Keeping an eye on your car all the time is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless standard maintenance is designed to keep your Fiat Bravo running smoothly over time, some unforeseen breakdowns can add heavily to your annual car budget. Today 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 made this content to help you in the event you identify a burnt plastic smell originating from your Fiat Bravo . To help you check that it is nothing severe, first we will outline the different things that can create a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to locate the origin of this burnt plastic smell on your Fiat Bravo? .
The different possible sources and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Fiat Bravo
So we begin our guideline with the different possible sources of burnt plastic smell on a Fiat Bravo . In general, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good signal. Obviously, recent cars are full of it and it could be the sign of a important malfunction. Below we will talk about the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible origin of such an odor. Obviously, the action of gear or transmission oil is to lubricate the different elements of your gearbox so that all the gears and pinions are not broken, it also has a second action as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, in the long run, the oil will lose its efficiency and will not lubricate the parts and regulate the temperature as well, which will trigger the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Fiat Bravo. 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 made of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate completely on its axis. With the friction that this will trigger the plastic will heat up and burn out, this reaction will generate a strong smell of burnt plastic or rubber in the engine unit block of your Fiat Bravo.
- Defective hose wear: This case arises specifically on Fiat Bravo 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 believe will trigger the plastic parts to wear out more quickly. Hoses are the first to be impacted 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 basic, specifically present on Fiat Bravo’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 originates from on a Fiat Bravo?
And now, to finish our content, we’re going to try to help you locate the origin of the smell of burnt plastic on your Fiat Bravo . Now that you know the different possible roots of this smell, we’ll just have to do some checks to eliminate the tracks that don’t concern you and solve your issue quickly. If your Fiat Bravo smells hot, don’t hesitate to go through our content 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 hesitate to seek advice from our content to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a Fiat Bravo.
- Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor condition, it might also produce a whistling sound if it is in poor condition. Do not hesitate 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 Fiat Bravo, a body component, check all wheel arches, that no component rubs against
If you want more guides on the Fiat Bravo, go to our Fiat Bravo category.
