Taking care of your car permanently is the best thing you can do. Although standard maintenance is designed to keep your Lexus RX running smoothly with time, some unforeseen breakdowns can add heavily to your annual motor vehicle 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 written this article to help you in the event you detect a burnt plastic smell originating from your Lexus RX . To help you check that it is nothing significant, first we will highlight the different things that can generate a burnt plastic smell on your motor vehicle, then, in a second step, how to find the cause of this burnt plastic smell on your Lexus RX? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Lexus RX
So we start our guideline with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Lexus RX . In general, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good signal. Indeed, recent vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a major malfunction. Below we will talk about the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the main possible origin of such an odor. Indeed, 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 also has a second objective as a temperature regulator. However, with time, the oil will lose its effectiveness and will not lubricate the auto parts and control the temperature as well, which will trigger the oil to overheat and thus give off that burnt plastic smell on your Lexus RX. 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 specifically done of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate entirely 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 block of your Lexus RX.
- Defective hose wear: This case occurs especially on Lexus RX 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 believe will trigger the plastic auto 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 issue is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less general, especially present on Lexus RX’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body auto 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 identify where the smell of burning plastic comes from on a Lexus RX?
And now, to finish our article, we’re going to try to help you find the origin of the smell of burnt plastic on your Lexus RX . 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 fix your problem quickly. If your Lexus RX smells hot, don’t think twice to go through our article 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 see debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to replace it. Do not think twice to consult our article to identify how to change the gearbox oil on a Lexus RX.
- 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 check all your hoses to see if any are frayed or melted. If this is the case, change them.
- Body auto parts: Last but not least, the last element that can trigger the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Lexus RX, a body part, check all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To get more tips on the Lexus RX, take a look at the Lexus RX category.
