plastic burning smell..

[Cherylp]

im so bloody upset, was due to give my van over to my daughter and her boyfriend to go off next weekend and i took it out for a spin today, after charging a totally flat battery and after about half an hour driving i could smell a strong plasticy burning smell which is coming from the back.. as i am a total idiot when it comes to mechanics/cars/vans, i have no idea what it can be but it drove home ok..
of course i need to take it into the garage, but im afraid it will a)cost a ton of money and b)that my daughters trip will have to be put off.. any ideas?.. or is it a case of 'how long is a piece o string?'

[CovKid]

Sure its from the back? Those kind of smells can drift, particularly the fusebox which tends to hug the floor before circulating back. Have a good check of fusebox - particularly fuse for fan (which may have come on today as its hot) or blower motor fuse. Its not uncommon to see people fit bigger fuses in there (or even tin foil!) to combat them blowing and then they can heat up in the fusebox.

OR

It could be a dead short somewhere in the back which may have caused battery to go flat?

This thread probably needs moving to electrics forum though as all the sparkeys inhabit that closet and will probably come up with some suggestions.

[colinthefox]

A common source of hot plastic smell is the cable that goes from the alternator to the starter motor terminal (or to the black box in the engine bay as appropriate). When the alternator is working hard, as after a flat battery for instance, these wires can get hot, and I've seen several instances of these having melted insulation. The acid gases released by hot PVC insulation can corrode these cables right through. If replacing this cable it's worth using fatter wire.

Worth checking out.

[Oldiebut goodie]

Following on from above - was the leisure battery flat also? If so it may have been undersized cabling to/from split charge overheating.

[kentishvanman]

Hi,
Similar happened to me many years back. It turned out to be the relay switch in the battery compartment.
Was the smell noticeable when you were going along? If so I would have thought the problem was nearer to you than the engine compartment.
Best of luck.
Don

[Ralf85]

As I said in my pm this problem could be any number of issues. You charged the battery up. If the battery cover was not put back properly with the positive side of the battery insulated properly from it, it could be shorting out and melted the cable connection. Good luck and let us know what the problem was.

[Cherylp]

thank you so much everyone.. im going to drive her into my local garage today. no-one has mentioned the clutch.. does that mean you all dont think its that?.. ... oh i wish i knew more about van mechanics right now.. thanks everyone i will let you know x

[CovKid]

Won't be clutch. It won't smell like that and you're unlikely to smell it inside the vehicle. Hot plastic smell more likely to be electrics or some plastic pipe sitting on an exhaust pipe. Trust your nose.

[Cherylp]

it turns out it wasnt anything at all... trip went well

[Ralf85]

Hey, welcome back Cheryl. I hope you are having fun in your toy!

[CovKid]

Did you take the long way back? That was a year ago.

[jrt]

I see the van is now in the for sale section.
David

[R0B]

How could it be nothing at all.A burning plastic smell must be something.I'm confused.

[Sir Brixalot]

You lot sound suspicious

[CovKid]

Maybe its one of those leap-year threads where someone posts, then a year later someone replies, then a year later...