Strange engine odors can mean a serious engine problem or a minor issue. It’s important to have the odors investigated right away to determine their cause. If you bring your SUV, car, or truck to our shop at the first detection of strange engine odors, our certified technicians will bring their years of experience to diagnosing the problem and repairing it. Here is what strange odors mean.
Hot Electricity
If you smell hot electricity coming from the engine, the alternator may be malfunctioning and overheating the electrical system. When this happens, the wires and their rubber insulation get too hot. Unfortunately, this could start an electrical fire if left unchecked.
Hot Sulfur
Hot sulfur smells like rancid eggs and usually comes from the catalytic converter. The converter may be clogged and unable to treat the hydrogen sulfide that is found in your vehicle’s exhaust. You may also smell rancid eggs around the battery if it is leaking.
Sweet Syrup
Sweet maple syrup odors can flow out of your vents if you have a coolant leak in the engine. The most common place from where the coolant will leak that will result in the maple odors is the heater core. This being said, the cooling system can also leak and release the odors.
Hot Oil
If your engine is releasing burning oil odors, you may have an oil leak. The oil will burn away when it leaks onto hot engine parts. Burning oil smells can also be a sign of low motor oil or low transmission oil. In the latter case, the odor will come from the transmission.
Damp Odors
Damp and musty odors blowing out of the vents suggest that you have mildew building up inside the ventilation system. You can help dry out the mildew by turning on the fan at full force and letting it run until the mildew odors go away.
Burnt Carpet
Admittedly, this isn’t an odor that will come from the engine, but it bears discussing. If you smell burnt carpet coming from the brakes, the brake system is overheating. The brake pads will release a burnt carpet odor if they are too hot and glazed.
The reason why this bears discussion is that the brake system can fail if the brakes get too hot. It’s best to pull over and have your vehicle towed to our shop rather than risk brake system failure. We are here to help, so call us today if you smell anything strange in your engine or automobile.
