Taking care of your car permanently is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless conventional maintenance is supposed to keep your Toyota Camry running smoothly over time, some unforeseen breakdowns can add heavily to your annual motor vehicle budget. Today 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 written this content page to help you in the event that you identify a burnt plastic smell caused by your Toyota Camry . To help you check that it is nothing significant, first we will highlight the different things that can create 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 Toyota Camry? .
The different possible roots and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Toyota Camry
So we start our article with the different possible roots of burnt plastic smell on a Toyota Camry . Generally, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good sign. Indeed, recent cars are full of it and it could be the sign of a critical breakdown. Down below we will talk about the different possible origins of burnt plastic smell:
- Transmission oil: This is the most important possible origin of such an odor. Indeed, the objective of gear or transmission oil is to lubricate the different components of your gearbox so that all the gears and pinions are not broken, it as well has a second objective as a temperature regulator. However, over time, the oil will lose its effectiveness 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 Toyota Camry. 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 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 block of your Toyota Camry.
- Defective hose wear: This circumstance arises especially on Toyota Camry that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In reality, storing your car unlike what you might think will trigger the plastic parts to wear out more quickly. Hoses are the first to be impacted 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 melt. The risk of this issue is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less common, especially present on Toyota Camry’s that have suffered a small shock. Following a front or rear impact, wheel arches, bumpers or other plastic body parts that may have been bent may rub against one of your wheels and give off that burnt plastic smell. This may as well pre-wear out your tyres.
How to find out where the smell of burning plastic comes from on a Toyota Camry?
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 Toyota Camry . 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 solve your issue quickly. If your Toyota Camry smells hot, don’t think twice to browse our content page on this topic.
- Transmission oil: Nothing could be easier, 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 replace it. Do not think twice to consult our content page to find out how to change the gearbox oil on a Toyota Camry.
- Accessory Belt: Visually check that your accessory belt is not in poor condition, it may also produce 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 discover if any are frayed or melted. If this is the circumstance, replace them.
- Body parts: Last but not least, the last element that can trigger the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Toyota Camry, a body part, check all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
If you want more guides on the Toyota Camry, go to our Toyota Camry category.
