Taking care of your car at all times is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless standard maintenance is designed to keep your Jeep Wrangler running smoothly with time, some unpredicted 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 malfunction, that’s why our team has created this content to help you in the event you detect a burnt plastic smell originating from your Jeep Wrangler . To help you check that it is nothing severe, first we will highlight the different things that can produce a burnt plastic smell on your motor vehicle, then, in a second step, how to locate the origin of this burnt plastic smell on your Jeep Wrangler? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Jeep Wrangler
So we begin our article with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Jeep Wrangler . Generally, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good indicator. In actual fact, recent vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a critical malfunction. Below we will talk about the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible source of such an odor. In actual 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 broken, it as well has a second objective as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, in the long run, the oil will lose its performance and will not lubricate the auto parts and control the temperature as well, which will cause the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Jeep Wrangler. 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 done of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate totally on its axis. With the friction that this will cause 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 Wrangler.
- Defective hose wear: This case arises specifically on Jeep Wrangler that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In fact, storing your vehicle unlike what you might think will cause the plastic auto parts to wear out more quickly. Hoses are the first to be troubled 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 common, specifically present on Jeep Wrangler’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 Jeep Wrangler?
And now, to finish our content, we’re going to try to help you locate the source of the smell of burnt plastic on your Jeep Wrangler . 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 resolve your problem quickly. If your Jeep Wrangler smells hot, don’t hesitate to browse our content on this topic.
- Transmission oil: Nothing could be less complicated, open your transmission oil cap (when cold) and check that your oil is reddish in colour and fluid enough. If you discover debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to change it. Do not hesitate to seek advice from our content to identify how to change the gearbox oil on a Jeep Wrangler.
- 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 hesitate to change it.
- Hoses: For hoses, you will need to visually check all your hoses to discover 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 cause the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Jeep Wrangler, a body component, check all wheel arches, that no component rubs against
To get more tips on the Jeep Wrangler, take a look at the Jeep Wrangler category.
