Car Smells That Might Indicate Trouble

 

We’ve all encountered a funky smell in our vehicle at least once. Sometimes it’s because you left your gym bag in the trunk overnight, or maybe you dropped a fry between the seats and forgot about it. In other cases, if you can’t find the source of the smell, your olfactory system might be hinting at you that your car is having issues. Below are some smells you could experience that might be an indication of car trouble:

Rotten Eggs

• Could indicate an overloaded catalytic converter. This smell is from the compound hydrogen sulfide that comes from the small amount of sulfur present in fuel. If your catalytic converter breaks or is experiencing issues, the sulfur is not filtered normally which results in producing a rotten egg smell. This smell could also be an indication that your engine is running too hot or you have a broken fuel pressure regulator. Regardless of the cause, you should get this issue checked out immediately.

Burning Carpet

• This smell could indicate that you have brake issues. If your brake pads get overheated, which can happen even in normal driving conditions, you might experience this smell as a result.

Gasoline

• If you’re experiencing this smell, and you didn’t just leave the pump, this could indicate several issues: missing gas cap, fuel tank leak, fuel line leak, fuel injector leak, faulty charcoal canister, or issues with your fuel pressure regulator. Basically, if you’re smelling fuel, something is wrong.

Oil

• If you smell hot or burning oil, your car could be telling you multiple things. There could be leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold, a faulty vacuum modulator, broken temperature gauge, overheated engine, or you might just need an oil change. Regardless, if you notice this smell, get it checked out.

Maple Syrup

• If you notice a sweet, syrup-like smell, this could indicate a coolant leak. The source of this leak could be coming from the heater hose, radiator, cylinder head, and more. Coolant is toxic, especially to animals, so get this inspected ASAP.

The list of funky car smells can go on and on. Basically, if you smell something out of the ordinary and there is no obvious outside source, the smell is a good indication of something gone wrong. If you’ve experienced any of these smells, you should schedule a service appointment soon.