My car has smells of melted glue gun wax coming from somewhere

[psteng19]

The past couple of days, there has been this smell of melted glue gun (wax?) cartridges coming from within.

I can only guess it's location because it's hard to locate. It appears at times when the car is stopped at a light, or when I just get out of it (probably because while moving, the odors are left behind).
It appears to be coming from the bottom of the car, and it smells like something is melting.
I also briefly looked under the hood with the engine on, and can't locate it.

The only factors that have changed these past days are an oil change (they put in 4 qts when it only requires 3.xx qts), and an amp/sub install (10 gauge wire powering a 150 watt amp and sub - melting wires?).
and it's been warmer, and more humid lately.

Any ideas?

1995 Nissan Sentra ~62k+? miles (? because I think the odometer is off).

edited for readability.

 

[TomC25]

Would it be possible your car sucked up a plastic bag into your engine compartment while driving and it is melting?

 

[psteng19]

LOL, I thought the same thing, that some plastic got stuck somewhere, but I checked the engine compartment, and it's fine.

I was thinking maybe the catalytic converter or the exhaust, which both get pretty hot, but those are fine too.

A good thing is that I noticed that the smell is slowly going away, but it's still there... just not as strong.
But when it was there, it was giving me a headache and making me nauseas.

 

[d33pt]

if you just had an amp installed..i'd look at that.. see if the power cable is shorted on anything.. and do you have an inline fuse in the front very close to the battery?

 

[pac1085]

Smell of new electronics maybe...?

 

[TomC25]

OH WAIT, your sub!

I remember my subs having a weird burnt smell when playing them longterm or loudly.

The sub does get hot and there is glue in the materials.

Your amplifier is also giving off some oders while getting hot.

Is your car a hatchback?

My system was in a trunk, but I could still smell it.

 

[psteng19]

Yup, the amp install was done by my ghetto self.
And I had problems with it, mentioned in another thread.
There is a fuse about 1 foot away from the battery.

Like I said, I quickly glanced over the hood, and it wasn't a thorough check.
I'll do it again tomorrow.

Could it be the thin 10 ga. wire not able to handle the load?

Car is a sedan. I also checked out the trunk, and it didn't seem to originate from there... it's pretty hard to spot.

The sub and amp are old, bought used, but used lightly, and have been sitting around for awhile.
The amp itself does get very hot...
I'll also consider checking that out tomorrow.

Is it a normal thing for the sub/amp?
Did it eventually go away?
Thanks.

 

[TomC25]

I believe it is normal for electronics and speakers to give off oders.

Either the smell goes away, or I just got used to it.

Man, I cannot understand how dairy and pig farmers handle the stench.

I could not see getting used to those oders.

 

[d33pt]

how many watts is the amp? i wouldn't use 10ga for anything more than 100-150w or so.. otherwise it could cause the wire to get too hot

 

[psteng19]

37.5 watts RMS into 4 ohms @ .05% THD
75 watts RMS into 2 ohms @ .1% THD
150 watts RMS bridged 4 ohms @ .1% THD <-- this wiring setup
280 watts Dynamic Power (IHF202) into 4 ohms

hopefully it's something breaking in, since the sub and amp have been idle for quite some time, sitting away in the guy's garage.
cuz the smell is making me dizzy and sick.

else it could be something more serious... hoping it's not the cat going bad.

 

[d33pt]

bad cat smells more like rotten eggs.. you WILL know when that is bad..