Keeping an eye on your car permanently is the best thing you can do. Although classic routine service is designed to keep your smart forfour running smoothly over time, some unexpected 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 written this content page to help you in the event you notice a burnt plastic smell coming from your smart forfour . To help you check that it is nothing significant, first we will highlight the different things that can produce a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to locate the cause of this burnt plastic smell on your smart forfour? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a smart forfour
So we commence our article with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a smart forfour . Generally, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is hardly ever a good signal. Obviously, modern vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a significant malfunction. Down below we will review the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible origin 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 broken, it also has a second function as a temperature regulator. However, as time passes, the oil will lose its effectiveness and will not lubricate the auto 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 smart forfour. 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 mainly done of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate entirely on its axis. With the friction that this will bring about 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 smart forfour.
- Faulty hose wear: This case arises especially on smart forfour 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 presume will bring about the plastic auto parts to wear out more fairly 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 smart forfour’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 find out where the smell of burning plastic comes from on a smart forfour?
And now, to finish our content page, we’re going to try to help you locate the origin of the smell of burnt plastic on your smart forfour . Now that you know the different possible origins of this smell, we’ll just have to do some checks to get rid of the tracks that don’t concern you and fix your issue quickly. If your smart forfour smells hot, don’t think twice to go through our content page 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 seek advice from our content page to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a smart forfour.
- Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor condition, it may also make a whistling sound if it is in poor condition. 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 bring about the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your smart forfour, a body part, check all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To discover more tips on the smart forfour, take a look at the smart forfour category.
