I've got a four-door automatic 2005 Toyotal Corolla with about 16,000 miles on it, which I am very happy with.
But for the last 2 months, every time I park my car and pass by the front grill I smell a smell that I can only describe as a plastic burning smell. I've opened up the hood and can't locate where it's coming from...and the car is working fine.
Anyone have an idea what it could possibly be?
It's still sorta new. It will smell for a while. At least, that has been my experience (Contrary to popular belief, I have had a number of NEW Toyotas, too!)
Yup, check for something stuck to the exhaust and for any wires or hoses touching any exhaust parts.
If you have burnt plastic stuck to something, you *might* want to use a solvent like goof-off to clean it... However, in order to work well the plastic should be hot and sort of melty. This means the solvent will evaporate extremely rapidly, possibly engulfing you in fumes and suffocating you, or consuming you in a ball of fire if there is a spark or other ignition source.
I've used it in *small* amounts with a lot of ventilation to clean melted plastic off hot parts, sometimes it works and sometimes not (I guess it depends on how soluble that particular type of plastic is in whatever goof-off is made of.)
You usually still get some burnt plastic smell but it is greatly reduced and fades pretty quickly.
Another method, if the part which has melted or burnt plastic stuck to it can handle the heat, is to get it *really* hot with a blowtorch and burn off all the plastic once and for all.
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