You know that old statement that goes something like “the nose knows”? Well, it’s totally right. The nose DOES know a lot of stuff, but your brain just might not be caught up to exactly what it knows. That’s what this blog is for! If you smell something weird in your car, there’s probably a reason for the smell, but you just might not know exactly what that reason is. So, voilà, here is a list of smells that can come out of your car, and what they mean, and what you can do about them!
The nose says: Sulfur
The car says: When you smell sulfur in your car all the time, you can assume that it’s gear lubricant leaking from the manual transmission, transfer case, or differential housing. There are sulfur compounds in the oil that serve as extreme-pressure lubricants for the gears, and after being in use for a few years the lubricant can get funky. Look for odiferous puddles of oily, viscous liquid under your car. If you see the aforementioned puddles, you should take your vehicle into the shop.
The nose says: Maple syrup
The car says: It’s coolant! One of the main ingredients in coolant is ethylene glycol, which is very sweet smelling… kind of like maple syrup but not tasty at all. Mostly because if you taste it, it’ll kill you. If you can smell it coming from your engine, that means there is probably a leak in your system somewhere. You should get your vehicle looked at ASAP, but this is definitely one of the easier fixes.
The nose says: Rotten eggs
The car says: Your catalytic converter is on the way out and is putting hydrogen sulfide into your exhaust. It could either be a fuel injection problem, or your cat is actually failing. Unfortunately, this is an expensive repair. You should take your car into the shop to have someone look at it… if the problem isn’t actually the cat there’s a chance that the issue could be fixed by someone who knows what they’re doing.
The nose says: A gas station
The car says: Raw gasoline leaking from somewhere in your engine. Unless you are actually at a gas station, you should not be smelling this. If you have an older car (like, from before 1980) then this smell is regular just because of how the engine works. If your car is newer than that, the smell probably means that you have a leak in your fuel injection line or a fuel tank vent hose. Take your car in to get looked at ASAP!
The nose says: Hot oil
The car says: ….hot oil. This probably means that there’s oil leaking onto the exhaust manifold, which heats up when your engine is running. You don’t want the smell, or the reason for the smell, to continue so you should open up the hood and look for smoke in your engine. If you can find the oil leak, wait until the engine is cool and then try to plug it up. Then you should take your car into the shop as soon as you can.
If you need repairs, remember that Galles Chevrolet always has you covered. From questions to replacing parts, we can do it all!
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