Taking care of your car all the time is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless standard maintenance is designed to keep your Jeep Cherokee running smoothly over time, some unforeseen breakdowns can add heavily to your annual motor vehicle budget. In this article we’re going to focus on your sense of smell, and the clues it can give you about a possible breakdown, that’s why our team has created this content page to help you in the event that you identify a burnt plastic smell caused by your Jeep Cherokee . To help you verify that it is nothing severe, first we will outline the different things that can generate a burnt plastic smell on your motor vehicle, then, in a second step, how to locate the cause of this burnt plastic smell on your Jeep Cherokee? .
The different possible sources and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Jeep Cherokee
So we start our article content with the different possible sources of burnt plastic smell on a Jeep Cherokee . Generally, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good signal. Obviously, modern vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a significant breakdown. Down below we will review the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible source of such an odor. Obviously, the function 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 function as a temperature regulator. However, as time passes, the oil will lose its efficiency and will not lubricate the parts and regulate the temperature as well, which will bring about the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Jeep Cherokee. 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 mainly made of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate completely 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 unit block of your Jeep Cherokee.
- Defective hose wear: This circumstance occurs especially on Jeep Cherokee that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In reality, storing your vehicle unlike what you might believe will bring about the plastic parts to wear out more 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 may melt. The risk of this problem is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less common, especially present on Jeep Cherokee’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body parts that may have been bent may 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 Jeep Cherokee?
And now, to finish our content page, we’re going to try to help you locate the source of the smell of burnt plastic on your Jeep Cherokee . 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 solve your problem quickly. If your Jeep Cherokee smells hot, don’t think twice to browse our content page 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 find out debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to replace it. Do not think twice to consult our content page to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a Jeep Cherokee.
- Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor state, it may also make a whistling sound if it is in poor state. Do not think twice to replace it.
- Hoses: For hoses, you will need to visually verify all your hoses to find out if any are frayed or melted. If this is the circumstance, replace them.
- Body parts: Last but not least, the last element that can bring about the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Jeep Cherokee, a body part, verify all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To get more tips on the Jeep Cherokee, take a look at the Jeep Cherokee category.
