# 2005 Ford Focus - Manual smells like burnt plastic

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/2005-ford-focus-manual-smells-like-burnt-plastic/169642>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** transmissions, ford\
**Created:** [September 6, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2005-ford-focus-manual-smells-like-burnt-plastic/169642 "2020-09-06T06:14:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jenn4swa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cdc98d/32.png) [@Jenn4swa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jenn4swa)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2005-ford-focus-manual-smells-like-burnt-plastic/169642/1 "2020-09-06T06:14:53Z")

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My daughters manual shift car doesn’t always accelerate in first and seems sluggish, it smells like faint Burnt plastic and the motor seems too hot. I think it’s the catalytic converter…what do you think?

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**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 10:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2005-ford-focus-manual-smells-like-burnt-plastic/169642/2 "2020-09-06T10:42:03Z")

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Could be. Is the CEL on?

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**Author:** ![davepsinbox\_157004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@davepsinbox\_157004](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davepsinbox_157004)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2005-ford-focus-manual-smells-like-burnt-plastic/169642/3 "2020-09-06T20:26:10Z")

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Could be a slipping clutch. That would make the car feel sluggish on takeoff and cause the engine to work harder. Have a good independent shop look at it.