A few weeks ago my car started producing a toxic smell for no apparent reason. I drove it from work to home, about 3-5 minutes tops, and parked it for about 25-30 minutes for lunch. After I got back in the car and started it up, almost immediately I started getting this smell that I had never before had.

At first I thought it was just something in the area around my place, it was so foreign. Nobody who has smelled it thinks it's coolant, so I've ruled that much out, but that's about it. I've driven it as lightly as I can since then, usually only smelling the fumes after 10 minutes of driving or so(usually corresponding with my engine getting up to normal running temp). Over the past couple days, however, it's gotten noticeably worse. The smell doesn't wait anymore, and I can get a strong smell within a minute or two. As of last night, I heard a kind of 'whining' in the engine now to boot, but I can't help but think they are related. I've yet to take it in to be looked yet for monetary reasons, so now I'm hitting up the internet.

The best I can describe the smell is some kind of really sickly sweet, and I at first thought it might be coolant, not having much experience with cars in general. I've had 3 people since then who know much more than me say it doesn't smell like any coolant they've smelled, and it seems more electrical or plastic in nature. No smoke that we can see(although my friend did claim to see a little smoke of some sort coming from under the right front wheelwell after the first time we experienced it). We're pretty sure it's confined to the passenger side of the engine, near the back corner area. That's about all I got here, any help would be very much appreciated!

Also of note, the car was in a mild accident in January of 2007, and while it's run fine since then, there was some slight shifting of stuff under the hood so I don't know how much this would affect the little things.

Thanks!

 

I'd start by removing radiator cap (with the engine cold) and checking the coolant level in the engine. The sweet smell indicates a coolant leak with the "whining" coming from the water pump running dry. I'm guessing the leak is somewhere near the back of the engine or on the fire wall where it eventually drips onto an exhaust component. The smell gets worse as the exhaust heats up. With little coolant left, the engine is heating things up much quicker.

 

Thanks for the reply ken. My coolant appears to be pretty dang low, so my next question is what kind of coolant do I use? I figure just the green stuff, but do I also have to do some kind of water mix? And continuing my line of first-time-car-owner questions, does that go straight into the radiator or into the reservoir on the left side?

 

Any ethylene glycol based antifreeze that is compatible with aluminum will be fine, including most green stuff. Just read the labels. Mix 50/50 with water. You can buy pre-mixed 50/50 anitfreeze for conveinience, but the cost is usually twice as much for the antifreeze portion of the mix.

Actually, unless you live in the far north where it may freeze tonight, I would temporarialy use straight water. The coolant system has a leak that needs to be found and repaired. Pouring anitfreeze back in before the problem is repaired is a waste, and may leave puddles of antifreeze lying around which is toxic to kids and pets attracted by the sweet aroma. Once the car is repaired, I would have the coolant system flushed and filled with the correct antifreeze.

With the engine cold, pour the water (or mix) directly into the radiator until it is full. If the level drops after waiting a few seconds, top it off. Air trapped inside is escaping. Do this until the radiator stops taking fluid. Leave the radiator cap off, start the engine and let it idle. When the engine reaches a certain temperature, the thermostat will open. You'll know when this happens becasue the fluid in the neck of the radiator will disappear. Quickly top the radiator off again and then seal it with the radiator cap. Put enough fluid in the tank to fill it between the min and max marks.

NOW, either get the car to a mechanic or start looking for the leak. I'd first check around the hoses going through the fire wall into the cabin and the water pump, but the engine could be leaking from a number of places.