I've noticed that after driving my car, when I turn the engine off and walk by the hood theres a sort of burning/plastic smell. Is this just the new oils, lubrications around the engine parts thats heating up for the first time? My car has about 1500 miles on it so far. It's not overheating as all the gauges, engine oil level, show everything is fine.

 

Yes... all is fine. You may also smell a That would be the catalytic converter (though I haven't heard of anyone yet having this problem). Remember, these cars are coming from overseas, so they do put a protection on them from the ocean. That is what you are smelling.

 

I smelt that when the car was new. My car now has 7000km on it and that smell is gone. I miss it.

 

yea whats funny is the smell isn't really that bad. it just hits a nerve in my brain that makes me obesse that something is wrong with the car. try driving the new car around and parking it in a garage. now that is a strong odor.

 

I think the stuff they put on certain metallic parts is called cosmoline:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cosmo...en-US:official


It protects those parts on the way to the USA, and the smell you're smelling is completely normal; cosmoline, et. al., burning off.

 

So very true. I was learning stick at the same time so I was paranoid if it was engine break-in or me destroying the clutch.

 

lol, yea... happened to me when i first owned my 4runner. There was a little smell. But then after one day after the required break in mileage i drove it a little harder to see where it was at and it smelled like burning clutch. The only thing though... it was an auto.

 

mine smelled like burning oil for a while, now it's gone and I miss it as well.