bad smell in my car.

byrnemx

there is a bad smell inside my car when i turn my engine. is it the Catalytic Converter? and how do i get rid of it? any help would be greatly appreciated!!

mike65

We'll need more info! Does it smell more or less with the fans working? Or the window open? Does it smell of bad eggs or hot oil?

Mike.

byrnemx

its really bad when the fan is on, and yea it is like rotten eggs. there is no actual smell from under the bonnet as far as i can tell

Henry Ford III

Too many curries. You may have followed through marginally also.

I'll get my coat.

mike65

Nip round the back end and have a sniff with the engine runing. If it pongs than its the cat proberly, though a very rich fuel/air mix can create a similair smell.

byrnemx

is there anything i can do?, bar bring it to the garage

byrnemx

no smell out the back end.

mike65

Strange one then. The only other thing I cxan think of, off the top of my head is a leaking heat matrix (that provides hot air in the car), if thats sprung a leak you would start to see windscreen condensation which smears when you wipe it or damp in the footwells (or under the carpet in the footwells). That kind of leak smells of coolant.

Mike.

byrnemx

how much, roughly, will it cost to replace a cat converter? labour included..

crosstownk

A few years back when I worked in a VW dealer a guy came in complaining of a bad smell in his VW Transporter van. It turned out to be a cats head caught in the engine bay. I reckon the cat crawled into the engine bay for heat and lay his head on the auxilary drive belt - then the engine started and adios cat.

Check for debris like rotting leaves in the plenumb chamber close to the fan intake. Usually catalytic convertors are mounted rearward of the fan intake so if it was a smell from the exhaust gas you would only get in reverse or when the car is stopped.

crosstownk

mike65 wrote:

Strange one then. The only other thing I cxan think of, off the top of my head is a leaking heat matrix (that provides hot air in the car), if thats sprung a leak you would start to see windscreen condensation which smears when you wipe it or damp in the footwells (or under the carpet in the footwells). That kind of leak smells of coolant.

Mike.

Very true Mike - but then there would be a engine temperature problem as the engine would be leaking coolant. Lack of coolant would be especially noticable in our current weather (which will hopefully last for months!).

dahamsta

While we're on the subject, I'm getting either an exhaust or petrol smell in the cabin of my car after starting recently, I know it was discussed recently but I can't remember the responses -- the head gasket likely needs to be done on the car (it overheated recently and it's definitely running hotter and burning more oil), is it this that's causing it?

Also, what kind of money are we talking for head gasket change on a E34 5 series? I'm thinking it can't be that complex for a mechanic to take the head off and put it back on again, but I have an idea in my head I could be wrong.

adam

mike65

Oh dear that sounds like classic head gasket. When the head goes its more than a 40 euro gasket if you want a proper job doing. Check the coolant for oil floating on the surface and open the oil filler cap and check for light creamy sludge.

If the engine is overheating that must also be figured out. Could be nothing more than a faulty fan switch or something bigger like failing water pump (thats usually easy to spot as they get very noisy and leak).

Mike.