After a five-day trip in the snowy mountains of Southern California, I stopped at a gas station to fuel up. Smelled a burning-plastic odor which quickly dissipated. Figured that it must be another nearby vehicle. Got home and smelled the same odor. Opened the hood and found and smelled nothing. Checked the tires and they were barely warm; the odor quickly was gone. Have AWD and am thinking that maybe fluid is low in one of the AWD trans axles. Scheduled an appointment for service tomorrow. Any ideas?

 

Might there be a piece of plastic or something stuck to the exhaust system?

 

I had a burning smell in our AWD Mazda CX-9, and it turned out to be the transfer case.

 

My mechanic found nothing. Seems to think that it could be from the road grime from the snow and sludge from the mountains.

 

That would be my guess...