Electrical burning smell outside and inside the car at -3 degrees Celcius

[TGL]

Hello,

I have a new Prius Plug-in (1 month old), and this morning when I pressed the Start button and put the car into hybrid mode to get the engine to warm-up and in-turn warm-up the cabin, I noticed an electrical burning smell after a few minutes. It was almost as if the alternator was burning-out.  I couldn't pop the bonnet due to the ice, but after de-icing I managed to have a look inside the engine bay, and I couldn't see anything untoward.  I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue?  There was nothing on the dashboard to indicate a problem, but I did notice that the air-con light which was on to demist the windscreen turned off automatically (is that normal?).  I proceeded with caution to drive to work,  but the smell never returned.  It was definitely the car that was generating the smell, because in the still cold air a few feet away the smell wasn't noticeable. It was also quite pungent inside the car.

Any pointers would be appreciated. I might  have to just take it into the dealer to have it checked out.

[Anthony Poli]

Definitely take it in and stress to them you don’t feel safe the way it is.
Since you have had a month, my guess it’s not because it’s new.


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[TGL]

1 hour ago, Anthony Poli said:

Definitely take it in and stress to them you don’t feel safe the way it is.
Since you have had a month, my guess it’s not because it’s new.


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Thanks Anthony. Service booked for Friday AM, so I will update everyone on what they find. A Toyota technician I spoke to during the booking process thought it might be the smell of burning/melting engine coating that is applied to protect certain parts during shipment from the factory.  Sometimes not all the plastic is removed cleanly, so it could be that.  Anyway, they will take a look and let me know.

[Anthony Poli]

Keep us updated after.


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[wass]

Erm... dont Prius have electrical heating elements within the system which are triggered to function when coolant and ambient are at lower temperatures? Electrical heaters with particles of dust on them do have a habit of burning off the dust particles hence the odour. 

[TGL]

43 minutes ago, wass said:

Erm... dont Prius have electrical heating elements within the system which are triggered to function when coolant and ambient are at lower temperatures? Electrical heaters with particles of dust on them do have a habit of burning off the dust particles hence the odour. 

Wass -- That's a really good point, and you are right they do have heating elements for both engine and Battery components.  Maybe it's just that, although it's strange that it smelt of burning electrical wire.  In my experience it's the same smell an electric motor produces when it's unable to turn the spindle causing it to over-heat and the inner windings starting to melt their insulating coatings. Although I agree, if that was the case, surely a fuse would blow or I would get some kind of dashboard indication. I have a strong suspicion that the electric air conditioning pump had overheated in the cold temperatures. Anyway, Toyota will soon tell me.

[johalareewi]

The new PIP has a heat pump to provide heat instead of burning petrol. Maybe that had fired up for the first time and was burning the dust off?

[TGL]

I have just returned from the Toyota dealer. The car had a full system check, pollen filter check, system filter checks, and heater aircon check.  Everything reads out as normal.  The engineer who spoke to me firmly believes it was a plastic-based coating on the heater elements either for the Battery or specific engine components. He said it can smell like electrical wiring burning, and since the burning smell has now gone he can only conclude that this was the issue.