Taking care of your car on daily basis is the best thing you can do. Although conventional maintenance is supposed to keep your Subaru Forester running smoothly over time, some unforeseen breakdowns can add heavily to your annual car 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 made this content to help you in the event that you identify a burnt plastic smell originating from your Subaru Forester . To help you verify that it is nothing serious, first we will detail the different things that can produce a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to discover the source of this burnt plastic smell on your Subaru Forester? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Subaru Forester
So we begin our guideline with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Subaru Forester . Generally, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is hardly ever a good sign. In actual fact, modern vehicles are full of it and it could be the sign of a important breakdown. 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. In actual fact, the action 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 action as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, as time passes, the oil will lose its efficiency 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 Subaru Forester. 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 made of rubber, will decline 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 generate a strong smell of burnt plastic or rubber in the engine unit block of your Subaru Forester.
- Faulty hose wear: This case arises specifically on Subaru Forester that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In fact, storing your car unlike what you might think will trigger the plastic auto parts to wear out more quickly. Hoses are the first to be affected 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 issue is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less basic, specifically present on Subaru Forester’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 also pre-wear out your tyres.
How to find out where the smell of burning plastic originates from on a Subaru Forester?
And now, to finish our content, we’re going to try to help you discover the source of the smell of burnt plastic on your Subaru Forester . 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 issue quickly. If your Subaru Forester 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 see debris inside, and it is darker, it’s time to change it. Do not think twice to consult our content to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a Subaru Forester.
- 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 think twice to change it.
- Hoses: For hoses, you will need to visually verify 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 Subaru Forester, a body part, verify all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To get more tips on the Subaru Forester, take a look at the Subaru Forester category.
