2013 Chevrolet Malibu - Burning plastic smell when car is on

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Customer Complaint: The owner of this 2013 Chevrolet Malibu came into the shop with an odd smell coming from their car. The customer explained that it is like plastic burning and can be smelled from inside the car.

First Thoughts: Let’s hope nothing is about to catch on fire! Anytime I smell something burning, my mind goes to the worst place. It is always better to be safe than sorry on a “burning” smell coming from the car.

Diagnostics: The first step with any diagnostics is to verify the customer concern.

Here are some things that were running through my head while verifying the concern was:

1. The plastic burning smell was not that strong around the car but it was there.

2. I could smell it from inside and outside the car. It was not in a specific location.

3. It did smell like burning plastic.

I checked under the hood to see if there were any signs of plastic melting.

Here are some possible areas where plastic would melt:

1. Plastic touching the exhaust, like wires or wire loom.

2. Bad aftermarket wiring. It’s always best to let a professional do the work.

3. Something plastic on the exhaust that got stuck.

I found no evidence of plastic burning under the hood, so I decided to put the car on a lift.

Maybe something was touching the exhaust underneath the car.

As soon as the car became eye-level, I saw something hanging down.

I found the plastic burning smell. It’s some sort of plastic bag that got stuck and melted on the exhaust.

I used a scraper to get this plastic bag off and it did not smell like burning plastic anymore! Fixed!

Surprisingly, the melted bag scraped off fairly easy. It didn’t take a long time to get it off.

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