burning plastic smell

[rustybolt]

my 94 explorer has started to make this burning smell of plastic/rubber with some smoke. The temperature gauge inside the car read normal but the coolant tank was bone dry so i filled that and let the car cool down. I then took it back out but the smell and smoke came back. I dont see any leaks or any plastic bags stuck in the engine compartment... Im hoping that just a hose came loose or something and its up against the engine...

 

[Jcnbama]

Make sure your belt isnt seizing up. Is it squealing? My Corsica did that right before the belt broke due to the water pump locking up. . . .

 

[triplexplorer]

i had this a couple of months ago and thought it was in the engine but it was actually my headlight switch. it sound like it could be a wiring issue check every wire you can in your car.

 

[Burns]

Or just check and see if anything has fell out of place and is laying on the exhaust.

 

[psu x]

Is it in the engine compartment or in the interior? I had a similar smell in my interior. I literally used my nose and found that it was my headlamp outage module under my center console. I got a new one from the dealer and just unplugged the old one and plugged in the new one. It took a few days to get the part since it apparently is not common.

 

[2doorsplor]

stupid question, but are you sure your parking break isnt engaged?

 

[Willard]

stupid question, but are you sure your parking break isnt engaged?

Ha, yea, I've done this a few times, probably not the best on the brake. The power boost when you figure it out is awesome though!

 

[lofton316]

I was just about to ask about the parking break but yall got to it first, thats the first thing i thought of. its easy to forget about it, and the truck drives fine if your driving so its hard to notice, i only notice because everytime i let go of the pedal the car would loose speed, , when i got out there was white smoke coming from the back tire, i release the break but it was still on, i had to go under the struck on the drive side, and tighting the rod so the break will fully release, u know its fully off if you can push the truck with 1 hand, or a finger if its going down hill.

 

[v1rotv2]

Wow this crazy but....

just yesterday my 93' Limited had a burning wire smell. We couldn't find anything wrong. We drove today for about an hour and nothing. Weird.

 

[94FlORiDaExp]

Hey guys, just had this problem and found this thread on google. My car had the burning plastic smell, but also was also half-way on its way to stalling when I started it up the last two times. A small bit of smoke or steam was coming out of the top of the left(facing the engine) wheel well. Any ideas what this could be? no overheating, idles fine once it gets going a mile or so. please help.