Taking care of your car at all times is the best thing you can do. Although conventional maintenance is designed to keep your Mercedes Benz CLA Class 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 made this content to help you in the event that you notice a burnt plastic smell originating from your Mercedes Benz CLA Class . To help you verify that it is nothing serious, first we will outline 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 Mercedes Benz CLA Class? .

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The different possible sources and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Mercedes Benz CLA Class

So we start our guideline with the different possible sources of burnt plastic smell on a Mercedes Benz CLA Class . In general, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good indicator. In truth, recent cars are full of it and it could be the sign of a critical malfunction. Down below we will review the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:

  • Transmission oil: This is the main possible source of such an odor. In truth, 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, as time passes, the oil will lose its performance 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 Mercedes Benz CLA Class. 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 principally made 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 produce a strong smell of burnt plastic or rubber in the engine unit block of your Mercedes Benz CLA Class.
  • Faulty hose wear: This case arises especially on Mercedes Benz CLA Class that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In fact, storing your car contrary to what you might think will trigger the plastic parts to wear out more fairly 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 may possibly melt. The risk of this issue is the breakage of the accessory belt.
  • A body component: Less general, especially present on Mercedes Benz CLA Class’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body parts that may possibly have been bent may possibly 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 Mercedes Benz CLA Class?

And now, to finish our content, we’re going to try to help you find the source of the smell of burnt plastic on your Mercedes Benz CLA Class . 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 Mercedes Benz CLA Class smells hot, don’t think twice to go through our content 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 discover debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to replace it. Do not think twice to seek advice from our content to identify how to change the gearbox oil on a Mercedes Benz CLA Class.
  • Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor state, it may possibly also produce 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 discover 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 Mercedes Benz CLA Class, a body component, verify all wheel arches, that no component rubs against

    If you wish more tutorials on the Mercedes Benz CLA Class, go to our Mercedes Benz CLA Class category.