Crawled under to double check that the smell wasn't coming from the trailer harness, that was ok. I agree it is salt/road crap on the outside of the exhaust system.

 

i notice it every time i start up cold mostly,not much after it heats up

hey mustang guy,shoulda seen the smoke from my 80/460!!
gone but never forgotten

 

it has been snowing like crazy here in NY and the more they salt the roads, the more I smell it. Sometimes worst that others. When I take it in next month, I'm going to have them look it over while we are in Hawaii enjoying the beach lol.

 

check your tire urgent there must be some thing wrong which is making smell like plastic burning.

 

i just woke up
my h3 is cold

if i go start it i will smell the "plastic"smell immediatly!

its the exhaust on cold start. does it every day

its the catalytic

 

Ours only does it AFTER driving, not on start up. I would notice this immediately as it is in the garage on start-up and shut down.

 

There was a problem with the first H3s with the trailer harness falling against the muffler just inside the back bumper. Was supposed to be fixed, but the harness might have moved closer to the muffler and the plastic conduit could be burning. I had the problem on my 06 and a tie strap was the cure. No problem or strange smell on the 08...yet.

Are the emergency brakes completely releasing?

Is the exhaust clear of all underbody items such as the rubber hangers? Should be, but who knows.

Chemical reaction from salt? Trying to think back to when I lived in MI and they used tons of salt during the winter, and I don't remember any particular smell related to the salt. But that was a few years ago, and out here they either use dirt or nothing.

Some states have added a chemical to the salt mixture since salt damages not only car/trucks but the roads and the environment. (Two I know of are calcium magnesium acetate and liquid magnesium chloride; probably a few more.) Could one of these new chemicals cause a smell on a hot exhaust? I sure don't know.

Can't say it is not a catalyst, but there have been no real changes in the cat in years, and again, never smelled a plastic burning smell from a catalytic converter. The rotten egg smell has been going away for years. It was more of a problem with the amount of sulfur in the fuel reacting with the cat. Most gasoline companies have refined most of the sulfur out of the fuel due to the government screaming about it. Not all have.

 

the reason i GUESS the cat is,it works right now , while the ex system is still ice cold, and it does it at every start,no driving, and i rarely see salt spreaders here. plus i dont think the ex actually gets a lot of junk on it where its tucked away.

i dont know the timetable but one site i saw mentioned a bunch of different metals used in cats,,who knows?

when i start,5 seconds,its only exhaust,nothing else moves,,unless maybe its,,the door seal,,!, or,maybe when i brush the snow,,no

 

If this was directed towards me than I would have loved to see that. My Stang loves to "smoke" 1st and 2nd when given the opportunity, if that's what you meant. Where in N. IN are you? My wife and I are originally from Portage.

I would say the smell we are experiencing is more like oil touching a hot engine or exhaust manifold, but may be "plastic" also and I have ruled out the oil theory. It only occurs after driving and is consistent with slick/salty/snow covered roads.

 

im near la porte,,i put the 80/460 together with junkyard parts,then had the c6 rebuilt,did some edlebrock work on 460 myself,9in versailes rear with disk brakes.i could tap the gas ez and break em loose,feed it slow for a long burn!! much fun for 10yrs

anyway,,i notice smell instantly on start just sitting,
but i think this horse is dead!!. i dont think its anything that matters.

hey i was a ford man for my first 50 yrs driving and got hooked here after driving a friends h3!. got a trans sport van for work truck so im gm now,,my son disowns me! hes still got ford tatooed on his heart! im done with the smell,i know mine is exhaust

BEAR DOWN CHI BEARS!! 1 GAME TO GO SB!!