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I've just got installed new flex exhaust pipe. After driving for few minutes, when the engine started to get to operating temperature I started to notice a plastic odor inside of a car. I started to be a bit scared, but managed to arrive home. When I opened the hood I realized very strong burned plastic smell. I examined the surroundings of the flex pipe and didn't notice it was touching anything.

Today I've called the car repair shop, then visited them again and they said it's a normal smell for newly installed flex pipe. We looked together from below and the pipe doesn't touch any other pipes or elements indeed. The smell is however pretty much terrible and it's necessary to close vents and even windows to avoid it.

I also got changed a muffler. Some additional twist is they said it's very hard to get one (muffler) exactly to my specific version of Hyundai i30 and they installed the one from Kia Ceed (which is kind of twin car).

Does anybody know if this smell is indeed normal?

UPDATE

The changed element is shining silver part: enter image description here

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  • What kind of flex was installed?
    – GdD
    Nov 16, 2018 at 13:52
  • Something looking like this oreillyauto.com/detail/b/walker-5231/exhaust-parts-16469/… - but I'm unable to answer what vendor or model it is.
    – Arkadiusz Kałkus
    Nov 16, 2018 at 13:54
  • @GdD Updated main post with the picture.
    – Arkadiusz Kałkus
    Nov 16, 2018 at 13:59
  • It's hard to say if there is something wrong with your installation without a close inspection, but yes, new exhaust parts can emit a lot of odor, especially if there are any contaminants on the parts - at least until it all burns off.
    – mike65535
    Nov 16, 2018 at 14:31
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    @mike65535 thanks Mike. I was reading on the internet that a muffler can stink, but I wasn't sure about the flex pipe. I looked at the installation with the guy today and it doesn't look bad to my amateur eye. Doesn't touch anything, isn't very close to any part as well. The one thing I noticed is some material at the edges of joints, like rubber or silicone. Maybe this is burning off now. Anyway if it's nothing special I'll wait until the stink disappears. Thank you.
    – Arkadiusz Kałkus
    Nov 16, 2018 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

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It turned out that it was the most probably the silicone/rubber material connecting the flex pipe with the other parts that were stinking. After some time, I don't remember how long exactly, few days, few hundred kilometers (maybe 150) the smell started to disappear and finally disappeared completely.

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