I'm not sure if I am posting in the right area. I have a 2006 honda civic. There is a faint plastic smell coming from the engine. I also should put that recently my hole bumper got ripped off when I got stuck in the sand. Is it possible that pieces of plastic had gotten stuck and that is what is causing the burning smell? I just hit 90k miles this past week.

 

Is there evidence of the front under tray rubbing on tires or pulleys? You might also have plastic in contact with the radiator, which when hot will melt it...

 

I attached some pictures. I am not sure, I will have to put it up on a lift and see. I just want to make sure it is nothing in my car breaking.

 

I would check to see if the under tray is rubbing on anything too.

How did you manage to get stuck in the sand?

 

"Hey, lets drive on the beach!"
"Ah, crap..."

 

Lol, sorry to laugh, but the adventure sounded fun...

.the under tray is the large black plastic piece you will find if you look under the front bumper. If the sand pushed it up into the engine bay cavity, it most likely would have cracked and could be touching any number of moving parts or heat affected areas.

With the car on flat level ground, you could do a quick check yourself and see if there are any contact points that might be making the smell you mentioned.

I would check around the crank pulley ( the big one at the bottom of the engine ), though you can see this from above as well. It will be on the passenger side of the car. Next would be to check along the radiator on the bottom edge, the rad gets quite warm during operation, this would be an easy check.

Let us know what you find. Majestic Honda has all the parts you would need for repairs if required, but I would ensure who ever does the work uses OEM parts, not aftermarket or Chinese clones....