Questions tagged [smell]
Use for questions where smell is a defining feature – e.g., in cases where a distinctive smell helps to diagnose a problem, or where you want to ask about a smell as the primary issue.
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Burning Smell and Slight Rattling
I just had new tires put on my 2016 BMW x3 about 3 weeks ago. There is a soft on and off rattling coming from the front of the car. Recently I've noticed when I stop at a light there is a burning ...
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2014 Chevy Traverse Smells Hot
My 2014 Chevy Traverse AWD started getting a hot/burning smell. There are no detectable leaks, verified by our mechanic. Oil has been changed, transmission had a drain/fill. Coolant levels are good. ...
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Mercedes 2003 unpredictably shudders and acts like it's going to stall at a stop light, then hesitant to accelerate
My 2003 Mercedes has acted like it's going to stall at stop lights occasionally for the last few months-shudders at stop signs, then recovers. Today I rev'd it in neutral out of fear it would stall. ...
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Nasty smell in Subaru Outback
The car is a 2006 Subaru Outback with 82,000 miles. At low speeds we sometimes get a strong smell like natural gas in the cabin. Took it to the dealer twice, but it behaved -- no smell.
The car has ...
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How to remove decomposed food smell from car interior fibers?
Car was parked up fro 3 months or so and it seems there was food decomposing in it during this period. I could see the food not sure what it was but it was all decomposed like with green bits in it ...
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Exhaust gas composition from London buses
I asked this on Reddit earlier this week, but nobody had much technical insight.
Can anyone shed light on why exhaust gas from a typical London bus smells entirely different from a coach or truck's ...
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1999 Toyota Camry -- Unexplained fuel smell on startup
I drive a 1999 Toyota Camry, around 150K miles. The car is driven infrequently -- perhaps two or three times a week. I'm in the Southeastern US, where recently we've experienced mild but chilly ...
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Fuel/gasoline smell under car. Normal or problem?
Is there any normal process or function which could result in some fuel / gasoline smell under the vehicle? Or does this necessarily indicate an issue?
On a 2009 Toyota Venza, I got some whiffs of ...
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Driving fast on gear 4 and smelling burnt smell after
I was driving about 60 to 70mph on freeway on gear 4. Started smelling a burnt smell and ended up getting a flat tire. Was able to use spare tire, and was able to drive home no problem, but now I ...
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Why is it that my car smells like it's overheating but my temperature gauge says that it's not?
I have a 2006 Nissan Maxima with a hundred and sixty-eight thousand miles on it. The water pump works fine but for some reason everytime I get out of my car it smells like it's overheating and yet my ...
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Why does my A/C blow foul smelling air when it first turns on?
Most of the time when I first turn on the A/C in our 2008 Toyota Sienna, the air that blows out has a very distinct chemical - nasty smell. After a while it seems to go away. I'm not sure if I just ...
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Why would a car have a burning smell, but only when going uphill?
My girlfriend has a 2008 Mazda 3 which has developed a strange burning smell. It only does this when going up steep hills (8% grade or so) for more than a mile or two. The smell seems to be the ...
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White smoke and burning smell from engine area, can you spot the oil leak?
I own an Audi A4 2008.
When I drive the car for more than 15 minutes I get white smoke coming from under the hood and a burning smell getting into my air conditioning system. When I open the hood, I ...
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Cleaning Mold From Fabrics, including Seats and Headliner
I own a Vauxhall Corsa Twinport (04) which previously leaked water through the bulkhead into the car, which results in pools of water in all footwell, plus significant damp across all fabrics. I fixed ...
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How much isopropyl alchcol to deodorize AC ducts?
i'm looking to remove an odor from my Corolla's fresh air intake.
There are products available where you spray the product into the fresh air intake (near the windshield wipers), while the fan is ...
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Clutch smell after botched attempt at accelerating on a ramp
Recently on a ramp in a parking structure I messed up when trying to accelerate again from a standstill by not letting the clutch out far enough and bringing the engine to way too high rpms (may have ...
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Burning smell and smoke from rear tire
I was driving when I began smelling a burning, possibly rubber, smell and when I pulled over there was smoke coming from my passenger side rear tire well. Nothing appears to be wrong with the tire or ...
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Whats causin this scary burnin smell in my van?
I'm smellin somthin don't smell good. Smells like burnt... somthin I don't know what. Smell like a big withdrawal comin from my bank account in the near future.
But it only happens when:
I'm a ...
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Plastic smell of new flex exhaust pipe
I've just got installed new flex exhaust pipe. After driving for few minutes, when the engine started to get to operating temperature I started to notice a plastic odor inside of a car. I started to ...
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If I go in and remove car evaporator, does that mean I will no longer be getting any smell problems?
Despite using ac cleaners car smell keeps coming back. Even if you use something like kool-it you can still expect it to return.
The only way to remove the problem is get to the source and clean\...
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Car wont go past 20mph before stalling out- 2003 lexus es300
timeline of issue:
-battery light comes on
-AutoZone employee says to replace the alternator
-car won't start at night, so I get a friend to jump start it
-while driving home the car starts to die....
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Snow Blower Break In Smell
I just started my new snowblower today to try to break it in. Within maybe a minute it started emitting a "burning metal" smell. I stopped it and there was some smoke coming out of the air filter.
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Will damp smell go if you don’t wash carpet? [duplicate]
Note I have already found the source and fixed it hence no more condensation, I am just wondering if the smell in the carpet will go without washing.
Car carpet smells damp but not musky yet. I ...
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If hvac on recirculate should any exhaust smells be coming through vents?
Civic vti 1999.
I have a small leak in my manifold and mechanic told me if you’re worried about smells just set in on recirculate. I have done and I’m assuming this means no outside air should come ...
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Best way to clean car carpet?
If you have a damp and musky carpet what is the best way to clean it? I imagine it’s too big to be put in a washing machine.
I guess you could put it in a bath tub and agitate but I hope there’s ...
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how will I know if seat cushion has absorbed to the poinr that it needs replacing or not?
If car leaks caused water to go through the fabric and into the cushion of a seat, then you try to squish it out of the sponge and the surface feels dry, but the inside may/may not have water in it, ...
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My car's diesel exhaust smells really bad
First of all let me say I apparently have no exhaust leak.
For a long time I've been asking myself how was it possible that the exhaust of my car smells so bad. It does it when in the morning, I ...
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Can you use white vinegar to remove ac smells?
I'm trying to remove smells which come when I put the ac on. I've seen videos where they used chemicals such as lycol. Im not a fan of strong chemicals. Would something like white vinegar be safe ...
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Added too much oil and smoke coming from under hood
Last Friday I had put some oil in my 2003 ford escape. I had put in half a quart, but couldn't see anything registering on the dipstick. So I had added a little bit more. Now every time I drive, I can ...
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How to/is it safe to close/seal car vents?
This is a different question. The other is specifically asking about the use of vinegar to clean a hvac system. This question is not about vinegar, it is about how to seal vents and if sealing is a ...
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What is this substance and does it cause a musky/dusty smell in car?
My car has a smell in it which I dont like. I dont know if it should be described as a musky smell because some may describe as a fragrance and others as dusty.
Anyway I cant pinpoint what it is ...
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Is a burning rubber smell normal on a new car?
I am in the process of buying a new Ford Focus (7 miles on the clock). The first time I turned on the dash lit up with oil pressure warnings and the garage had to replace the Oil Pressure Switch (I ...
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2000 Suburban brake "Imbalance" issue
My son-in-law has a 2000 Suburban. We replaced all 4 rotors and pads as well as the left rear caliper. The caliper was replaced because upon completion of the initial brake job during the test drive ...
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When car is standing still, I smell Diesel exhaust. Why?
In my 2003 Opel Vectra, the cabin air smells of Diesel exhaust while stopped at e.g. a red light.
The exhaust smell goes away when driving, and it also doesn't come back if I turn the ventilation off ...
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2009 Hyundai Sante Fe - gas smell in cabin after replacing fuel sending unit. has been repaired 4x's now
Fuel sending unit replaced. Since then it has gas smell in car. It has been redone by mechanics four times now but still has a gas smell when the gas level is in the first quarter of the tank.
Cap ...
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Burning Rubber while driving and after
Tonight I popped out in my partners car and noticed an awful burning/chemical smell whilst driving, this smell got worse if you turned on the AC (FAN BLOWER), so I got her to pull over and had her pop ...
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Awful smell when reversing AND fully cranking the wheel
I drive a used 2004 Subaru Forester (owned for 2.5 years now). The clutch went out last summer so that's been replaced. I've experienced the aforementioned issue only a few times when both the ...
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Burning Rubber Smell
I have a 2015 Chevy Trax. Recently I have noticed that when the car is idling it smells like burning rubber and will only happen after about 10 mins of driving. Living in northern Ontario I warm my ...
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Oil burning smell and slow oil leak
I am wondering what types of issues I am most likely looking at with this; My 2003 Ford Escape (V6) has an increasingly pronounced burnt oil smell that has developed slowly over a year or so, coupled ...
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Brake pad wears faster than other three
I've changed all my calipers, all my rotors, and all my pads in an attempt to fix this problem, but it has not gone away.
My rear passenger brake pad wears fast, to the point where it begins to grind,...
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Are oxide machines effective for permanently removing smoke odor from vehicle interiors?
I'm looking to buy a used car (2017 Prius Prime - leather interior) and the dealership informed me that there was a faint odor of smoke in the vehicle. They left an oxide machine in the vehicle over ...
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Fuel smells inside the car when at idle
I have a 2002 Honda civic 1.7L. The car started to make a deeper sound and at idles with heat on, it smells fuel inside the car. Not sure if related, I recently went camping, I parked the car on a ...
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98 Mustang Randomly loses power w/ gas smell
So when I'm driving around, and specifically when it's humid as I've noticed, my car will randomly lose power and when at a constant speed, start lurching back and forth. Every time this happens, all ...
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How to remove an odor left by mice leaving dry dog food in my vent system. 2008 Honda Civic
I had a bag of dry dog food in the garage and a mouse or rat took an awful lot of it into the vent system, to store it I suppose. The smell is bad. I have removed/replaced the cabin filter twice. I ...
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Burning smell when getting out of the car
I sense a burning smell when getting out of the car (Nissan Maxima 02 V6). I am pretty sure it is an oil leak from somewhere based on the odor, but not sure where else to look for.
The smell was ...
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Why is oil on my throttle body hose?
I've been tracking down a number of low grade oil smells in the car lately (2004 Subaru WRX). So far, that has included replacing the left front axle (was losing all kinds of grease through the boot),...
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Water logged car smell
Car was caught in a flood and water got in up to the glove compartment. We got it running again after replacing a bunch of parts. But that smell. I had another guy shampoo it, but a friend of mine ...
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burning rubber smell from car
So, last night saw temperatures dip well below freezing and I parked in shaded place (this will become relevant). This morning I drove about half a mile to school and noticed a very strong burning ...
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2011 Subaru Impreza (Automatic) Slipping when shifting uphill
My car has been having a hard time shifting when I accelerate a lot, mainly when I am driving uphill. It seems like it is slipping. There is also a burning smell from time to time I notice when I have ...
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What is causing burning smell and over reving sound?
I previously asked this question Can flooring accelarator damage car in any way? and it seemed people were saying it will wear parts out, but over time i.e. not in a week or month.
I have been ...
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