04 Ford Mondeo - odour like melted plastic coming from engine

Navan.Man · 06-02-2009 01:39PM #1

Would anyone have any idea what might be causing this odour or if you experienced similar problems; its a 2.0 lt diesel engine. Its been recently serviced and had a new starter, flywheel and clutch.

This odour just started on Monday night after a stop/start 3 hour journey home in snow. I thought it might have just overheated somewhat given the slow journey and being stuck in traffic but the problem has persisted.

Then yesterday the car would not start until I used jump leads which may or may not be related and it started fine to day but again the odour???

One other thing (not my week!) the drivers window (electric) will not go down today (this happens occasionally when frozen shut but later works fine once thawed - but not today); any thoughts??

Thanks

crosstownk · 06-02-2009 01:43PM

That smell you mention, could it be your clutch? Have you had a look under the bonnet to see if anything obvious is actually melting?

My windows took a lot longer to thaw this morning as there was a lot more ice on the car - even the doors were were difficult to open. Try parking the window in direct sunlight for a while and see if that helps thaw it out completely before condemning the door motor.

Zoot · 06-02-2009 01:47PM

Have a quick check of your undercarriage - had a similar problem a couple of years ago and it ended up just being a plastic bag that had melted onto the warm exhaust.

Navan.Man · 06-02-2009 01:56PM

Hope its not the clutch as only had new one installed in December; had a look at engine and nothing obvious (but Im no expert).

Im still hoping window will be ok this evening but I had a hours drive this morning and I would have expected it to be ok.

Navan.Man · 06-02-2009 01:59PM

Had a quick look at exhaust at rear of car last night and couldnt see anything but difficult to get a clear view particulary if something caught further up or under engine. But I will look more closely later though just in case.

peasant · 06-02-2009 02:24PM

It could be battery related as you mention starting problems.

Your alternator may be on the blink, overcharging (and thus slowly killing) your battery. When overcharged, the battery acid begins to boil and bubble, producing a sulphur smell.

Measure the voltage on the battery (if you can) when the alternator is running ...should be no more than 13-14 V

Tipsy Mac · 06-02-2009 03:07PM

Id say its just clutch burn from the stop start in the snow, should be fine.

zilog_jones · 06-02-2009 03:32PM

Is there actually any smell outside the car or under the bonnet? I had the same thing but it was only inside the car, then after a while there was also smoke inside the car

Turned out it was the fan blower resistor pack (in the passenger footwell) had shorted and melted the surrounding plastic. It's apparently a common enough thing to happen in a Fiesta (Mk. 4) or Focus (Mk. 1 I assume), dunno if it can happen in Mondeos too.

It was definately the smell of burning plastic in my case - not like a clutch at all.

Navan.Man · 06-02-2009 06:05PM

Firstly thanks all -much appreciated.

The smell was very strong in the car but is definitely also noticeable outside at the engine. As best as I can tell it seems to be better (as in less odour) when the recirc button is depressed so it probably is coming through the fan from somewhere under the bonnet.

Im not sure where the alternator is located (possibly low down at the back left of engine from what I could see with a flash light last night) and this is I think where the smell seemed to be strongest. So I think it could be related the "overcharging" mentioned by peasant (a hangover from our tiger economy) but I'm hoping its just clutch burn as tipsy mentioned but I'll check the voltage as suggested.

peasant · 06-02-2009 07:37PM

If you DO suspect it's the battery being over charged, be very careful ...batteries have been known to actually blow up in rare cases.

Have a good look at the casing of your battery ...are there any signs of spillage / acid emerging?

Is it a serviceable battery ...if so, is there enough destilled water in it?

In case you are looking at a semi dry battery full of acid marks, I would recommend that you stop driving and get this looked at pronto.

Oblomov · 07-02-2009 08:05PM

When you say burnt plastic.... acrid smell that burns the nostrils.... also after a 30 minutes or so a taste on the tongue...

Is the heater working properly?

Check your water level.... and anti freeze content....... will the cold weather it could be a small leak in your heater matrix, the fumes from the hot anti freeze mix are nasty...... and it would only leak as the heater warms up, the ally casing expanding to allow the leak to .. become apparent... cold antifreeze doesn't usually smell..

Check for stains on the lower heater ducts, white with a trace of green/blue......

copacetic · 07-02-2009 08:07PM

also, check for any melted plastic, often the cause of odours like melted plastic.

04 Ford Mondeo - odour like melted plastic coming from engine

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