Burning rubber / plastic smell

[natsuki harvey]

my dad drove my jeep and when he got back he said when he took off at a stop sign it started smelling weird like a burning rubber/plastic smell. we let it sit for a minute and then started her back up and it still had a hint of the smell, but no smoke of any sort and everything in the cabin works such as the speakers and heater and all. I'm wondering if the clutch was burnt and if so would it be ok for me to drive since the clutch still engages and all. should i just let it sit for a day and let it cool down?

 

[JamesAndTheSahara]

my dad drove my jeep and when he got back he said when he took off at a stop sign it started smelling weird like a burning rubber/plastic smell. we let it sit for a minute and then started her back up and it still had a hint of the smell, but no smoke of any sort and everything in the cabin works such as the speakers and heater and all. I'm wondering if the clutch was burnt and if so would it be ok for me to drive since the clutch still engages and all. should i just let it sit for a day and let it cool down?

Tell your dad to stop doing burnouts in your Jeep!

Just kidding, the past two times I have gotten that smell in my Jeep it was one of two simple things:

1. Walmart plastic bag got caught on my exhaust while driving and melted off over time.
2. On the passenger side of my Jeep, the intake for the Air condition recirculation sucked up a piece of plastic (like a straw wrapper) and that burned itself inside the intake. I cleaned it off and all was well.

Your mileage may vary, but if you don't see any smoke or noticeably melting things this may be a good starting point.

 

[Chris]

Hard to say what it was for sure, but it could have actually been the smell from a burnt clutch (perhaps he doesn't know how to drive clutch all that well?). If so, it's still fine to drive, you don't need to wait or anything. Just make sure you guys don't make a habit of riding the clutch and burning it, otherwise you'll go through your clutch in short order!

 

[natsuki harvey]

Tell your dad to stop doing burnouts in your Jeep!

Just kidding, the past two times I have gotten that smell in my Jeep it was one of two simple things:

1. Walmart plastic bag got caught on my exhaust while driving and melted off over time.
2. On the passenger side of my Jeep, the intake for the Air condition recirculation sucked up a piece of plastic (like a straw wrapper) and that burned itself inside the intake. I cleaned it off and all was well.

Your mileage may vary, but if you don't see any smoke or noticeably melting things this may be a good starting point.

he launches it everytime so might be the case hahaha

 

[natsuki harvey]

Hard to say what it was for sure, but it could have actually been the smell from a burnt clutch (perhaps he doesn't know how to drive clutch all that well?). If so, it's still fine to drive, you don't need to wait or anything. Just make sure you guys don't make a habit of riding the clutch and burning it, otherwise you'll go through your clutch in short order!

thanks again!

 

[Blank]

i had a car a while back that had a plastic bag melted to the exhaust once may be something like that

 

[natsuki harvey]

i had a car a while back that had a plastic bag melted to the exhaust once may be something like that

i checked the exhaust but nothing was on it plus i think it would have been smoking if it were a plastic bag.

 

[JeepNWilly]

Another possibility is the A/C Fan switch. I had burning plastic smell in my cab but everything seemed to be working. After some time (days weeks) my A/C Fan stopped working. Took a look and the switch was melted.

 

[xackley]

I was in Big Bend national park with 100+ degrees. It is a dodge caravan, my first thought for the acrid smell was a locked up brake. I could run the blower fan for a few minutes before the smell was over powering. It was the wiring at the resistor. Corrosion caused the wiring and connection to cook. Some scraping and de-oxit corrected the problem.