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Plastic burning smell in the cabin

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by CassieS6, Sep 5, 2017.

  1. CassieS6

    CassieS6 New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
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    Three
    Hi Prius people,

    I have a 2014 Prius with 44,000 miles on it. It has been garaged for the past year. I got in the car yesterday and within a very short distance, I had an overwhelming smell of plastic burning (?) coming out of the vents on dash. I checked to make sure the emergency brake was off and it was.

    After having the windows open so I didn't get asphyxiated the smell seemed to *mostly* go away. But I also turned off the fan. Perhaps foolishly, I kept driving. I did this on my way home - windows open and hardly any smell could be detected.

    Today I got in the car, started driving but it was raining so my windows were closed. I put on the fan to clear the windshield and immediately could smell something again and within a short drive, had a splitting headache. I pulled over and opened the engine compartment. There wasn't any smell coming from it that I could tell.

    I am worried that there is something really wrong with the car although the Toyota dealer service said they had never heard anything like what I described and "he wasn't worried about it".

    Any ideas? I am concerned that driving it to the dealership to have it looked at (40 minutes away) could either land me in the hospital or ruin the car.

    Thanks for your help, Cassie
     
    #1 CassieS6, Sep 5, 2017
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe check the cabin filter, in behind the glove box. Maybe a rodent has dragged in some stuff? A long shot, but something it doesn't hurt to do.
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Sep 5, 2017
    bisco likes this.
  3. spiff72

    spiff72 Member

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    Do you smell anything if you initially start the car up and don't drive anywhere? If not, I would check each wheel rim after driving for a short-ish distance (with the windows open). It sounds like you checked for the dragging parking brake, but a "hot" smell has been how i detected a dragging rear brake pad several times in the past. The rear brake calipers (at least on early gen 3 models) have a tendency to get sticky and drag. If you have a 2014, you may not be as likely to have this issue.

    The rodent suggestion could carry some weight too. I fished a handful of acorn shells off the top of the cabin air filter a year ago, and if any managed to get past the filter, I think they could easily fall into the blower fan/motor.
     
    #3 spiff72, Sep 5, 2017
  4. smokeGTI

    smokeGTI Member

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    As I recalled, my Prius gen 2 got that smell when the inverter coolant pump gone bad.
    I think Prius gen 3 is pretty much sharing the same design.
    You can easily check it without starting the engine.
    1, open the lid of the inverter coolant tank.
    2, press start twice without pressing the brake (engine not start)
    3, go check inverter coolant tank see if you can hear water running noise or see the coolant swirl on top.
    If it doesn't, then you have a high chance of having a bad inverter coolant pump.
    If it does, then the problem should be somewhere else.
     
    #4 smokeGTI, Sep 30, 2017
  5. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    I don't think that is really such a long shot.
    Could be the fan motor shorting out too.

    Will the car go up in flames ?
    Maybe but probably not.
    Hold the dealer's nose to the fire........so to speak.
    Brushing this off is NOT proper customer service. Big surprise though.
     
    #5 Sam Spade, Sep 30, 2017
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