Car trouble always stinks, but your sense of smell could forewarn you of an impending breakdown or some other stench. 

As a sales manger/dealer over the last twenty years I appraised my share of trade-ins. One sense that I learned to focus was my sense of smell. When approaching a trade-in to evaluate it I would always take a big whiff to see what I could smell so to speak. The following are the smells and possible problems.

Sweet smell, almost like Maple Syrup.

Chances are it is engine coolant/Antifreeze. If your not sure and you want to identify the smell. Open the Radiator overflow, (CAUTION: “NOT THE CAP!!!” you can be burned badly) and get a smell of that. Check for leaking hoses, but most likely it’s the water pump. Intake gaskets or head gaskets can also leak coolant. If you are getting that smell inside the car it can be you heater core as well. In any case you shouldn’t be smelling coolant and you need to get it fixed before you go far.  Coolant leaks, lead to bigger coolant leaks very rapidly and can leave you stranded or over heating that can destroy your engine.

Rotten Eggs/ Sulfur

Catalytic converters give off that smell from hydrogen sulfide in the exhaust. Ignition or injection problems cause raw fuel that is supposed to be burned in the combustion process to go through the exhaust into the catalytic converter. The raw fuel has small amounts of sulfur that when converted in the catalytic converter becomes sulfur dioxide a real stinker. Many times your check engine light will be on to go with it and the system itself will tell you what is causing the misfire. GET IT FIXED the raw fuel will destroy your catalytic converter, (very expensive). This same fuel would be really improving your gas mileage as well. Sometimes when the catalytic converter itself is on it’s last leg it gives off that smell as well.

Gas/Diesel/Fuel Smell

If it smells like duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck. Don’t wait on the BIG BILL, or have a QUACK UP. You are literally playing with FIRE. GET IT FIXED before you drive anywhere, call a tow truck! Please know that electrical sparks are going every which a way under your hood, if you smell fuel you are smelling a vapor, fuel vapors ARE EXPLOSIVE.

Burned Oil Smell

Chances are you have an oil leak or transmission leak that’s dripping onto the exhaust pipes and burning off, although a real stinker not necessarily as bad as some of the others we have described. You do need to check your oil and transmission fluid to make sure they’re not low, per the owner’s manual. Then have it diagnosed by a competent technician as soon as possible. It is also possible that the engine itself has started to burn oil. Check the exhaust for a blue tint type smoke if you are getting that and when you put your hand on the exhaust pipe you get an oil ring, that’s probably what’s happening. If you get a big puff of smoke in the morning only when you start it, that’s a sign the valve stem oil seals are leaking. Both are big repairs, but the valve stems aren’t as bad. In most cases it’s well worth fixing the engine, your car has a lot more life than most people think.

Musty Towel Smell Inside the Car.

If you are looking to buy this car, be very careful it could be a flood vehicle. I’ll talk about that in a minute. If you own the car and it just started doing it, the first question you need to ask your self is have you been driving around with the air conditioner on recirculation all the time or Max. Then that’s your culprit. Air ventilation systems need regular doses of fresh air to kill the bacteria that collects with the moisture in the systems. God’s good old fresh air has enough bacteria fighting agencies in it to do the job many times by just running your system on normal, not max or recirculation. True when the outside air is over 80 degrees you need to run your air on max, but when you first start up and in the evening switch back and freshen your vent system. If it’s gone too far try spraying some Lysol in the vents and air intake. Auto parts stores sell anti bacteria potions to put in your ac as well. But in my opinion nothing works like a few hours of good old fashioned fresh air running through.

If you haven’t been running the AC on max or recirculation, check the carpet and trunk for water leaks. Sometimes the Air Conditioning evaporator drain comes off or is stopped up and condensation from that unit will soak the carpet in the passenger front seat area. If you interior carpet get soaked, (not just damp).The carpet needs to come out and dry properly or you may never get the smell out completely. Don’t try this unless you know what you are doing.

If you’re looking at buying a car and it smells like that. I would take it to a competent, Body shop Guy, and pay him to check it out for booth flood damage and body leaks, they are the experts on both. All too often auto auctions clean the carpets with water and fail to dry them properly and have ruined many a car. So it’s not at all unusual to find cars that smell like that, so I wouldn’t rule out a car, I would just have it checked.

Hot Metal /Trash Burning Smell

Brakes and clutch’s both use asbestos material that when hot has that smell. The first concern is that a brake has seized; possibly you left your emergency brake on.  If you have a manual transmission it could be a sign your clutch is about gone. If you smell this smell while driving, pull over “safely “ and get outside and look for smoke coming out of one of your wheels or hear a crackling popping of cooling metal in a wheel area. These are signs of a seized brake and you need to call a tow truck if you haven’t left your emergency brake on.

Ah, the gift of smell not only serves your appetitie it can serve your pocketbook as well.

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