Wife complaining about plastic smell

[meangreen01]

We've all been through the routine. Wife comes home after driving one of the vehicles and says "Just so you know, _______ is wrong with the car". I usually rub my face into my hand and say to myself, "Darn it, not another problem".

So, as it goes, Wifey gets home a few days ago saying when she parked the Mazda in the garage, she got out and could smell a strong plastic odor. I'm thinking maybe the brakes were hot or something as I think to myself what plastic could be getting so hot as to cause a burning smell. As usual, I told her I'd get around to it in a few days as she said everything else about the car seemed fine.

Tonight we were out and about running errands that required us to take separate cars. I wind up behind her at a light and low and behold I can just barely see a plastic grocery bag hanging down somewhere near the Y-pipe/cat.

Now, considering all the litter and plastic bags constantly blowing around everywhere you'd think it's no surprise that this bag somehow got wedged in there. But, in my 20 years of driving I've never had that happen before. I've had bags get stuck to my grille but they just fall off when I come to a stop. What are the odds?

 

[Nick R]

How funny, because I just saw this the other day on an accord on the highway, melted to the muffler lol

 

[JHZR2]

My wife hit a plastic bag like that. She knew it went under, and she smelled it when she got out of the car.

Put it on ramps and scrape as much as you can. Because of the semi-enclosed environment, I'd advise against using a solvent while under there, but hitting it with one might help.

 

[spock1]

Same thing happened to a friend who had just purchased a brand new Ford F 150.
A plastic shopping bag got stuck to the exhaust pipe.
He took the truck to the dealership and they all had a good laugh at his expense.

 

[GMBoy]

Happened to me too. It's going on 2 months and the smell still lingers a little. There is a small bit of residue on the pipe that I guess I will have to scrape off. I was hoping it would have burned away by now.

 

[saberz]

That happened to my Impala. Took a torch to it on the lift and scrapped off the plastic.

Can't believe how strong the smell was though before that.

 

[Scott_Tucker]

As a mechanic you see that all the time.

 

[punisher]

Originally Posted By: Scott_Tucker
As a mechanic you see that all the time.


Absolutely. We got irate customers in the shop who swore their new car was burning up. Nothing better than sticking it on a lift and showing the customer what was actually wrong.

I remember one car I replaced a fuel pump on and it came back an hour later and the customer was mad to the point of losing it. He said it was burning and going to explode. They called me to the service drive and the first thing I did was look under the car and grab the remains of a partially melted plastic bag. I was nice and let my helper put it on a lift and scrape the remains off the y pipe.

 

[Kestas]

I once had a heavy duty plastic bag wrap itself nice and tight around the front u-joint. That was a bear to remove.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

There was a photo on here awhile back of a pickup with a mattress tangled up in the driveshaft.