Keeping an eye on your car on a regular basis is the best thing you can do. Nevertheless classic maintenance is supposed to keep your Volkswagen Up! running smoothly over time, some unpredicted breakdowns can add heavily to your annual car budget. Today we’re going to focus on your sense of smell, and the clues it can give you about a possible malfunction, that’s why our team has written this content to help you in the event you notice a burnt plastic smell coming from your Volkswagen Up! . To help you verify that it is nothing severe, first we will highlight the different things that can create a burnt plastic smell on your car, then, in a second step, how to discover the source of this burnt plastic smell on your Volkswagen Up!? .
The different possible sources and risks of smell of burnt plastic on a Volkswagen Up!
So we start our guideline with the different possible sources of burnt plastic smell on a Volkswagen Up! . Generally speaking, noticing a plastic or rubber smell is never a good indicator. Indeed, recent cars are full of it and it could be the sign of a significant malfunction. 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 elements of your gearbox so that all the gears and pinions are not damaged, it as well has a second objective as a temperature regulator. Nevertheless, with time, the oil will lose its performance and will not lubricate the 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 Volkswagen Up!. 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 made of rubber, will degrade and no longer rotate totally on its axis. With the friction that this will bring about 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 Volkswagen Up!.
- Faulty hose wear: This circumstance happens especially on Volkswagen Up! that are starting to get a few years old or that have stayed a long time without rolling. In reality, storing your vehicle contrary to what you might presume will bring about 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 possibly melt. The risk of this problem is the breakage of the accessory belt.
- A body component: Less basic, especially present on Volkswagen Up!’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 as well pre-wear out your tyres.
How to identify where the smell of burning plastic originates from on a Volkswagen Up!?
And now, to finish our content, we’re going to try to help you discover the origin of the smell of burnt plastic on your Volkswagen Up! . 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 fix your issue quickly. If your Volkswagen Up! smells hot, don’t think twice to read 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 seek advice from our content to identify how to change the gearbox oil on a Volkswagen Up!.
- 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 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 circumstance, replace them.
- Body parts: Last but not least, the last element that can bring about the smell of plastic or burnt rubber on your Volkswagen Up!, a body part, verify all wheel arches, that no part rubs against
To get more tips on the Volkswagen Up!, take a look at the Volkswagen Up! category.
