It's been hot lately (70-85 F) and the ILX has suddenly started putting out this rather alarming smell. It's a very strong plastic-burning smell, definitely not normal, and it occurs after about 20 minutes of driving in ~70+ weather. Any ideas what this could be? It's coming from the engine area (definitely under hood) and when it gets really bad you can smell it inside the car (after 40 minutes it is just about unbearable without having all the windows down). Once the car cools down again, it is okay for another 40 minutes or so of driving. Have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow (car has about 13,000 miles and was built in 07/2013, obviously under warranty), so we'll find out, but thought I'd ask first.

 

That doesn't sound good, since it's something that occurs with time, maybe something near the exhaust? What about the heater core? Does it change if you switch from "fresh" to "recirculate"?

 

I once picked up a garbage bag that stuck itself to the exhaust downpipe, it smelled pretty bad for a while as I recall.

 

Yeah, I was thinking it might have to do with exhaust. Could something plastic have fallen down into/on it? I don't think it has to do with climate controls, as the smell is very pungent outside before it starts making its way inside (went on a 15-min commute this morning-didn't smell anything inside-and when I got out of the car it was pretty strong).

 

^^ The climate control question was just to narrow things down 'cause when troubleshooting, all data points are good. Not sure about something falling down, more likely something you 'picked up' IMO.