2020 Ram - Smells like burning plastic

[Rambo 2024]

My 2024 Ram Laramie Etorque now has 8000 miles and the burning smell happens only when I run the heater. It’s a plastic smell, not coolant which has an entirely different smell. What drives me crazy is the manufacturer has to know about this as do the dealers. I am about to make my first dealer appt to see if I can get assistance. The smell is unbearable and I’m sure not healthy. If I get anywhere with this I’ll be sure to report back.

 

[DL3Greyghost]

My 2024 Ram Laramie Etorque now has 8000 miles and the burning smell happens only when I run the heater. It’s a plastic smell, not coolant which has an entirely different smell. What drives me crazy is the manufacturer has to know about this as do the dealers. I am about to make my first dealer appt to see if I can get assistance. The smell is unbearable and I’m sure not healthy. If I get anywhere with this I’ll be sure to report back.

Curious to know how things turn out… I seemed to remember having my heated seat on high when I first noticed the smell and wondered if the plastic was melting underneath my seat…it’s a very specific smell…like burnt plastic carmel with a little cat **** mixed in

 

[chrisnorthnj]

Heater core leaking. Very poor design. The two aluminum pipes that are connected to the heater core have o rings in them so they can rotate for some unknown reason. After expanding and contracting for a period of time they begin to leak a little and then a lot. Very labor intensive to remove entire dash, steering column and HVAC box to replace heater core with the same lousy designed part. My 2019 with 70k miles began leaking all over passenger floor. Out of warranty now so I’ll be out about $2k for the repair.View attachment 194457I'm going to try and epoxy the fittings with a heat resistant epoxy and see what happens. I have radio and glove box out and can get to the fittings. I bypassed heater core at water pump so I could still use the truck to get to work. Waiting 24-48 hrs for epoxy to harden then I’ll hook hoses back up and see what happens.

Hey did this work?

 

[Jstblzed]

I’m running into the same issue 2021 ram bighorn with 65k miles everytime my air conditioning turns on and especially with the heater turning on the inside of my truck smells bad with burnt coolant smell I’m dredding taking it to dealers. But need it fixed before warranty runs out at 75k. Wish me luck.

 

[Ramstein22]

I’ve got a 2020 ram 1500 and just rolled over 20k miles. These past few days, I’ve noticed a burnt plastic smell coming fr my truck when I get out after driving for roughly 15 minutes or longer. Any idea what this could be? I’ve looked all around the truck and don’t see any smoke nor do I have any issues with the way the truck is running.


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Guys I figured it out

 

[Ramstein22]

Mark,

How many of us are going to post on here about this problem before something gets done? These trucks are clearly having issues with an acrid, burning coolant type smell being described by dozens of people and all the same responses from dealers, including the 2 I have been to and am at today…again. No leaks found after a pressure test, we can’t replicate, etc, etc. does Ram really care or is this lip service so you can continue deny, deny, deny so the warranty runs out? I have barely a 3 yr old vehicle purchased brand new for $57K that is making me sick to even sit in for 5 min…all of my clothes stink like this odor after being in my truck…my wife can’t even walk by it from the outside without gagging… these are the kinds of issues that become class action lawsuits and I will be the first in line if this doesn’t get done under warran

Mark,

How many of us are going to post on here about this problem before something gets done? These trucks are clearly having issues with an acrid, burning coolant type smell being described by dozens of people and all the same responses from dealers, including the 2 I have been to and am at today…again. No leaks found after a pressure test, we can’t replicate, etc, etc. does Ram really care or is this lip service so you can continue deny, deny, deny so the warranty runs out? I have barely a 3 yr old vehicle purchased brand new for $57K that is making me sick to even sit in for 5 min…all of my clothes stink like this odor after being in my truck…my wife can’t even walk by it from the outside without gagging… these are the kinds of issues that become class action lawsuits and I will be the first in line if this doesn’t get done under warranty

Mark,

How many of us are going to post on here about this problem before something gets done? These trucks are clearly having issues with an acrid, burning coolant type smell being described by dozens of people and all the same responses from dealers, including the 2 I have been to and am at today…again. No leaks found after a pressure test, we can’t replicate, etc, etc. does Ram really care or is this lip service so you can continue deny, deny, deny so the warranty runs out? I have barely a 3 yr old vehicle purchased brand new for $57K that is making me sick to even sit in for 5 min…all of my clothes stink like this odor after being in my truck…my wife can’t even walk by it from the outside without gagging… these are the kinds of issues that become class action lawsuits and I will be the first in line if this doesn’t get done under warranty

Guys I figured it out

 

[Ramstein22]

I’m running into the same issue 2021 ram bighorn with 65k miles everytime my air conditioning turns on and especially with the heater turning on the inside of my truck smells bad with burnt coolant smell I’m dredding taking it to dealers. But need it fixed before warranty runs out at 75k. Wish me luck.

I figured it out

 

[Ramstein22]

Did you take a look underneath to see if a plastic shopping bag got caught up?


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Update on my situation…dealer had my truck for 3 days…did their own diagnostic test because they couldn’t count on another dealership’s assessment…same as before, no coolant leak after pressure test. Then they pulled up the TSB about the back glass and 3rd brake light leaking and determined that could be the problem…pulled up the carpet and pad and it was soaked, but they couldn’t do anything other than sop it up and put the wet pad and carpet back…and they “sealed” the back glass with apparently a magical sealant that was $50…here’s the part that made me chuckle a bit…if I want them to replace the 3rd brake light, it’s $1400…uh…ok. I felt bad for my service advisor who had to say all this to me with a straight face…she’s just the messenger and is trying hard to get FCA warranty and recall dept to do the right thing here and cover this nonsense…you have a known issue via TSB about this problem and you think I should pay for it? You got me… btw…smells worse than before now but they “fixed the leak…”
Amazingly my battery checked out bad too at a cost of $400 to replace…it must be made of gold too, like that brake light and sealant

 

[Ramstein22]

Any update on this? I'm having the same burning plastic smell with my 2023 ram 1500

I figured it out