastic smell on your Dodge Ram? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Dodge Ram
So we commence our guideline with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Dodge Ram . Generally speaking, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is hardly ever a good signal. In fact, recent vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a major malfunction. Below we will review the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible origin of such an odor. In fact, the objective of gear or transmission oil is to lubricate the different elements of your gearbox so that all the gears and pinions are not damaged, it also has a second objective as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, in the long run, the oil will lose its effectiveness and will not lubricate the parts and control the temperature as well, which will trigger the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Dodge Ram. You risk pre-wearing your gearbox if you don’t take care of it.
- The accessory belt: Nevertheless rarer, it is possible with wear and tear that your belt, which is principally done of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate totally on its axis. With the friction that this will trigger the plastic will heat up and burn out, this reaction will create a strong smell of burnt plastic or rubber in the engine unit block of your Dodge Ram.
- Defective hose wear: This case happens specifically on Dodge Ram that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In fact, storing your car unlike what you might presume will trigger the plastic parts to wear out more fairly quickly. Hoses are the first to be suffering from 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 common, specifically present on Dodge Ram’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body parts that might have been bent might rub against one of your wheels and give off that burnt plastic smell. This may also pre-wear out your tyres.
How to find out where the smell of burning plastic comes from on a Dodge Ram?
And now, to finish our content page, we’re going to try to help you find the origin of the smell of burnt plastic on your Dodge Ram . Now that you know the different possible origins of this smell, we’ll just have to do some checks to eliminate the tracks that don’t concern you and resolve your issue quickly. If your Dodge Ram smells hot, don’t think twice to go through our content page on this topic.
- Transmission oil: Nothing could be simpler, open your transmission oil cap (when cold) and check that your oil is reddish in colour and fluid enough. If you find out debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to change it. Do not think twice to seek advice from our content page to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a Dodge Ram.
- 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 check all your hoses to find out if any are frayed or melted. If this is the case, change them.
- Body parts: Last but not least, the last element that can trigger the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Dodge Ram, a body part, check all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To get more tips on the Dodge Ram, take a look at the Dodge Ram category.
